Frequently Asked Questions
(Frequently Asked Questions)
- But Ms. Teacher at school taught English completely differently i.e. why Speakingo?
- How and where to start learning?
- Only the first lesson of the selected grade level opens for me?
- Did my progress disappear and is he even making me pay again?
- What is this Learner Profile?
- Why does a native speaker speak so fast?
- I don’t get the Newsletter and Facebook posts hardly show up for me?
- How do I examine my progress on the course?
- Do you issue certificates of course completion?
- I have already answered three times correctly, but he continues to ask me from the same sentence?
- Can I reset the replays?
- What do the different icons in the lesson mean?
- Why is there a fee for access?
- What are the methods of payment for the course and how much does such a pleasure cost?
- Funds were taken from my card, and I did not want to pay for anything?
- Who has access to my data?
- What are these coupons?
- How do you guarantee the security of the transaction?
- Do you issue invoices?
- How do I cancel my subscription?
- I canceled my subscription, but sometimes I still receive emails?
- What can you do to completely eliminate your profile?
- What are the hardware requirements to use the service?
- Is the reader asking the wrong question?
- I can’t hear anything?
- Speakingo can’t hear me?
- How do I install Speakingo as an app on my phone?
- No answer to my question here?
Questions learning on Speakingo's online English course
But Ms. Teacher at school taught English completely differently?
Speakingo’s didactics are embedded in the Direct Method.
It mainly consists of talking, answering questions with whole, learned sentences. This way, like a child, you learn to speak properly without bothering with all that grammar theory – but of course, I recommend reading up on it on the blog.
In the heat of the conversation, however, there is no time to ponder rules! Instead of thinking what time to use – you just have to talk!
One of the popular courses based on this method is the now obsolete Callan method – its author forbade in his will to make any changes to his textbook, and language, after all, is constantly evolving.
Our method includes modern vocabulary (used in e-mails, text messages), 2000 of the most popular words, the knowledge of which allows you to understand 90% of conversations in English, and the grammar of sentences does not sound like conversations from a black and white movie. In addition, we use state-of-the-art speech recognition technology, so you can learn not only cheaper, but where and when you want.
It’s not only fast and effective, but also a fun way to learn English!
How and where to start learning?
Even the farthest road must begin with the first step!
Just sign up, see on a free trial period if this method of learning suits you. If so, then surely having to pay as much for a month’s tuition as you pay for one tutoring will not be an obstacle!
On the other hand, for complete beginners I have prepared a special text with a detailed description of the usual difficult beginnings:
How and where to start learning on Speakingo’s online English course?
And don’t worry if you don’t understand anything at first! That’s what it’s all about!
Don’t charge with the material. Repeat the first lesson so many times until you practically learn the sentences by heart – by the way, the grammar and words contained in them will also enter your head.
And that’s the point!
Only the first lesson of each grade level opens to me?
During the trial period you get access to all the features of the service, but only within the first example of the first lessons of each level.
If you like the study and would like to learn more lessons, you should pay for access to continue learning English online, which will allow me to continue working on improving the service.
Did my progress disappear and is he even making me pay again?
You can register and log in using various methods: Gmail button, other emails, Facebook. If you enter the site using a different email address(Facebook) than before for the system you are two different people!
Therefore, log out, preferably clear the browser cache (ctrl+shift+del) and restart your computer – it will then work faster by the way.
Then log into that account you have paid for. If you don’t know which one, then write to me and provide your email addresses, I will check it for you and delete the unused account on Speakingo.
If, on the other hand, you want to log in using different emails then no problem. Under My Details, enter your second email as “Alternate Email” and boldly log in using both.
What is this My Profile?
Your Profile or Student Profile is where you go when you log in or register for the service. You can do a lot of interesting things there, such as:
Clicking on this button takes you to the lesson. Each lesson consists of four parts, about which in a moment.
Here you will see your statistics – how many sentences you have already managed to learn, and how many still need polishing.
With these sliders you set your level and the lesson for that level. On the free trial period, only the first examples of the first lessons of each level are available.
With these sliders you adjust the level of “clinginess” with which the computer recognizes your answers.
By clicking on the “Dictation” button (or the link at the top of the page) you can check your spelling (spelling).
At Speakingo you can choose from three types of tests: a leveling test (placement test), of a given level ( unit test) and of your individual progress (progress test). I highly recommend starting with this one – it will help you know how much progress you’re making!
In the drop-down menu you will find links to blog texts that are worth reading because they describe the grammar included in the lesson.
In User Settings, you can go to the My Data page, where you can add a second, alternative login email, reset your replay pool, or enter a code from an access coupon, if you have one from work, for example. You can also buy someone a coupon with such a code as a gift!
Here you can pay for tuition – no matter which payment method you choose, you will get full access to all materials on the site.
Why is the speaker talking so fast?
The speaker speaks at a normal pace, of course, at first it is difficult to understand sentences in a foreign language – if we knew it, we wouldn’t have to learn it after all!
After a few repetitions, everything will become clear, and a healthy pace of repetition will ensure that a large amount of material is assimilated quickly.
I don't get the Newsletter and Facebook posts hardly show up for me
Anyone who signs up for a free trial of Speakingo’s online English course also automatically signs up for the Speakingo Newsletter, where I send links with new blog posts. This way you get free “reminders” to learn English.
Unfortunately, these emails often end up in the “promotions” folder or – horror of horrors – spam. Therefore, please search for them and move them to the mail root folder. After a few times, your email program should learn that emails from me are welcomed by you in your mailbox.
And if they aren’t, there’s a link in the footer of each one to unsubscribe from the Speakingo Newsletter.
Similarly, Facebook sifts through posts from different Fan Pages. Therefore, in addition to “liking” and commenting, you can set up on Speakingo’s Facebook page by clicking on the three dots, selecting “Watch Settings” and then clicking “Favorites.” This way you won’t miss any more memes for learning English!
How do I examine my progress on the course?
I highly recommend at the very beginning to take a level test (placement test), or to test your knowledge at a particular level (unit test).
The results will be recorded in your Student Profile.
That way, after some time, you can or will be able to retake the test and see how much better you did this time!
The case is similar with Dictandas.
Do you issue certificates of course completion?
We do not issue certificates of completion, but once you learn English with us, you will easily pass any exam you desire!
If, on the other hand, you need a certificate for work or school that you are learning English, write such a certificate I will be happy to issue. More about such a certificate in this text.
I have already answered three times correctly, but he continues to ask me from the same sentence?
Each lesson consists of four parts:
- In the first, we introduce material that is new to this lesson. You just listen and familiarize yourself with the English spelling and the native, literal translation so that you know if you know what the sentence means.
- Repetition is only in the second and third parts of the lesson. Here the questions are displayed until you have answered the question correctly three times (the answer is “passed” only if Speakingo commends us for the answer). Therefore, it is even possible that if you have already answered all the questions three times correctly, Speakingo will skip this part of the lesson altogether. Congratulations! This is definitely a sign to move on to the next lesson already!
- In the third part of the lesson you learn to ask questions, you simply read the English text, and Speakingo answers you – you swap roles with the teacher. This is also where questions from the pool of sentence pairs that you still need to practice are displayed.
- In the last part of the lesson, admittedly, you repeat, but only the material from that particular lesson. So even if the correct answer to a question has been given a hundred times, if it is on the agenda for a particular lesson, it will appear again here. It is also good sometimes to refresh the sentences that you already know so that they do not fall out of our heads (for example, after a month).
You can also skip a selected part of the lesson if you feel like it. To do this, use the icons described in the photo below.
Is it possible to reset your replays?
Yes. All you have to do is go to the My Data tab and click “Reset my replays” there. Remember, however, that this is irreversible.
On the other hand, it may be a good idea if you are starting to learn after a testing period where you may have gotten too ambitious to start learning at too high a level.
What do the different icons in the lesson mean?
In each lesson of Speakingo’s online English course, you will see the following icons in the pictures:
I click X and run away from the lesson!
What am I even doing? The button resembles an instruction for each part of the lesson.
Pause in the lesson for … what you need there.
Triangles: the next-previous sentence within this lesson.
The numbers show which example of how many on this lesson you are on (there are only five on the free trial period).
Logos (circles) move impatient students between the four parts of the lesson. However, I recommend doing all the exercises one at a time.
Turn on/off the microphone to give a voice response.
Speakingo will kindly repeat the question if you wish.
The text of the question or answer along with a punishingly literal (because for scientific not literary purposes) translation into your language.
Turn on full-screen mode for convenience and learning comfort (I recommend it, especially on your phone if you don’t already have the app).
Why is there a fee for access?
I know from my teaching experience that we do not respect what we receive for free. My students have always gotten much more out of courses they paid for themselves than those subsidized by labor or the European Union.
What’s more, creating this service involves hundreds of hours of programmers, hundreds of hours of didactic work, paying for a native speaker and a recording studio, the cost of purchasing photos and video files, not to mention the cost of promotion and advertising.
On the other hand, monthly access to the service costs as much as one hour of tutoring, which is a great deal for anyone who wants to learn to speak English.
What are the methods of payment for the course and how much does such a pleasure cost?
You get the first week of learning completely free and without any obligation. If you don’t want to continue learning you don’t need to do anything else.
However, if you want to continue learning and get access to all examples in all lessons of all levels, you can pay for further access to learn English online at Speakingo course.
The price of a one-time study extension:
- You can pay with a one-time transfer for 3 months of study,
- Or immediately for the whole year
You can also use the subscription
- A month of study paid monthly.
That way if you like the site, you don’t have to bother with any more formalities, you can use the service until you unsubscribe. You don’t commit to any number of months – you can cancel at any time.
Prices available in various currencies and thus may vary – for details see the version of the website / app in your native language.
Funds have been taken from my card, AND I didn't want to pay for anything?
By purchasing a recurring subscription you agree that if you do not unregister, you will automatically be charged monthly tuition from then on. You can deregister at any time. However, except in exceptional circumstances like the theft of the card, we do not refund funds once deposited.
What are these coupons?
A coupon is an access code that extends the opportunity to learn with Speakingo for a specified period of time.
The coupon code is entered in the My Data tab (in the Student Profile).
Coupons can be purchased as part of various promotions or bulk orders for companies and language schools.
You can also buy Speakingo’s online English course as a gift to someone – you then get an aesthetically pleasing PDF to print or send to the lucky winner, who will be able to redeem the coupon from such a gift card.
The codes are valid for one year from the time of purchase. If the code is new, make sure you don’t have Caps Lock (the button on the left side of the keyboard that changes everything to uppercase) turned on when you type the code. If this still doesn’t help email us with the code that isn’t working and we’ll find a solution!
Who has access to my data?
Speakingo has access to the data provided during registration, solely for the purposes of running the service, and in the case of payments, the certified payment processing company Przelewy 24 and STRIPE.
The data you provide will be protected and will not be altered, copied or transferred to others. No one other than authorized personnel will have access to them for purposes related to the operation of the service.
You can also write at any time and I will delete your account with all your data.
How do you guarantee the security of the transaction?
In order to take care of the convenience and security of the transaction, payments on Speakingo are handled by the Przelewy 24 service of PayPro SA company (ul. Kanclerska 15, 60-327 Poznań, NIP: 779-236-98-87, Regon: 301345068, registered in the District Court in Poznań, VIII Wydz. Gospodarczy Krajowego Rejestru Sądowego Nr KRS 0000347935, the amount of share capital: PLN 4,500,000, paid in full). The Przelewy24 service operates an authorization and settlement system on the basis of the decision of the President of the National Bank of Poland No. 1/2011 dated 1.04.2011 and provides payment services as a native payment institution on the basis of the decision of the Financial Supervision Commission dated 10.06.2014, entered in the register of payment services under the number IP24/2014). The activities of PayPro SA as a National Payment Institution are subject to the supervision of the Financial Supervision Authority. Foreign payments and card payments are handled by STRIPE. The service offers many convenient payment methods while ensuring a high level of security confirmed by regular audits of PCI DSS standards.
Your card details are not even transmitted to Speakingo, only the information that the payment has been processed.
We use encrypted HTTPS connections throughout the process, while SSL encryption protects against unauthorized data interception.
Our server is secured by Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux), tested by hundreds of thousands of users from around the world.
The security of the transaction is also further guaranteed by your bank, which has the right to recover the money if fraud, theft or illegal practices have occurred.
Do you issue invoices?
Yes, we issue invoices and send them electronically upon request, especially for business customers. In the case of individual customers, the transfer confirmation is sufficient proof for accounting purposes – but of course, in addition, an invoice can be issued. It is necessary to write to us on this matter, providing the necessary data for invoicing.
For customers buying a course in the European Union outside Poland, the price includes the VAT of the country from which you are buying the course (VAT OSS).
How do I cancel my subscription?
Seamlessly cancel the subscription can be done in the student’s profile, under the payment tab.
However, if you did not turn on or off the subscription (39zl) only paid a one-time payment (129zl, 299zl, promotional payments), or did not pay anything at all, then you do not have to cancel anything.
Canceling your subscription means that we no longer charge you and your access to the lessons has been blocked. However, you can still then log into your Student Profile, where you can always pay for further education.
I canceled my subscription, but sometimes I still receive information about promotions?
Yes, we assume that you will want to come back to us after a momentary flurry of activities and continue learning, so we occasionally remind ourselves and inform you about possible promotions. If you do not wish to receive these emails, simply unsubscribe by following the link at the bottom of the email or by writing to us.
What to do to completely eliminate your profile.
To do this, write to us, all your data will then be deleted from the system. There is no contraindication to setting up a new account later on, however, taking advantage of the promotion for new users will not be possible. You will also lose a record of your progress in learning English with Speakingo.
Questions technical related to learning at Speakingo online English course
What are the hardware requirements to use the service?
To use the Speakingo service, you need a working desktop or laptop computer with a microphone and speakers and the Chrome browser installed. Other browsers are working on developing efficient speech recognition technology, but our modern site can only be used with Chroma for now (once the competition catches up with them, there is no contraindication on our part to use other browsers as well – Firefox is on the right track). Therefore, if you do not have the most popular Chrome browser on the Internet, you can download it for free from the manufacturer’s website
The site also works in Chrome browsers installed on cell phones using the Android operating system (versions newer than 2016). As of today, Chrome on iPhones uses the Safari engine, so this is not possible.
Companies are developing speech recognition technology, so by the time you read this perhaps speech recognition has already been implemented on your device – during registration we will check if your device is working and inform you according to our knowledge.
If you have technical problems, you can always cancel for free during the free trial period, or start using another device (such as a desktop computer at home instead of a cell phone).
Is the reader asking the wrong question?
When changing parts of a lesson or scrolling through questions quickly, it may happen that the Internet connection can’t keep up and Speakingo asks an outdated question. Just ignore them and continue learning.
I can't hear anything?
Check if something else (such as some YouTube video) has sound. If not, check if you have muted sound on your computer (the speaker in the right corner of the bottom bar in Windows).
If the sound has suddenly stopped working, it’s a good idea to close and reopen the browser, or even restart the computer.
With slow internet, recordings may stutter or play late, and the same will happen with the answers given. Then all you have to do is be a little patient and give the computer a little more time to download the data (scrolling through the questions will only make things worse).
Speakingo can't hear me?
First of all, make sure you are using the Chrome browser on a desktop or laptop computer, or on an Android phone (i.e., not an iphone).
The second popular problem is poor internet. Try maybe a Skype call to your grandmother, I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear from you, and you’ll know if by chance that’s not the problem. If Baby can’t hear you – and you can see that she has put on her hearing aid – then you need to check in your computer settings why your microphone isn’t working – in Windows it will be the sound recorder in Accessories in the Start Menu.
Third, pay attention during the lesson whether the microphone icon flashes when you speak – sometimes we think we are turning on the microphone, and we just clicked it off, and vice versa:
If, despite this, the microphone does not work, it is likely that the problem is with any of the additional Chrome browser plug-ins you have installed that block the use of the webcam and microphone. These are usually VPN plug-ins, but in fact any other plug-in could have blocked the use of the microphone.
To check this, click on the padlock next to the site address (in the upper left corner of your browser, where you type in the address of the site, e.g. www.speakingo.com ), and then click on the “site settings” link (Site Settings).
Third, pay attention during the lesson whether the microphone icon flashes when you speak – sometimes we think we are turning on the microphone, and we just clicked it off, and vice versa:
The “block” option must not be set at the microphone. If you can, change it to “allow” or “ask” (then it will ask every time whether to allow, usually this is the default option).
If, on the other hand, you find that you can’t change anything here, it just means that one of the plug-ins has blocked the possibility of changes. A popular culprit here, for example, is the “Private Internet Access” plug-in, but it could be many others.
The most convenient way to do this now is to go into the plug-in settings (Extensions) in the left menu of the Chrome browser settings we just opened:
or by clicking on the puzzle icon next to your photo on the right side of the main bar, then on “manage extensions.”
If you can’t remember which of the additional plug-ins you have installed may be causing the problem, the easiest way is to disable all plug-ins for a while – just move the blue slider so that it turns gray (you don’t have to remove them right away, although it may be a good opportunity to do a little cleaning!).
Then check if Speakingo “works.” If you can now use the site it means that it was one of these plugins that prevented you from using the site. To detect the culprit plug-in now simply turn on plug-in after plug-in and see if Speakingo still works. This way you will see which one is disrupting the operation.
And if, despite disabling the plugs, it still does not work, then the problem lies elsewhere, but then you probably need to ask someone to fix your computer….
How do I install an online English course as an app on my phone?
First of all, I invite you to visit the AppStore for iPhones and PlayStore for Androids.
There is also a second option for Android phones. To make the Speakingo course show up as a convenient icon on the desktop of your phone (with Android), click on the three dots in the upper right corner of your Chrome browser:
Then select the “Add to home screen” option:
That’s it! The Speakingo icon will appear on the phone screen. You can now study on both your computer and your phone!
No answer to my question here?
If this is the case, we recommend looking at Speakingo’s Terms of Use or the Speakingo blog.
If this does not help, write to me.
