Babbel’s new Group Plans are built on a simple truth: language learning sticks better when you can share it. In this Babbel Bytes interview, we speak with Anastassia Evlanova, Lead Product Manager for Web Growth and the project lead behind Group Plans.
You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at the product thinking, the trade-offs, and what’s next as we explore more social ways to learn, without losing the clarity and structure that make Babbel effective.
Why did Babbel launch Group Plans, and why now?
If you ask most people how they started learning a new language, most will tell you they began their language learning journey in a classroom. So the group learning aspect of language learning is very familiar to all of us. We found that while most people may start learning a language alone, they become keen to share progress or get advice after a certain point. The r/languagelearning subreddit, for instance, has 3.4M users – indicating a clear desire for people to come together to share insights and ask for help when learning a new language.
Furthermore, Group and family plans have become an increasingly valuable subscription offering that provides cost savings while improving engagement. While these types of plans are gaining popularity in media companies, very few Edtech companies have followed suit despite the encouraging research on motivation, engagement and learner success in group environments. Given Babbel’s focus on learning methodology and pedagogy, we were keen to enter that space – with a focus not just on the social advantages of group learning, but on providing our learners cost savings as well.
How do people actually learn languages together in real life, and how did that shape Group Plans?
Desk research showed us some clear differentiators that we needed to keep in mind while developing Group Plans. For instance, we found that:
76% of people still prefer to learn a new language solo.
Because of this, we let learners choose their own languages and learn at their own pace without having to interact with other group members to progress.
Research also showed us that families, partners, and students are the cohorts that are most likely to engage in group learning. For those cohorts, we are excited to develop engaging and non-competitive social dynamics to help with motivation and engagement. We kept in mind that gathering users for a group outside of a family can be challenging and many families and groups of friends today are interspersed globally. Due to that, we didn’t want to restrict our group plans to a specific household or address to allow for greater flexibility.
What’s the biggest learner benefit of a Group Plan versus learning solo?
The great thing about our Group Plan is that you can learn any language you want and go at your own pace. This is imperative for that initial learning phase, where you learn vocabulary, study new phrases, practice repetition.
At the same time, a Group Plan also enables you to spark conversation about your language learning process, discuss challenges and wins, and test out your new speaking skills. While it’s true you can theoretically do the same thing if you and your friends have individual subscriptions, being part of a “study group” adds an additional layer of motivation and accountability. This is in addition to numerous studies pointing out the benefits of learning a new language in a group environment, which range from better vocabulary and grammar retention through the protégé effect to improved confidence speaking in a new language.
How did you balance business goals with keeping Group Plans fair and accessible for learners?
In terms of pricing, Babbel is generally the more premium player in the market. With Group Plans, we wanted to soften that stance a little bit while still satisfying our revenue goals. We aimed at a cost increase that was in line with user expectations of family and group plans, but still offered a fantastic discount for younger learners who may feel priced out of a traditional Babbel subscription. For example, you can have up to 6 people in a group – which, assuming all seats are used, translates into savings of over 70% per person for an annual plan.
What’s next for Group Plans, and what are you most excited to explore?
I’m really excited to see social learning come into play. Without going into too much detail, adding some lighthearted social features can improve learner engagement. Our goal is to make learning a new language something fun and engaging that you can do with anyone, while still benefiting from Babbel’s effective academic approach to language learning.
Thank you for reading our Group Plans interview with Anastassia. Already got a friend, colleague or co-worker you want to start learning with? Head to our Group Plans on the link below!
