Learnlight

Learnlight Review

Learnlight (formerly called Ispeakuspeak or ISUS) is based in Barcelona. They not only teach English, but 15 other languages including Spanish, French, German and Italian. Their online platform is new and sleek. They mostly teach business English to employees of multi-national companies based in Europe. Working part-time is possible, you choose your hours and they find the students for you. Learnlight salary: The pay (in Euros) is competitive at €10 for individuals and €12 for group classes.

Teachers and students please leave us your comments and reviews of Learnlight.

27 Comments

  • James

    April 3, 2024 at 1:55 pm Reply

    I work for learnlight currenly and i can confrim it has good and bad sides. 9euro per hour is a good amount to make depending on where you live, It’s a lot better than many other online tutoring companies, But as everone else mentioned, You have to write reports after every session and there is a lot of other administrative work that takes up your time that you will NOT get paid for. You work long hours and the support team dosen’t actually support you. They only give you ultimatums and warnings when you make mistakes. It’s good because there are hundreads of students and groups available and they won’t hesitate to fill up your schdule if you request it so you can make over 1500 euros a month if you’re willing to work 200 hours a month. But don’t forget every new student means more reports to write and more bull to deal with! It’s a good company if you have no better prospects. but over all its just a giant machine that exploits cheap tutors with no better options. I won’t stay here for more than 3 years.

  • John Welch

    January 20, 2024 at 2:42 pm Reply

    Learnlight reflects the way the whole (online) EFL industry is going. That is to say, it has embraced the gig economy: freelance contracts weighted entirely in the interests of the company with pay based only on contact hours, making no allowance for administrative and other tasks that the ‘Trainer’ is obliged to undertake. (I estimate that for every hour paid for I spend at least 80 minutes on LL work.)

    The job has also been de-professionalised with trainers required only to deliver pre-prepared material. There is scope for deviating from this which means that the learner experience will depend very much on the attitude, experience and knowledge of their trainer. Anecdotally, I have heard that the company now emphasises hiring non-native speakers to teach English. This is having an effect as, although ‘screened’ for their language ability, they often have a limited grasp of idiomatic usage (British or American) and little insight into the cultural background. If all they are required to deliver is ‘International Business English-lite’ that’s OK, but it’s not what many students think they are going to get. (I suspect some of these people are also involved in producing teaching material and/or proofreading which may partly explain the dive in standards, with a lot of simple errors, factual, grammatical or relating to vocabulary, occurring that a native speaker would be unlikely to make or (as a proofreader) allow to go ‘live’ on the platform. (The system for reporting errors has also been made too convoluted with the result that I no longer bother.)

    Some years ago the owners, and founders, of LL, having failed to sell the company, threw in their lot with a private equity company. Their website states that ‘building value and enhancing profits is at the core of what we do’. That’s a euphemism for screwing every last cent out of the business in any way possible. Often cutting costs is a large part of that drive towards growth and profit, twin obsessions of all venture capital companies. Hence recruiting barely competent staff (‘rigorous screening’ is clearly not preventing that), using low-paid interns, blocking pay rises, ‘streamlining’ admin functions etc.

    The day-to-day experience of working with Learnlight is not bad. Most of the ‘learners’ (the company’s preferred term) are a delight and support staff are helpful and polite if not always entirely on the ball. (‘Supervisors’ disappeared some time ago – a few of their number remain, overseeing a pool of trainer support staff; mostly interns, I suspect). Pay rises are ruled out for the foreseeable future. I guess the company is able to recruit non-native speakers in parts of the world where what are to us (in Europe) starvation wages represent a healthy income.

    So, if you want or need to do this kind of work and the flexibility appeals to you, just be sure to go in with your eyes open.

    PS If you take it upon yourself, as I did, to point out the shortcomings of the platform as presently constituted, and other areas where improvements could be made, you will find yourself, more or less politely, rebuffed. You will have to resign yourself to living with LL warts and all. Also take heed of A Anderson’s comments before you consider contributing teaching material to the platform. (You’ll get a nod of thanks, no other reward, and be deprived of the copyright on your own work!)

  • Terry knott

    August 28, 2021 at 5:06 am Reply

    I just applied and was told they no longer are hiring due to the deluge of out of work teachers coming out of the student teaching industry in China. I have 40 teaching experience, licensed in the US and Thailand. 8 years online experience to go with it. Plus, I a have a degree in Education. Seems like the attitude was mostly geared toward UK teachers but that could have been just me. Every job I have applied for was rejected if it was based in the UK.

  • Wendy

    May 27, 2021 at 10:23 pm Reply

    iTutor pay can be low depending on where a teacher lives and they lack transparency in the remuneration process so you never know what you’ll be paid until your first pay. Unless you live in the USA.

  • A Anderson

    November 27, 2020 at 4:23 pm Reply

    Working for Learnlight was pure slave labour in my experience, and you could earn more money stacking shelves in your local supermarket. It is pure exploitation. I worked for them for 3 years – off and on – while I was taking a break from proper teaching. The business professionals in Spain that I was teaching English to were lovely, but the company itself seems to be quite happy to exploit the on-line teacher wherever it could. You are expected to produce reports that take 15 minutes in 5 minutes and are offered no perks whatsoever. In addition, if they like the teaching resources you personally produce, they will ask if they can have them, and when they do take them and use them on their site, they claim rights to the copyright and do not offer you any compensation. They altered the contract employees sign a few years ago to give them a right to do this. It was hidden in a small clause near the end so nobody would notice, unless they read the small print. Therefore, if you agree to let them use any of your personally-created resources, you lose all your rights to ever use your own work again without asking them for permission first (your work, created in your own time, not theirs). They do not tell you this when they ask to use your personal materials and they do not pay you. They do like to do everything on the cheap it seems. A very unethical company in my opinion.

  • Cedric Davidoff

    October 28, 2020 at 2:27 pm Reply

    I was interviewed a few years ago by them, and I wondered why they even bothered, the interviewer was disrespectful and rude, it seemed a foregone conclusion that she wasn’t interested in recommending that I be hired. She asked about my background and I explained to her some of the details and duties of my last couple of teaching positions, but just before I finished she interrupted and said, “Well, obviously I can read! That’s all there on your resume!” The detail I was filling in was not on the resume. She also asked if I spoke Spanish, which I do, but she had no interest in confirming that by say engaging in Spanish, for a moment or two, it was just on to the next poorly worded, vague question.

    • Jose Gonzalez

      January 15, 2024 at 4:15 pm Reply

      I recently had the unfortunate experience of engaging with Learnlight, and it pains me to share that it has been nothing short of a disaster. The incompetence of the trainers, coupled with questionable data collection practices, has left me regretting every moment invested in this purportedly world-class platform.

      From the outset, I was alarmed by their insistence on collecting personal information, raising concerns that this might be a front for data collection rather than genuine training. It’s a red flag that potential users should approach with caution.

      The platform itself, despite being hailed as the best in the world, proved to be anything but user-friendly. Two weeks of grappling with unintuitive instructions added to the frustration. This extensive training period ultimately led to encounters with two inexperienced trainers who, instead of providing valuable insights, seemed fixated on trivial matters like positioning in front of the computer.

      The lack of understanding of professional teaching principles became glaringly evident during an interview with an inexperienced individual who demonstrated a lack of knowledge about essential teaching concepts. Mentioning standard teaching jargon only served to highlight the vast chasm between their understanding and that of a seasoned educator. It makes one wonder if the CEO is aware of the inadequacies within the company.

      The sentiment echoed by fellow Americans regarding the disrespect towards teachers at Learnlight sadly proved to be true. The incompetence and cluelessness of the personnel are undeniable, making it abundantly clear that this company is a colossal fiasco in professional development.

      Save yourself the time, frustration, and the hundreds of pointless emails by steering clear of Learnlight. The forms they require you to fill out seem idiotic in comparison to the lackluster training and support they provide. In summary, Learnlight is a company that falls woefully short in delivering on its promises and, frankly, deserves a resounding “screw you” for wasting the time and energy of those seeking genuine professional development.

  • Neville

    August 8, 2020 at 10:14 pm Reply

    @Niko

    Sorry about that. I wish there was a website that would give us reputable online teachers without the false schools.

    @ Mike
    Why do you recommend these schools after seeing how badly they treat some applicants who don’t even get a reply or looking?

    • mikedveenstra@gmail.com

      August 9, 2020 at 12:53 pm Reply

      Learnlight is a great company, I used to work for them. If someone didn’t get hired by them, there is probably a good reason. Perhaps they applied at a time when they already had enough teachers.

    • sheree

      September 25, 2020 at 9:45 am Reply

      If you live in Spain you can not work online for them, even if registered as a legal freelance worker in Spain. They try and site tax restrictions which are complete bull as I work for other Spanish based ESL companies. They tell you that you can work for their B & M schools in Spain instead. I do wonder if they are the ones doing a tax swindle with the Spanish Govt with their online workers.

      • A Anderson

        November 27, 2020 at 4:32 pm Reply

        It is their way of getting out of the legal obligation to give workers their minimum legal rights and protections, as these do not cross international borders. If you employ someone based inside Spain, you have to give them minimum rights. Workers based in another country do not have any protection, so it is cheaper for Learnlight. More profit for Learnlight, (but worse conditions for the trainer).

  • Niko

    January 13, 2020 at 5:39 pm Reply

    I tried applying to this school several times but I was never able to get at least an interview 🙁 Which is a shame, I would really like to get into European working environment. After 5 years of teaching to Japanese and Chinese I really feel a need for a change. There just seems there are no European schools at all except for a handful.
    Just a random rant, from a random visitor of many on this website….

  • Marie

    October 14, 2019 at 11:10 am Reply

    They expect you to create a custom schedule that reflects your precise availability but mention they are not responsible for the number of students as well as how many classes you might have per day. So, you have to wait all day without knowing if you’ll have any lesson or not !?

  • Annette Norman

    January 28, 2019 at 9:15 pm Reply

    I am a retired South African Teacher/Librarian with a BA degree in Librarianship and a High School Education Diploma. English was one of my BA subjects, but I never taught it, so I realise that I will have to do the TEFL course before I can apply for an online teaching position. However, I will be 70 in May, so I must first find out if my age will not disqualify me before I spend money on the course. Also, where can I find out what I need for my computer to be able to give the lessons.

    • mikedveenstra@gmail.com

      January 29, 2019 at 9:59 pm Reply

      Hi Annette, I am not sure about the computer requirements, but if you have a fast internet connection just apply for the job. Also they have a great management team so I doubt that they discriminate against older teachers.

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