Frequently Asked Questions

Yes! We automatically enable a 5 day free trial for everyone new to Ella Verbs. No credit card is required, and at the end of the trial you will automatically be downgraded to the free experience. If you did not get to use the trial, please email us from within the app and we will activate another couple of days for you on a case-by-case basis.

The trial we offer in-app does not need to be cancelled, because it does not auto-renew. We activate this trial automatically for people new to the app, and do not collect payment information for it.

You will find all the prices specific to your country within the Ella Verbs app. Once you download it, you'll find the payment options available to you behind any “Upgrade” button.

Payments are managed by Apple (via the App Store) or Google (via the Play Store). We never see, process or can access your payment method.

Apple accept the following payment methods:

- Apple Pay

- Credit / Debit Card

- PayPal

- Mobile Phone

- Gift voucher

Google accept the following payment methods (more information here):

- Credit / Debit Card

- PayPal

- Gift voucher

If you are having issues with a particular payment method, or simply prefer to change the method you’re currently using, follow these instructions to update your payment method for the Apple/ Google Play store:

App Store:

1. Open App Store

2. Tap on your account (name)

3. Tap on your name

4. Tap Manage payments > Add Payment Method > Paypal

Apple accept the following payment methods:

- Apple Pay

- Credit / Debit Card

- PayPal

- Mobile Phone

- Gift voucher

Google Play Store:

1. Open Play Store

2. Tap on your account (name)

3. Tap Payments & Subscriptions

4. Tap Payment Methods > Add Paypal

Google accept the following payment methods (more information here):

- Credit / Debit Card

- PayPal

- Gift voucher

Both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store accept gift vouchers, so some people buy gift vouchers in physical stores and then use these to pay for products in the stores. Read more for iOS here and Android here.

Yes, we offer discount for classes of 10 or more students. Please contact Jane for more information at [click to reveal]

For iOS: On your phone, open the App Store, then tap on the center icon at the bottom named 'Apps'. Scroll down. tap on 'Redeem', then tap on 'You can also redeem your code manually'. Follow the prompts from there.

For Android: Follow the steps here: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/3422659?hl=en.

There are a number of reasons :)

1. We are just two people, working on this in our spare time (mostly evenings and weekends). While we are incredibly passionate about Ella Verbs and Spanish in general, we do not want to (nor can we afford to) do it for free.

2. We show zero advertising in the app and do not sell your data. We want to keep it that way and protect your privacy.

3. Keeping Ella Verbs running costs us money (e.g. servers, hosting, etc) and people who upgrade to Pro help cover the cost.

4. And finally, we want to build this into a sustainable business and a fair trade of value, whereby you improve your Spanish while we receive a payment in return. We believe our pricing is very competitive when compared to alternatives (such as verb books and / or tutors). One day, we would like to leave our day jobs to focus on this full-time so we can improve it even more!

All of this said, if you genuinely cannot afford the app, you are welcome to apply to our Give Back program (more information below).

Our main goal for Ella Verbs is to help people. We also want to grow it into a sustainable business for our family (we have a 1 year old son and work on this in our spare time), but we never want money to be the reason someone can't benefit from it. Therefore, we offer some Pro access for free to people who cannot afford it.

This works completely on a trust based system. Running Ella Verbs costs us time and money, so if people abuse this we will have to revoke it. We hope we won't have to though :)

How do I know if the Give Back program is for me? If purchasing the app means you need to decide between it and something else, then the program is for you and please select it.

How do I select it? Open the Upgrade screen within the iOS or Android app. It appears as an option below the other options.

Open the app, go to Settings (tap the cog / gear icon up the top right), scroll down, and tap "Delete Account".

Note: please cancel any subscriptions before doing so, and note that this cannot be undone. You can email us at support@ellaverbs.com if you encounter any issues.

To sync your progress across multiple devices go to the Progress screen and then drag down from the top until you see a refresh icon and it starts to spin. This should sync your progress if it wasn’t working properly.

At the moment the "My Verbs" list does not sync between devices. We plan to make this happen in the future, but have some technical challenges we need to figure out as part of this. Please email us if you are interested in this feature.

To change your level, open Settings (tap the cog icon up the top right of the app), and then select “Change Level”. You will be able to go a quick questionnaire of the tenses, and once you get to one you don’t know, the level will be set accordingly. Please note that this is only available to Pro users, since they have access to all levels.

1. Open the app and go to sign in (e.g. by going to Settings and then tapping the "Register / Sign in" button). There, you will see an option to reset your password.

2. Enter your email address when asked and click the button.

3. Check your email (note it might go to your spam) for an email from us with a link to reset your password.

Yikes - sorry! Please email Jane at [click to reveal] (or use the button below) and we will work to fix it ASAP!

iOS:

1. Open your device Settings.

2. Tap "General".

3. Tap "Language & Region".

4. Here you’ll have an overview of the languages that you already have downloaded to your device.

5. Tap "Other Languages..." or "Add Language...".

6. Within this, you should see a list of languages that you can add to your device.

7. Tap on a Spanish language option. Note, you may see a prompt about using it as your primary language. You likely will to tap "Use YOUR_LANGUAGE" to keep your phone in the same language.

Note, you can also download enhanced voices for iOS. See the question below.

Android:

1. Open Settings on your device.

2. Search for, or go to "Accessibility" settings.

3. Tap on "Text-to-speech output" (or similar).

4. Under "Language", choose "Spanish (Spain)".

5. Now, tap the settings icon beside "Preferred Engine".

6. Tap on "Install voice data"

7. Scroll down and tap on "Spanish (Spain)"

8. Tap "download" if you see the option/button. If you do not, tap the delete symbol and then tap "download" again to refresh the voices.

Find more information from Google here.

iOS:

1. Open your device Settings.

2. Tap "General".

3. Tap "Accessibility".

4. Tap "VoiceOver".

5. Tap "Speech".

6. Under "Rotor Languages" at the bottom, if you do **not** see the dialect of Spanish you want (or no Spanish at all), tap "Add New Language..." and add it.

7. Under "Rotor Languages" at the bottom, tap the Spanish dialect you want.

8. Tap on a voice name, and you may see an "Enhanced" option. Tap this to enable it. For example, under "Spanish (Spain)", you can tap into "Mónica" and then tap "Enhanced".

9. Note, you may need to download the voice first (your device will prompt you).

You can find more information on enhanced voices from Apple here.

Android:

If the voice does not have a Spanish accent at all, please see the first sound FAQ above. Otherwise, you can install additional Text-to-speech engines. Follow the instructions from Google here.

1. In the Ella Verbs app settings, ensure “Speak answers" is turned on.

2. On your phone, ensure silent mode is turned off (using the button on the left hand side of your device).

3. As you start the quiz, turn up the volume by one bar.