Questions and answers

Your first lesson is $25. After that you buy a 10-lesson pack: $400 online or $450 in person. In NZ, private Spanish tutors usually charge $40–80 an hour. See pricing.

Native or fluent Spanish speakers we interview, check and try out before they teach. You'll know your tutor's name and background before your first lesson.

Tell us and we'll match you with someone else, free.

Either. Tell us why you're learning and we'll match you with a tutor who speaks the Spanish you'll use.

You'll get a receipt straight away, and within one working day we email your tutor's name and lesson times that fit your week.

If we can't match you with a tutor within 5 working days, you get a full refund. Unused pack lessons can be refunded within 6 months. See our terms.

Private Spanish tutors in New Zealand usually charge $40–80 an hour. With us your first lesson is $25, then a 10-lesson pack works out at $45 a lesson in person or $40 online.

At your home, your workplace or a quiet café, in Auckland and Wellington. Elsewhere, lessons are online.

Yes. Tell us why you're learning and we'll match you with a tutor who speaks the Spanish you'll use.

Lessons are a live video call, and Zoom is fine. If you would rather use Google Meet or Teams, tell your tutor; all you need is the link we send before each lesson.

A laptop or tablet with a camera, headphones, and a quiet spot. We send the video link before each lesson.

For most adults, yes: you get the same one-to-one attention and more flexible times. Kids under 8 usually do better in person.

Some are in New Zealand and some are overseas; every tutor we match you with is free at New Zealand times.

Spanish is one of the easier languages for English speakers: it's spelled the way it sounds and shares thousands of words with English.

With a weekly lesson and a little practice, most beginners can handle simple everyday conversations within a few months.

Many beginners start one-to-one, to build confidence before they speak in front of anyone. Group classes are cheaper per hour; a tutor moves at your pace and gets you speaking far more in each lesson.

With the situations the trip will put you in rather than grammar. Spanish for travel lists the phrases travellers use most, with pronunciation, and explains how lessons before a trip work.

From about 6. Younger children can join with a parent in the lesson.

For in-person lessons at home, yes, an adult needs to be home for the whole lesson.

Packs are 60-minute lessons; for younger children we split them into two 30-minute lessons each week.

A tutor can build the skills and give general feedback, but students must follow their school's rules on authenticity for assessed work.

Ideally at the start of the school year, or at least a term before the external exams.

Yes. NZQA publishes past papers and assessment schedules for NCEA Spanish, and tutors use them for practice.

Most evening lessons start between 5pm and 7.30pm. Later slots depend on the tutor, so tell us the time you actually need when you book the trial.

Usually, yes. Group evening courses in New Zealand tend to run around $150–200 for an eight-week term. A private lesson costs more per hour, but the whole hour is spent on your Spanish and the time is yours to move.

Yes. Lessons are booked from a pack rather than fixed to a weekly timetable, so the time can change week to week if your tutor has the slot free.

No. Evening and daytime lessons are the same price: a $25 trial, then $450 for 10 in-person lessons or $400 for 10 online.

Wherever suits you — your home, your workplace, or a café or library nearby. You agree the place with your tutor before the first lesson.

Auckland and Wellington. Everywhere else in New Zealand is covered by live online lessons with the same tutors.

For most people it is easier to speak face to face, especially early on. Online wins on flexibility and costs less — $400 for 10 lessons against $450. Plenty of students mix the two.

No. The in-person price covers the tutor coming to you within their usual area. If you are well outside it, we will say so before you book rather than adding a charge afterwards.

If you can introduce yourself and say a few sentences about your week, yes. Complete beginners can still have conversation-led lessons; your tutor keeps the topics simple and speaks slowly. The level test gives you a rough idea in two minutes.

For speaking time, yes. In a group of eight to twelve learners you might speak for a few minutes in an hour. One to one, you speak for most of it. Groups are cheaper per hour and some people like the company.

Yes. Tell us whether you want Spanish from Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia or elsewhere, and we match you with a tutor who speaks it.

Once a week keeps you improving; twice a week is quicker if you have a trip or a move coming up (see Spanish for travel for the phrases to start with). A 10-lesson pack can be used at either pace within 6 months.

It helps to be at about A2, able to talk about your week and your work in simple sentences. If you are starting from zero, begin with beginners lessons and your tutor moves you onto work topics as soon as you are ready.

Yes. We can send the receipt for a pack to your employer, and a pack can be bought by the company and used by one learner.

Yes, if you are at a similar level. Tell us when you book the trial and we will match a tutor who can take you both at the same time.

In Auckland and Wellington, yes, including at lunchtime. Everywhere else, lessons are online with the same tutors.

If you can talk about your past and your plans in simple sentences, and follow a slow conversation, you are probably around B1. Our level test takes two minutes, and the levels page explains what each level means.

Yes. The DELE is the Instituto Cervantes' official Spanish exam. Tell us the level you are sitting when you book and we match you with a tutor who prepares students for it, using past papers and timed practice. See DELE exam preparation for where to sit it in NZ, the dates and the fees.

Very often, yes. Heritage speakers usually understand far more than they can say. Your tutor focuses on speaking, reading and writing so the Spanish you already have becomes usable.

Yes. At advanced level most of the lesson is conversation and shared material on screen, which works well online and costs $400 for 10 lessons rather than $450 in person.

For the phrases above and simple exchanges, five to ten weekly lessons is a realistic target, which is why the 10-lesson pack ($400 online, $450 in person, valid for 6 months) suits a trip a few months away. Starting three months out gives time to practise between lessons. See pricing.

Yes, but not so much that you can't be understood in both. Spain uses vosotros for 'you all' and pronounces z and soft c like the English 'th'; Latin America uses ustedes and an 's' sound. Everyday words differ too: a car is a coche in Spain and a carro or auto in much of Latin America, and a bus ticket is a billete in Spain and a boleto in most of Latin America. Tell us where you are going and your tutor teaches that version.

For signs and menus, a translator app is fine and worth having. For a conversation, it is slow and awkward, and it does nothing for understanding what people say back to you. Lessons are for the part apps don't cover: speaking out loud and following a reply at real speed.

Yes. Travel Spanish is almost entirely speaking and listening, which works well over video, and online lessons cover all of New Zealand. In Auckland and Wellington you can also meet a tutor in person. See online Spanish lessons.

Slightly. The Camino de Santiago is in Spain, so you learn Spain's Spanish: albergues (pilgrim hostels), asking about the route and the next town, ordering the pilgrim menu, and looking after your feet at the farmacia. Tell us when you book and your tutor plans around it.

Most travellers aim for A1 to A2: introducing yourself, handling everyday transactions and simple conversations. The levels page explains what each level means, and the free level test shows where you start if you learned some Spanish at school.

Instituto Cervantes Sydney runs the DELE for Australia and New Zealand. Its exam-centre list names two New Zealand centres: one in Auckland (a private institute in Rosedale, on the North Shore) and one in Christchurch (Burnside High School). There is no Wellington centre, so Wellington candidates travel to Auckland or Christchurch. The DELE cannot be sat online; if you need a remote option, look at the SIELE instead.

The written exam is on the same day worldwide. Per Instituto Cervantes Sydney's dates and prices page, the 2026 sittings were 22 and 23 May (all levels), 16 and 17 October (Sydney only) and 13 and 14 November (A2 and the school exams on the Friday; A1, B1, B2, C1 and C2 on the Saturday), with registration closing on 30 September. The Instituto Cervantes says registration for the 2027 sittings opens on 18 November 2026. Not every centre runs every session, so confirm which sittings the Auckland or Christchurch centre offers when you register. Oral exam times are set by each centre.

Exam fees are set per country and are paid to the exam centre, separately from lessons. Instituto Cervantes Sydney's 2026 list, in Australian dollars, is A1 AU$160, A2 AU$195, B1 AU$235, B2 AU$265, C1 AU$275 and C2 AU$285 (read October 2026). Check the current list before you register; the fee is not refunded if you fail.

The level you are at now, not the one you hope to reach: the DELE is pass or fail, and a fail costs the same as a pass. Our free level test gives a rough placement in two minutes and the levels page explains what each level means. If you are sitting it for a visa or an application, the institution tells you the level it wants. Instituto Cervantes Sydney notes that Spain's Youth Mobility visa accepts DELE A1 or higher, and universities usually ask for B1 or B2.

If you are already at the level, a 10-lesson pack over two to three months covers the format, timed practice and the oral. If you are a level below, plan on 20 to 30 lessons over about six months. A 10-lesson pack is $400 online or $450 in person and is valid for 6 months, so it fits either plan. See pricing.

The DELE is a pass-or-fail diploma at one level, sat on paper on fixed dates and valid for life. The SIELE is a single multi-level test taken on a computer, on dates each centre sets, which reports a score on the same A1 to C2 scale. Preparation overlaps heavily; tell us which one you are sitting when you book and your tutor adjusts the practice.

Yes. Past papers, timed writing and the oral all work well over video, and online lessons are $400 for 10 rather than $450 in person. Most of our DELE students outside Auckland and Wellington prepare entirely online and travel only for the exam day.