Free trial

Plain English is great for anyone who likes learning English and wants to practice listening, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary on a modern platform. Plain English is especially good for anyone at the intermediate level (between about A2 and C1 on the Cambridge scale).

Plain English is great for learners with an independent learning style. You’ll have the opportunity to explore our great lessons. We’ll guide you, but it’s up to you to determine what, and how much, to learn.

Plain English is a self-study program. You will choose the content that’s right for you (with our help, of course).

You’ll choose from the following types of content:

• Stories: These short, ~12-minute audio lessons include stories about the world, including current events.
• Expressions: Short audio lessons show you how to use a common English expression
• Workshops: For more complex ideas, watch a step-by-step video lesson

All content includes transcripts or subtitles, interactive exercises, and the chance to practice what you learn and to get personal feedback.

We do not offer one-on-one classes.

At Plain English, we dedicate all our energy to creating a great independent learning experience.

However, your free trial includes the chance to join at least one small-group live conversation call. You can practice speaking in that small-group call.

During your trial, you will have two ways to get personal support:

1. Expert Answers: Send a question to Plain English and get a personalized response by video.
2. Feedback on your writing: When you learn something in Plain English, you have the chance to practice writing your own examples using what you learn. You’ll get a response within about 24-48 hours with personal feedback on what you’ve written.

The live conversation calls are a great opportunity for you to practice speaking in a supportive environment.

Jeff and JR are on all the calls. We choose a topic ahead of time. During the call, you have the opportunity to practice talking about the topics. (Topics are usually about recent stories or general interest topics.)

The calls are on Zoom. Calls have about six to eight participants and everyone has plenty of chances to talk.

There are three calls per month, each at a different time of day. If you can’t join the call(s) during your trial, you can request a link to one future call after your trial period ends.

Our in-text translations are available into Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Italian, German, Japanese, Turkish, and Polish. If you speak one of those languages, you’ll see translations of difficult words appear instantly in the transcript.

If you don’t speak one of those languages, that’s okay! You can still take the quizzes, do the interactive exercises, and ask all the questions you like.

Plain English audio lessons come in two speeds: learning speed and full speed. Both are available on the website.

After you start your trial, you’ll be invited to access the fast version via a special podcast feed. You’ll get a special link that you will paste into common podcast players. The free trial includes a selection of fast versions of our audio lessons for you to download or stream.

After your 14-day trial, you will be invited to choose a membership level that is right for you. We have two paid memberships and a free membership. If you don’t sign up for any paid plan, you will get the free membership that includes limited features.

The trial is 100% free and no credit card is required at the time you sign up.

After your trial, you’ll be invited to join a paid membership. If you choose not to join a paid program, you’ll get a free membership that includes limited features.