Episodio 193: ¡Hay gato encerrado!

What's the meaning of 'haber gato encerrado'? In this episode we explain it's meaning, we give you some examples and you'll practice pronunciation and conjugation with us. Transcript available: "Bienvenido o bienvenida de nuevo a SpanishPodcast.net Hoy tenemos un episodio gatuno, es decir, un episodio en el que vamos a hablar sobre gatos. Bueno, no exactamente sobre gatos, sino sobre una expresión del español en la que aparece la palabra gato. "

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News #198 - A Deal So Good It Comes Once Every 4 Years & How to Succeed with Spanish

Why do most Spanish learners float around without making progress? And the top learners that are speaking native-level Spanish… What are they doing differently? Leap Year BONUS! Click Here to Get 29% OFF Premium & Premium PLUSUpgrade & Get 2 Gifts: Free Audiobook & Inner Circle Access You’re about to find out with the Inner Circle. The [...]

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Spanish Vocab Builder #33 - Vegetables

Learn Mexican Spanish with SpanishPod101.com ! Our Mexican Spanish vocabulary lists are listener favorites, and now we’ve made it even better! In each lesson, you’ll hear the Mexican Spanish words and phrases from the Mexican Spanish vocabulary lists. Join us for Mexican Spanish Vocab Builder! In this lesson, you’ll learn words about Vegetables. Click here to [...]

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Absolute Beginner S4 #1 - Introducing Yourself in Spanish

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! When you first meet someone in the Spanish-speaking country that you’re visiting, you exchange pleasantries in Spanish. Then, as you get ready to say good-bye, you extend your hand for a  handshake. At the same time, your new Spanish-speaking acquaintance leans in for a kiss on the cheek. This is awkward. [...]

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Absolute Beginner S4 #2 - Telling People Where You’re From in Spanish

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! As you look around a restaurant in Spain, the faces are unfamiliar, yet they seem friendly. You decide to approach someone and make a new friend.  In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself in Spanish. The conversation takes place at a restaurant in Spain between two students who just met. [...]

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Absolute Beginner S4 #3 - Celebrating Your Birthday in Spain

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Arriving at work in Spain, you notice an email about afternoon tea for a coworker’s birthday. You had no idea it was her birthday—you’d better go and wish her a happy birthday! In this lesson, you will learn how to use the verb tener (”to have”) to ask and talk about someone’s [...]

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Absolute Beginner S4 #4 - Using the Right Gender and Number of Spanish Nouns

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! It’s a rainy Saturday afternoon in Spain, and you’re getting a bit bored. So when your roommate comes home with a new PlayStation, you couldn’t be happier. Now you’ve got something to occupy you for the rest of the day! In this lesson, you will learn how the gender and number of [...]

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Absolute Beginner S4 #5 - Using the Spanish Definite Articles, Part 1

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Two of your Spanish friends have just bought new cars, and you’re happy for them…but also happy for selfish reasons because it means you can get rides everywhere now! In this lesson, you will learn how to use some of the definite articles in Spanish. Visit us at SpanishPod101.com, where you will [...]

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Absolute Beginner S4 #6 - Using the Spanish Definite Articles, Part 2

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! After a great Spanish dinner with friends, you’re about to head home when one suggests going to a bar for a nightcap. You shouldn’t go because you have to get up early for work…but you do feel like one more drink! In this lesson, you will learn how to use the plural [...]

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Absolute Beginner S4 #7 - Using the Spanish Indefinite Articles

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! After a long day at work in Spain, neither you nor your boyfriend want to cook dinner, so you decide to get takeout. But that’s easier said than done, because you can’t seem to agree on anything! At this rate, you’ll be having toast for dinner! In this lesson, you will learn [...]

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Absolute Beginner S4 #8 - Using Spanish Cardinal Numbers

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! You’ve managed to amass a stack of books while you’ve been wondering around this Spanish bookstore, but there’s no way you can afford to buy them all—even with the sale that’s happening. You’d better stop picking up more and choose a couple! In this lesson, you will learn how to use cardinal [...]

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Absolute Beginner S4 #9 - Using Spanish Adjectives

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Walking out the door to have lunch with your Spanish coworker, you realize you can’t find your sunglasses anywhere. You could’ve sworn they were on your desk…but when you start describing what they look like in Spanish, your coworker remembers seeing them in the bathroom. That’s lucky—those sunglasses weren’t cheap! In this [...]

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Absolute Beginner S4 #10 - Planning A Delicious Dinner

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! One of the reasons you moved to Spain was the delicious food, but somehow you only ever seem to eat Japanese food at home because your roommate is so obsessed with it! At least you get to eat Spanish food when you’re out during the day. You’d feel rude asking her [...]

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Episode 23 (Preview) – Season 4 – Coffee Break Spanish

We join María for her latest diary entry in which she updates us on the latest developments in the plans for the search for the sunken treasure. As usual, there are many interesting language points, and in this preview episode Carmen and Mark discuss one in particular: the use of the ‘vosotros’ imperative form in the positive and negative. For further discussions in the extended version, a full transcript and bonus listening materials, see below.

In the preview episode available here on the Radio Lingua site, on iTunes and on Soundcloud, you’ll be able to listen to Carmen and Mark’s introduction, to the core text of this episode, and to the summary in English of what happens in the text. For a full analysis of the text and in-depth discussion of the words and phrases contained in the episode, you can subscribe to our premium version. For further information, please see below.

Accessing the Premium Version

The premium version of Coffee Break Spanish Season 4 provides additional materials which will help you move forward more effectively with your advanced studies of Spanish. The premium version includes the following elements:

• full-length audio episode: in each episode Mark and Carmen discuss the language covered in each text in depth, providing further examples and testing you on your understanding;
• transcript: a full transcript of the entire episode including notes on complex language and grammar points;
• bonus audio episode: test yourself on the key constructions included in the audio episode with this bonus audio translation exercise.

The members’ version can be accessed through our membership system. You can purchase a membership using the links below.

• Season 4: Lessons 1-40
  £79.00 GBP inc VAT / approx $112.00 USD ex VAT for non EU customers)

Subscribe links

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Episodio 192: Antes que /antes de que

We talk about two different topics: the Spanish general election results and some grammar. We share with you a song very suitable for dancing! Transcript available: "Hola y bienvenido o bienvenida a un nuevo episodio de SpanishPodcast.net Hoy va a ser un episodio un poco extraño porque te voy a hablar de dos cosas diferentes. Pero, esto también es interesante para ti porque de esta manera cambiaremos de un tema a otro como si estuviéramos teniendo una conversación normal. Hemos creado este episodio por una petición que Hulya hizo a través de nuestro correo electrónico. En su mensaje nos pedía dos cosas: que habláramos del resultado de las pasadas elecciones políticas y también que explicáramos una diferencia entre utilizar dos frases muy parecidas: ‘antes que’, ‘antes de’ y ‘antes de que’ ... "

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Newbie Lesson #21 - Come here! I’ll be right there!

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! In today’s lesson, Lisy and Alan open the door even further to show us how “mandatos” or “commands” are used in the Spanish language. What’s interesting about commands in Spanish is that they can be either singular or plural, and either formal or informal. This means that there are four ways [...]

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How Learning a New Language Boosts Your Creativity

I’ve been working on a book recently. It’s about my experiences in Vietnam and going on a reality TV show. One of the show’s rules was that we had to write a diary about our feelings towards other participants on the show. Well, I have to admit, my Vietnamese wasn’t as good back then. I needed a lot of help. But something in me enjoyed the process of writing in another language. The show ended in October 2014, but the more I reflect on this experience, the more I miss going back and forth between writing in Vietnamese and English. I’ve also realised that language learning really helps me become a better writer. Learning other languages, you discover how to say the same thing in many different ways. In other words, you become more creative. Don’t believe me? Keep reading and I’ll show you how languages can boost your creativity.

1. Language Learning Gives You a New Way of Seeing the World

In English we say “Goodnight” or “Sweet dreams”. In Hebrew people say ליילה טוב, which also means “Goodnight”. In Vietnamese, people say “Chúc ngủ ngon”, which means “have a delicious sleep”. When I think about the word “delicious” I think pineapple pizza, chocolate chip cookie cake, and coconut ice-cream. I don’t think about going to sleep. Looking at it another way: if you are learning English for the first time, it maybe weird to say, “this fruit is melting in my mouth”, because it’s a bit odd if you translate it literally back to your native language. So depending on the language, different phrases will flex your creativity and force you to think about how to say things in a different way. The more you learn languages, the more creative you get in describing situations and saying things.

2. Language Learning Helps You Say the Unsayable

There are thousands of words in other languages that have no equivalent in English. Discovering these words broadens your overall vocabulary and gives you a bigger worldview. Along the same lines, English is a mongrel language, made up of many tongues. When you learn another language, chances are that you’ll pick up some “English” words you never knew before. You’ll also discover new ways of using English words. Take the German word for cell phone - “handy”. I love it!

3. Language Learning Gives You a “Sense of Humour” Transplant

Learning a second language is a lot of fun. When you can have a good time with it, it’s even better. Studying a new language, you will notice that you have to learn a new sense of humour that comes along with the culture of that language. Sometimes, jokes that work in English won’t work in French or Japanese. But sometimes cheesy things that nobody would laugh in English work in Vietnamese. I learned this when I performed stand up comedy in Vietnam. A lot of my non-Vietnamese speaking friends would ask me to translate the jokes for them, but when I translated back to English, no one laughed. Even I think that some of the jokes I tell in Vietnamese aren’t funny. But that’s okay. I’m forced to stretch my creativity by finding my sense of humour not only in English but in Vietnamese as well. You can do this too!

4. Language Learning Improves Your Body Language

When you are not sure what word to use, body language, including some hand gestures, will help get the point across. Likewise, when you know the right word but your pronunciation is off, you have to use your body language to make it clear what it is you are trying to say. Some people call this game “charades”, but other people (such as myself) use this regularly when they are learning a second language. The truth is, the more you can use your body language when you’re learning a new language, the better. And don’t shy away from trying to convey difficult words, as that’s the best way to put your creativity to work. The harder the word, the more creative you are going to be with your emotions and actions. Getting someone to understand that you can to say “call” is easy. Getting them to guess “responsibility” isn’t so much.

5. Language Learning Makes You Better at Improv

When you learn a second language you don’t really have time to sit and translate one word at a time. Sometimes you have to act on impulse and just go with what you know. You’ll have to use words you know to explain a word you don’t know. “A bird that swims” (duck/penguin). Or “really, really cold milk” (ice cream). If you have ever had a conversation in another language, you will know exactly what I mean! (If not, don’t worry, your day will come soon). It’s not easy. It forces you to be quick. You have to think extra hard when you speak in a second language. It’s like playing an improv game.

6. Language Learning Improves Your Memory

When you learn a new language you have to learn a lot of vocabulary, new grammar structures, idioms, and much more besides. Doing this this, you have to learn memorisation tactics. These could be flashcards, watching movies, using recall methods, or building a memory palace. Whatever memorisation tactic you use, it will boost helps your creativity. Plus, research shows that memorisation helps you become more creative simply by exercising your brain.

7. Language Learning Makes You Comfortable With Failure

Being creative is tough. Whether you are producing movies, writing, or doing stand-up comedy - most of your ideas will end up in the trash can. Even the ideas that continue past that stage will most likely be ignored or rejected. Creative people have to get comfortable with failure. You have to be okay if your ideas are not accepted. When you learn a second language, you are forced to fail everyday again and again. In fact, the more you fail, the faster you’ll make progress. You’ll make all kinds of mistakes. You’ll use the wrong word. People won’t understand your accent. You’ll mess up the stucture of a sentence. You’ll fail. And that’s okay. Because every time you fail, you can learn from it. And you can improve from the failures. Each failure is just one more stepping stone toward success. This helps you with your creativity because the more you fail as a creative, the more you are creating,. If you can accept failure, then you can keep being persistent and continue to put out creative work, or any work of that matter!

The Endless Feedback Loop of Creativity and Language Learning

Learning languages can be as fun as you want. The more creative you get with it, the better your experience will be. And since language learning boosts your creativity, the more you learn a language, the better you’ll get at coming up with creative ideas for language learning. It turns out to be one big feedback loop. That’s why many people get better at language learning over time. Next time you meet someone who speaks several languages, before you think that they have something special going on in their brain, take a step back and think. Maybe they do. But maybe they’ve got that special thing because they’ve made the effort to learn several languages. And effort is something we can all give. If you are on a fence and wondering that if you should learn a new language, I think you should give it a try. It has more benefits than you’d ever imagine.

The post How Learning a New Language Boosts Your Creativity appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

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Episodio 191: Expresiones con el verbo andar (II)

Expressions with the verb "andar" in Spanish. We talk about five useful idioms. At the end of the episode we will practice conjugation and pronunciation. Learn Spanish with this episode. ¡Anda con ojo!, transcript available: "Hola y bienvenido de nuevo a un episodio de SpanishPodcast.net ¿Qué tal estás? ¿Has mejorado tu español? Espero que sí. Si es la primera vez que escuchas uno de nuestros episodios, te recomiendo que escuches el episodio en el que explicamos nuestro método de aprendizaje y también los vídeos en los que te damos 7 técnicas muy efectivas para aprender español o cualquier otro idioma ... "

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CBI Il Ripassino 01 | Review your Italian with the Coffee Break team

As we’ve previously explained, there’s been a delay with the production of lessons 31-40 of the Coffee Break Italian course, but we’re delighted to be back in the studio and bringing you some review content before we record the final batch of ten lessons in Season 1. The Coffee Break Italian Ripassino will help you review what you’ve learned.

Listen to the episode

The audio lesson is free, as are all the main audio lessons of Coffee Break Italian. Use the audio player to listen to the lesson, or subscribe in iTunes to receive this lesson and all future lessons automatically.

Accessing the Premium Version

The premium version of Coffee Break Italian provides additional materials which will help you move forward more effectively with your Italian studies. The premium version includes the following elements:

• video flashcards: listen to each lesson and see the words and phrases covered in the lesson displayed on the screen of your computer, phone or tablet (mp4 format);
• bonus audio materials: use our review lessons to practise the language covered in the main lesson, and to pick up some useful bonus vocabulary (mp3 format);
• comprehensive lesson notes: study the language of each lesson in greater detail and access additional information about the Italian language (pdf format).

The members’ version can be accessed through our membership system. You can purchase a membership using the links below.

• Season 1: Lessons 1-40 £79.00 GBP inc VAT / approx $112.00 USD ex VAT for non EU customers)

Subscribe links

Subscribe in iTunes | RSS Feed | Purchase members’ audio and transcripts

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Spanish Vocab Builder #32 - Furniture

Learn Mexican Spanish with SpanishPod101.com ! Our Mexican Spanish vocabulary lists are listener favorites, and now we’ve made it even better! In each lesson, you’ll hear the Mexican Spanish words and phrases from the Mexican Spanish vocabulary lists. Join us for Mexican Spanish Vocab Builder! In this lesson, you’ll learn words and phrases for Furniture. Click [...]

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Coffee Break Spanish One Second Search 01

¡Un nuevo juego para ti!
Welcome to the One Second Search – an exciting new activity to test your Spanish vocabulary. If you are subscribed to our Newsletter, you will have read about the sightings of a yeti in the ski resort of Formigal which turned out to be una campaña de publicidad.

Your challenge:

1) Look at the word grid below which is filled with items of vocabulary related to the Newsletter article.

2) Write a sentence using the first word you find and share it with the Coffee Break Community by posting it as a comment.

3) See what other words you can find.

¡Que tengas suerte!

 

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Coffee Break French One Second Search 01

Un nouveau jeu!
Welcome to the One Second Search – an exciting new activity to test your French vocabulary. If you are subscribed to our Newsletter, you will have read about the recent changes to French spelling introduced by the Académie française.

Your challenge:

1. Look at the word grid below which is filled with items of vocabulary related to the Newsletter article.
2. Write a sentence using the first word you find and share it with the Coffee Break Community by posting it as a comment.
3. See what other words you can find.

Bonne chance!

 

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Spanish Listening Comprehension for Absolute Beginners #19 - Talking About a Party in Mexican Spanish

  Learn Mexican Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Do you find yourself only understanding bits and pieces of Mexican Spanish conversations? Do you spend hours trying to figure out what that person said to you in Mexican Spanish? Then this Mexican Spanish Listening Comprehension for Absolute Beginners series is for you! In each lesson of this five-part series, [...]

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How I Learned 5 Languages in One Year

Last year was incredibly busy, but productive and fun. My little daughter had just turned two. She was enrolled in early development programs with a “Kindergarten is Too Late” approach. We had no nannies or grannies to help clean our apartment or feed a hungry husband (a standard set of responsibilities for a Russian housewife on maternity leave). Even with these seemingly overwhelming responsibilities, I was determined to learn new languages. Five languages, to be exact. Sound impossible? And why would I want to learn five languages? It all started with the Michael Erard’s book Babel No More. If you love learning languages but hesitate to study more than one or two, you must read this book. Babel No More draws upon the concept of neuroplasticity. Today, many of us memorize very little information. Why bother if all information is within arm’s length? Learning a foreign language after graduation is one of the few ways for us millenials to train our memories. A good memory is extremely important for everyone during retirement years. We take pleasure in training our bodies, but we neglect to train our brains, even though learning a second language is such a simple way to stay sharp throughout our lives. So, I opened my laptop and made a simple list of the languages I wanted to learn:

• Monday – German
• Tuesday – Spanish
• Wednesday – French
• Thursday – Chinese
• Friday was free until August. Then I wrote Czech in the blank.

I thought about learning Japanese, but I decided that this language should be learned in a calmer, quieter setting. I can now speak all five of these languages with varying degrees of fluency:

• German (B2)
• Spanish (A1)
• French (A2)
• Chinese (B2)
• Czech (A2)

In the process, I improved my memorisation skills, and learned how to make the most of my freetime. Alongside all that, I gave my little Varvara (age 2) English classes. My solution to improving learning? Time management for a polyglot! Here’s how to follow such an intense schedule:

Step 1: Uncover Your Wasted Time

When you have at most three hours per day outside of work and family responsibilities, as I did, you start to value your time. You do not, however, have to study for 3 hours straight. It can be 20 minutes in the morning, 90 minutes at lunchtime, and another hour in the evening. I am writing this article from 4 am to 6 am. Count how much time you spend on social networks. Multiply it by seven. Then multiply it by 52 and be amazed by the amount of time this year you could have spent making your dream come true. If you want to do something, start today. Finish reading the article and start. First, uninstall all social network apps from your phone. You will no longer be distracted by any messages (admit it, 99% of them are not urgent). Instead, install an app like Pomodoro that blocks your phone connection and wi-fi for 25 minutes and lets you concentrate undisturbed. Following just this one tip will bring you closer to your dream.

Step 2: Optimize Your Routines (Or: Don’t Let Your Interests Annoy Your Family)

Frankly speaking, I have always felt held back by cleaning, cooking, and other household tasks. It is frustrating how much time we spend cooking one dinner or doing the daily washing when we could devote it to something interesting. Add a crawling baby to your home, and you have to radically change your approach to doing housework. To give myself more free time, I invested in a dishwasher, a steamer, a multi-cooker, and a vacuum-cleaning robot. If I did the cleaning when my daughter was awake, she could play on her own or join me (In the latter case, I just needed to be patient and encourage her initiative and involvement). Thus, I was able to organise my life and manage my household duties without sacrificing my precious personal time. Whatever routines and chores you have, chances are there’s a way to make them more time-efficient. If you can save just 10 minutes for every hour you’re awake, that’s nearly 3 hours of extra free time.

Step 3: Make Personal Time Your Most Precious Thing

Decide that your private time is really important to you. You will not be able to create anything worthwhile or learn multiple languages if you do not have time to sit and think them over in the comfort of solitude. My private time was my daughter’s sleeping time. Some days I got lucky, and she slept 3 hours in the afternoon and went to bed at 9 pm. Other days I would have just 40 minutes during the day, and she would be up until 11 pm. But no matter what - as soon as she fell asleep, I would go to study. I would not waste my time on anything else. Your personal time is precious. Use it wisely.

Step 4: Make a Plan for the Next 12 Weeks

Imagine that your year lasts for 12 weeks instead of 12 months. Doing so will give you four deadlines in a calendar year instead of one Big December deadline (when many people realize that they have failed with their New Year’s resolutions). We all know that setting a deadline is the best way to ensure that you get things done. Give yourself this gift: organise four deadlines in one year, and you will be surprised and proud of yourself in December! Imagine that each week is a full month, and keep doing something every day. For me, that turned out to be the most effective time management principle ever.

Step 5: Stay Focused on the Goals You Set

I followed my list of five languages, and focused on one language per day. No, languages do not really mix. However, you will be amused when your French teacher says something in Chinese. It's difficult, but it makes the brain work! I had several goals: take my Chinese and German level up to upper-intermediate; refresh my French and Spanish; and start with a new language (Czech). I met all three of those goals. That being said, I would not recommend that you start with five languages, or even three, especially if you do not have a language background. However, it is possible to simultaneously learn two languages quite effectively by doing the following:

• Self-learning with good resources (2 hours per day)
• One session with a native speaker on Skype (30 minutes per day)

With Skype chats, I reinforced the material I had learned independently. That made my lessons with teachers more productive.

What I Discovered Learning 5 Languages in One Year

Honestly speaking, to live a year on such a schedule was quite a challenge. Without self-discipline, it would have never worked out. From time to time, I had to cancel my lessons simply because I needed to sleep. However, if you have a language learning dream, you have to work for it. There is simply no other way, and the results are definitely worth all the effort. In summary, here is what I recommend if you dream of speaking several languages but do not know where to begin.

• Make a list of all the languages you want to learn.
• Evaluate them based on the following criteria:
  • interest in a language (are you passionate or just curious?)
  • practical use (do you want to work with this language or ever travel to a country where it is spoken?)
  • availability of resources (is it a popular or rare language?)

Rate the language from 5 to 0 (5 if a language is exciting, promises a better future, or is very popular).

• Total up the scores and pick the language with the highest total rating. Start with this language.
• Create a 12-week plan that covers pronunciation, basic grammar, and basic vocabulary. Start practicing your writing and speaking as soon as possible (Follow Benny's free Speak in a Week course; it works brilliantly!)
• Study at least one hour every day. Then, it’s very likely that you’ll reach A1 in almost any language in just 12 weeks. If you already speak the language, you’ll substantially upgrade your current level.

After 12 weeks, go ahead and take another language from your list if you still want to learn it. Learn the basics and remember to add Skype sessions to maintain your previous language. If your goal is quantity, you could learn four languages at a basic level in just one year. Good luck with your language studies!

The post How I Learned 5 Languages in One Year appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

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Episodio 189: San Valentín

Valentine's day! Learn real Spanish with this episode in which we talk about Valentine's day. We explain it's origin, what are the customs in Spain and how it's celebrated. Transcript available: " Hola y bienvenidos de nuevo a Spanishpodcast.net Hoy es el día de San Valentín, o el día de los enamorados, y seguro que muchos de vosotros ya habéis previsto qué hacer con vuestra pareja o algún amigo o amiga ... "

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Spanish Vocab Builder #31 - Mammals

Learn Mexican Spanish with SpanishPod101.com ! Our Mexican Spanish vocabulary lists are listener favorites, and now we’ve made it even better! In each lesson, you’ll hear the Mexican Spanish words and phrases from the Mexican Spanish vocabulary lists. Join us for Mexican Spanish Vocab Builder! In this lesson, you’ll learn words and phrases for Mammals. Click [...]

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News #197 - 6 Ways You’ll Learn Spanish Faster with… Video Lessons! New Features Inside

You know that learning Spanish with video lessons is effective. You hear the language and you see the words on the screen. It’s easy to remember what you’ve learned. But if you’re simply watching and not applying even a few of these 6 ways…you’re walking away from speaking better Spanish in 3 minutes (or however [...]

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Inner Circle #25 - January 2016: Get a Big Head Start with Your Language Profile Cheat Sheet

You’re receiving this because you made a resolution for 2016 and took the Challenge. Now that you have a goal in mind, let’s talk about the first steps to learning a language. Normally, I recommend writing out a self-introduction. This time, I also built my language profile. What’s that, you ask?   In this Inner Circle Lesson, [...]

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What Are the Most Common English-Spanish False Friends?`

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Asking questions is a big part of learning Spanish. Every day at SpanishPod101.com, we get so many great questions from you, the listeners. And in this video series, we’ll answer those questions! Join Rosa and get some answers! In this lesson, you’ll learn the answer to the question ‘What Are the Most [...]

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Episodio 188: A lo hecho, pecho

What does 'a lo hecho, pecho' mean? In this episode we explain this Spanish idiom, it can have two meanings. Practice pronunciation with us! Transcript available: " A lo hecho, pecho. Esta es una frase que posiblemente has podido aplicar en alguna situación de tu vida cotidiana. ¿Sabes lo que significa? Si no es así, no te preocupes porque lo aprenderás a lo largo de este episodio. Si es así, enhorabuena, porque eso significa que conoces una frase bastante utilizada por los nativos ... "

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Introduction #07 - A Living and Breathing Language

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Today we have the 7th edition of this Introduction Series. We’ve learned about the Free, Basic and Premium subscriptions in the first three episodes. And then, we learned what we can expect out of the Newbie, Beginner and Lower Intermediate Series. Today, Alan and Lisy are going to give us a [...]

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5 Hacks to Learn Languages by Reading Literature

Nothing is better than a great book. And, if it is a foreign book? Even better! You can learn a lot from reading books in your target language. You can benefit from a book’s message and equally from its language. In other words, a book can improve your way of life and your language learning at the same time. So, what’s the best way to read a book in your target language? A language is not only grammar and vocabulary. A language is a completely different lens on the world. This means that when you’re reading a book in another language, the text is not only content but also shape. The words and expressions that were chosen by the author can be a great source of instruction both in language learning, and in giving you a new view of the world. Are you convinced that it’s a good idea to read literature in other languages? Remember that literature doesn’t automatically equal complex. Children’s literature can be both simple and profound - and is ideal for beginner learners. In this article, I will show you five simple hacks that you can use to help you learn a language more effectively through reading literature. Are you ready? Let's begin!

1. Keep a Dictionary Close to Hand

Looking up words you don’t know in a dictionary is the most simple strategy, and also one of the most effective. This method consists of reading the text, underlining unknown vocabulary, looking up these words in a reliable dictionary, then writing down their meanings. I have applied this technique hundreds of times, and on the way I discovered two important strategies that substantially improved my results. The biggest mistake I made was writing notes in any notebook or on any piece of paper and then forgetting them in some drawer. If you do that, your effort will be lost, because you will have access to this vocabulary only once. It is necessary to have a reliable notebook. Even if you mix all the subjects you study in a single notebook, it will not be a problem, as long as all your notes are easily available. This leads to my second strategy, which is to keep a pocket notebook. This is a small notebook, which fits in your pocket, so that you can carry it around when you are not at home. This way, while you are waiting for a bus, on the subway, standing on a line or sitting in a waiting room, whenever you have idle time, you can to review your notes. Nowadays, there is the option of a virtual notebook. Evernote is a virtual notebook that works on your smartphone. You can create notes with text, audio, checklists, photos, or anything else you want to remember. It’s very practical for day to day life, and perfect for jotting down vocabulary. How can you remember all the vocabulary you’ve collected in your notebook? I recommend using Spaced Repetition Software such as Anki or Memrise. These flashcard applications are the most effective way to learn vocabulary, as they prompt you to remember words when you are on the verge of forgetting them.

2. Comparative Reading: Keep Two Books Side by Side

This strategy is more work than keep a dictionary to hand. Nonetheless, it is absolutely worth it. I call it “comparative reading”, It involves reading the original book and a translation at the same time. This method is not solely about reading. It is also about taking notes. What kind of notes? Well, writing down interesting excerpts, commentaries, vocabulary, everything you figure will help you to learn even more. Again, these notes need to be taken in a reliable notebook, and should be easily available for future reference. Speaking of notes, I’d like to share part of my notebook with you. It has some scribbles and probably some mistakes, but that's how things work. These notes are from Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse, my favorite German writer. Note that there are several comments on the narrative and only two excerpts on this page. I tried to pick a page that was not scribbled on so much. I admit that I have not read very many books this way and only used this method for the German language. One of the books I read applying this technique was "Der Steppenwolf" (The Steppenwolf) and it took me more than twice as long as usual. Another way to apply this strategy is to use bilingual books. This is easier because you only need to handle one book at a time. But, you still have to take notes and follow the same rules: write your notes in a reliable notebook. Extract interesting passages, great sentences, and new vocabulary. For the first book I read in French, I applied this technique. I had just entered university, I had never done a French course in my life and only knew enough to pass the entrance exam due to my studies three months before the exam. Digressions aside, this is the book I read in two languages: Needless to say, reading a book in two languages is a really interesting and pleasant experience. You can read a book you love in a language you love - and learn more about both of them at the same time. How wonderful is that?

3. Read Comic Books (Pictures Aren’t Cheating!)

It is true ... I started reading French with Rimbaud, but I did not start Italian with Ungaretti. I was only 9 years old when I started to learn Italian and at the time, I was a voracious reader of comics. When I turned 10, I received a fabulous gift for Christmas: a series of comic books in Italian, which an Italian friend of mine sent via mail. What bliss! Just imagine. Now, I could read the type of book I enjoyed the most, in the language I was learning! I felt amazed at how those magazines had come to me from the country of Italy, so far away... [caption id="attachment_17742" align="alignnone" width="740"] This comic book is very old, isn't it? The explanation: I received it 18 years ago.[/caption] I used to read it a lot. To this day, I enjoy reading comics, not just comic books, but also comic strips. The image-text combination makes it easier to understand the language I’m learning. Moreover, some comic strips can arouse a great feeling of sensitivity just like a beautiful phrase in a book. Reading comics is a fun way to study, with wit and humour. It is worth spending a little time to read comic strips in other languages. I can show you an example. What do you think of this comic strip written in Spanish?

4. Read While Listening to the Audiobook

This is my favorite method! Reading while listening is one of the best ways I have found to study a language. Just as with the comparative reading strategy, you need to be ready to manage two books at a time, in this case, two different forms of media. But I assure you, nothing is better than listening to a native speaker while you follow the text. Listening and reading at the same time is just a matter of habit. You’ll get used to it faster than you think. I know it may sound crazy, it looks like you will not be able to concentrate on both at once, but if you try, you will see that is not so difficult. Listening as you read will improve your word-pronunciation association. You’ll begin to realize that you were pronouncing words incorrectly or that one word has more than one pronunciation. You don’t have to start with a novel. Reading and listening to a poem at the same time can be a great way to start applying this technique. A final remark: this method also works great when you are unable to focus on a very boring book, required by your university. I cannot remember how many books I have read in this way and for that reason. From Shakespeare to Proust, all the books that I considered boring or difficult were read exactly like this. Worried about the cost of audiobooks? LibriVox is your solution. Librivox is a free resource with audiobooks in various languages and from many different authors. Of course, it is just classical authors, because their works are free of copyright.

5. Use Easy Reading Books for “Facilitated Reading”

Is Jane Austen too hard for you? Why don’t you try an adapted version for English learners? Easy reading books are a great way to learn a language. I call it “facilitated reading”. Famous books adapted for language learners mean you can dip into great literature while developing your language skills. And the best part? They are divided into levels - from elementary to advanced. This means that even if you already are an intermediate reader, you can benefit. You don’t have to retrocede to a lower level to read an adapted book. The greatest benefit that you get is that the book has been written with the purpose of teaching the language. Many of them have comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary exercises. A second positive point is the possibility of reading with audio, as the vast majority of these books come with a CD. This way, you can apply my favorite strategy (see number 4, above), following along with a native speaker. Easy reading books aren’t only available in English. A quick Google search will help you find easy reading books whatever your target language.

What Are Your Questions about Learning a Language Through Literature?

I hope you enjoyed the tips that I have presented. I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Please, leave a comment, and I will absolutely answer your question very soon! A big hug to you and see you soon!

The post 5 Hacks to Learn Languages by Reading Literature appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

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Episodio 187: La Inquisición española

Learn Spanish while you learn about the Spanish Inquisition. We talk about the causes, his creation, censorship, witchcraft, heresy, torture and its victims. Transcript available: "Hola a todos y bienvenidos a un nuevo episodio de SpanishPodcast.net Hoy os vamos a hablar de un capítulo interesante de la historia de nuestro país. Es un capítulo cruel y malvado, pero forma parte de nuestra historia. Con este episodio podréis aprender español mientras aprendéis algo de cultura general, ¡y nosotros también! Generalmente hacemos una pequeña investigación sobre el tema del que hablamos para dar la información de la forma más adecuada posible e intentar ser objetivos ..."

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Spanish Vocab Builder #30 - Drinks

Learn Mexican Spanish with SpanishPod101.com ! Our Mexican Spanish vocabulary lists are listener favorites, and now we’ve made it even better! In each lesson, you’ll hear the Mexican Spanish words and phrases from the Mexican Spanish vocabulary lists. Join us for Mexican Spanish Vocab Builder! In this lesson, you’ll learn words and phrases for Drinks. Click [...]

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4 Reasons French is Easy to Learn

Speaking French can transform your life and open you up to a whole new culture, and many wonderful friendships. So I can completely understand why you’d to learn how to speak French. However, I’ve heard from a lot of readers who are struggling with learning French. Shouldn’t they just give up completely or turn to their attention to one that seems far easier? Don’t be silly! Why learn a language that seems more useful, when in a matter of weeks you could be having your first conversation in a language that will open you up to over 75 million speakers in over 50 countries? French is not hard to learn, especially when compared to English! That’s right. Learning French isn’t going to be as difficult as you think. In fact, it’s a language that is much easier to achieve fluency in than you would have ever expected. Don’t believe me? Well, at least give me a chance to explain myself! Read on to find out why.

1. You’re Not Starting From Scratch

English and French share a common alphabet and a large portion of vocabulary. In fact, English has more in common lexically with French than any other Romance language (which include the likes of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian). The Romance languages belong to the Indo-European family, as does English. However, we largely have William the Conqueror, the first Norman King of England to thank for the abundance of French words within the English language. He led the successful Norman invasion of England in 1066 AD. William spoke no English when he ascended the throne and although he tried to learn Old English, he failed to master this foreign tongue. French was instead spoken within England’s courts for centuries after, which completely transformed the language to what we know it as today. French rapidly became fashionable to learn amongst the social classes. It was spoken in schools and universities and within the court of law. Modern English words in the fields of medicine, economics, law and politics, which have a strong basis in Latin, bear a similarity to French. English, a Germanic language that had previously had much resemblance to other Nordic languages, German and Dutch, began to take on words of Anglo-Norman and Anglo-French origin, which influenced the vocabulary permanently. You would be surprised at some of the words you probably use in everyday language that in fact had French origins, such as pork, blue and administration. So if you’re fluent in English, you’ll already have a head start in French vocabulary. You’ll be familiar with the spelling, pronunciation and meanings of words such as café, debut, encore and petite, amongst many others. This makes French one of the easiest languages for native English speakers to begin speaking from day one.

2. French Is Simpler to Pronounce than English

Consider this. If tomb in English is pronounced toom and womb is pronounced woom, then shouldn’t bomb be pronounced boom? I’ve got another one for you. Enough, rough, tough and then… slough! How about those homographs! These are words that are spelt the same but have a different meaning. Examples include: “I lead the dog to the water bowl that is made out of lead.” “She wound the bandage around the wound.” …What?! English is not consistent when it comes to pronunciation. If you’re like me and you grew up speaking this language, rules like this will come naturally to you. You learnt them over time, through trial and error. However, this can be extremely confusing for new learners. All languages have many rules. The problem is, English has about as many exceptions, as there are rules themselves! French pronunciation can seem difficult at first. Like English, there are a lot of silent letters. Nouns can be pronounced differently depending on whether they are masculine or feminine. Similarly, there are several rules for French pronunciation that can drive English speakers mad. Indeed, it may seem that French at first glance, is as tricky, complicated and inconsistent as English. I do however, have a point to argue against this case. French is a language that English speakers come into contact with on a regular basis. It is deeply ingrained in our culture! France is hop, skip and a jump away from the United Kingdom and Ireland. A decent chunk of Canada is French speaking. It’s a popular option in Australia, where it’s mandatory to spend one year at school studying a second language. And I know if you were to ask many Americans what their dream destination was, Paris would be at the top of many people’s lists. I don’t blame them – I even proposed to my partner there! When you start learning French, you’ll already know what you’re going to have difficulties with. You’ll be aware that you’ll have issues pronouncing that guttural ‘r’ at first. You’ll know that many words end on silent letters, such as in the case of comment ça va? You’ll be mindful of the fact that contractions are mandatory in the French language, such as in the case of “j’adore”. This is knowledge that you’ll have been subconsciously building upon your entire life, will no doubt come in handy as you begin to wrap your head around the French language.

3. Gendered Words aren’t as Confusing as They Seem

While gendered nouns are prevalent in many European languages, they can be a source of continual frustration for English native speakers. English nouns do have gender – but the gender is tied directly to the biological sex of the noun, with inanimate objects remaining neutral. As a result, gender rules can seem confusing and pointless to English speakers, who are left scratching their heads as to how on earth it was decided that the sun (le Soleil) is masculine while a car (une voiture) is feminine. However, there is no discounting the fact that the knowledge of genders in French is important. Gender has influence on pronouns, endings of adjectives and verbs and the article placed before the noun. (Le, la, un, une and so on, so forth) Luckily in French, there are several rules you can follow to determine the gender of an object. Here are some to consider:

• Certain nouns referring to animals that can only be male of the species will be masculine, such as le taureau (bull). This is the same for feminine nouns, such as la jument (mare / female horse).
• There are generic terms, which can refer to either a male or female of a species. Le mouton for example, can be a sheep of either gender.
• Place names not ending in -e are masculine (Paris). If they do end in -e, they’re feminine. (L’Irlande)
• You can pretty much guess the gender of a word, based on the ending. Words ending in –ment, -er, -eau and –ou tend to be masculine. On the flip side, -tion, -sion, -son and -ée are feminine.

Once you’ve learned the rules, you’ll generally be able to predict the gender of a word, using those guidelines. Knowledge of genders is a requisite in learning many languages. Spanish, Italian and Portuguese all use two genders, while German and Russian use three. If you are already fluent or have some knowledge of any other of the number of languages that use gendered nouns, you’ll find yourself at an advantage in learning to speak French. For example, a Portuguese speaker would have less trouble learning French in this regard, than they would in English. If your goal is to learn more languages and you’re starting with French as a native English speaker, breathe easy! The more you learn, the more genders will make sense to you and the easier it will be when you move onto your next language.

4. French People are Happy to Help You Learn French

I hate stereotypes! Although I found it extraordinarily difficult to get along with Parisians when I first lived in Paris, during the second time around, I was determined to remain open minded. I managed to leave with a more positive impression of the French overall after only a few hours there. I realised that I couldn’t just expect for things in Paris to be exactly as they were in Ireland, or any other country I had previously lived in. I forced myself to be more understanding and as a consequence, I got what I had always hoped would happen – someone told me I spoke French très bien. A Parisian said I spoke good French! Dreams do come true! There are complaints that the French can be incredibly negative. If you can’t speak their language, they judge you. If you are learning their language and make a mistake, they’ll look down their noses at you with an air of disdain. Either way, you can’t win! Upon genuinely understanding the culture more, I didn’t find these to be true at all. Most people I’ve met have been happy to help me when I’ve been stuck – you just have to ask for it. In fact, I’ve found it is English speakers that are more likely to ignore you when you make mistakes, out of fear of hurting anyone’s feelings! We’re a sensitive lot, that’s for sure. If you’re struggling to understand spoken French, there’s no harm in politely asking whomever you’re talking to if they can slow down. I’m sure they’d be more than happy to oblige. I find listening to be one of the more challenging aspects of learning a language, but fortunately there are many free resources for French available online.

Go Forth and Conquer – Just Like William Did!

French is not a hard language to learn – indeed there are many aspects of it that make it a much easier and I daresay logical language than English. So don’t get despondent and don’t give up. You’ll be eating your body weight in croissants in Paris before you know it!

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9 Reasons Vietnamese is Easier Than You Think

Just how difficult is the Vietnamese language? Pretty much impossible, if you ask the Vietnamese themselves. The supposed difficulty of Vietnam's official language is a point of national pride amongst its 90 million inhabitants, and locals are happy to tell you "tiếng Việt khó!" (Vietnamese is hard) at every possible opportunity. So if you’re learning Vietnamese, or thinking about learning, it’s likely that all you’ve been getting so far is discouragement! In this article, I want to give you an alternate perspective, and offer you some encouragement, because chances are that Vietnamese is easier than you think. It's true that, with six tones and a plethora of strange vowel sounds that we don’t have in English, pronouncing Vietnamese can be tricky. But most expats in Vietnam (of which I was one for a year) fail to realise that the pronunciation is just about the only difficult thing about Vietnamese. Every other aspect of the language is *extremely easy - far easier that what you might expect, especially compared to most European languages. Don't believe me? Here are ten reasons why Vietnamese is easier than you think:

1. Vietnamese Has No Genders

If you've ever learned French, Spanish, German, or just about any European language except English, you just breathed a huge sigh of relief. Vietnamese has no concept of "masculine" or "feminine" words. You can just learn the word as it is, without any need for extra memorisation.

2. Vietnamese Dispenses with “a” and “the”

If someone who was studying English asked you when to use “a” before a word, and when to use “the”, would you be able to explain? It’s a surprisingly complicated topic. The Wikipedia page on “articles”, as they’re called, is over 2500 words long! But is it really that important whether you’re talking about “a” something or “the” something? It’s usually obvious from the context which one you mean. Far easier to just do away with them completely, which is what Vietnamese does. Người can mean both a person or “the person”, and you never need to worry about the distinction.

3. Vietnamese Doesn’t Have Plurals

In English, when we want to make something plural we usually stick an “s” on the end of it. “Dog” becomes “dogs”, “table” becomes “tables” and “house” becomes “houses”. However, there are many exceptions. “Person” becomes “people”, “mouse” becomes “mice”, “man” becomes “men”, and some words like “sheep” or “fish” don’t change at all. In Vietnamese, everything is like a sheep. The word người, which I’ve already mentioned, can be used for both “people” or “person”; “cho” is “dog” or “dogs”, “bàn” is “table” or “tables”, and so on. If you think this would get confusing, ask yourself: can you remember a single time in your life when you heard someone talking about “the sheep” or “the fish” and you got confused because you didn’t know how many animals they were talking about? If you really need to be specific, just slap an extra word in front of the noun, like một người (one person), nhũng người (some people), or các người (all the people). Easy. And it’s not just nouns that are simple...

4. Vietnamese Has No Confusing Verb Endings

Pity the poor learner of Spanish. Even to say something as simple as the word “speak” (hablar), he or she has to learn five or six (depending on dialect) different verb endings for the present tense alone . I hablo, you hablas, he habla, we hablamos, and the list goes on. Factor in different tenses and subtleties like the grammatical “mood” (indicative vs subjunctive), and a single Spanish verb has over fifty different forms that learners have to memorize. The technical term is that Spanish verbs (and nouns, and adjectives) inflect, meaning the same word can take different forms depending on the context. English isn’t nearly as inflective as Spanish, but we still do it to some extent - for example the word “speak” can inflect to “speaks”, “speaking”, “spoken”, or “spoke”. Here's the good news: Vietnamese is a completely non-inflective language - no word ever changes its form in any context. Learn the word nói, and you know how to say “speak” in all contexts and tenses for all speakers. I nói, you nói, he or she nói, we nói, you all nói, and they nói. That’s dozens, if not hundreds of hours of work saved compared to learning almost any European language. A corollary to this is something that will give anyone’s who’s studied a European language a sigh of relief:

5. Vietnamese Tenses Can Be Learned In Two Minutes

Vietnamese tenses are so easy it’s practically cheating. Just take the original verb, e.g. “ăn” (to eat), and stick one of the following 5 words in front of it:

• đã = in the past
• mới = in the recent past, more recently than đã
• đang = right now, at this very moment
• sắp = soon, in the near future
• sẽ = in the future

(There are a few others, but with these 5 you’ll be fine in 99% of situations.) To give you some concrete examples (“tôi” means “I”):

• Tôi ăn cơm = I eat rice
• Tôi đã ăn cơm = I ate rice
• Tôi mới ăn cơm = I just ate rice, I recently ate rice
• Tôi đang ăn cơm = I am eating rice (right now)
• Tôi sắp ăn cơm = I am going to eat rice, I am about to eat rice
• Tôi sẽ ăn cơm = I will eat rice.

Better yet, you can often skip these words entirely if it’s obvious from the context - for example “tôi ăn cơm hom qua” - “I eat rice yesterday” - is perfectly valid Vietnamese. Congratulations! You can now express yourself in Vietnamese in any tense! Wasn’t that simple?

6. You Don’t Have To Learn a New Alphabet

You can thank the French for this one. Up until about 100 years ago, Vietnamese was written (by the tiny percentage of the population who were literate back then) using a complicated pictoral system called Chữ Nôm that's similar to today’s Chinese characters. Today, that’s been 100% superseded by a version of the Latin alphabet (i.e. the same alphabet that English uses) called Quốc Ngữ. So, unlike Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Thai, Cambodian, Korean, Hindi, or dozens of other Asian languages, there's no need to learn a new alphabet to read Vietnamese . All you have to do is learn a bunch of accent marks (technically “diacritics”), which are mostly used to denote tone, and you’ll be reading Vietnamese in no time. In fact, learning to read Vietnamese is actually easier than learning to read English, because...

7. Vietnamese Spelling is Highly Consistent and Unambiguous

Quick question: how do you pronounce the English words “read”, “object”, “close”, and “present”? Well, was it close, or did you close? Did you present the present, read what I’ve read, or object to the object? English spelling is extremely inconsistent, more than any other language I’m aware of, and the “same” word can often have different pronunciations depending on the context. Even the same letter can be pronounced a ton of different ways - like the letter “a” in “catch”, “male”, “farmer”, “bread”, “read” and “meta”. Combine this with a huge amount of inconsistencies, foreign spellings, and things that make absolutely no sense whatever (like the suffix -ough, and ESL students have one hell of hard time figuring out how English words should be written or pronounced). Vietnamese, on the hand, has none of this nonsense. The same letter is always pronounced the same way no matter what the word or context (disclaimer: this holds true more for Hanoi Vietnamese than Saigon Vietnamese, which has a very small number of inconsistencies), and you can always tell from reading a single Vietnamese word exactly how it’s supposed to be pronounced. Once you can read the Vietnamese alphabet’s 28 letters (which, remember, are almost exactly the same as English’s 26), and understand its five tone marks, you can read any Vietnamese word. Job done!

8. Vietnamese Grammar is Virtually Non-Existent

I already mentioned how Vietnamese lets you leave out the tense word (like saying "I eat rice yesterday") if what you mean is obvious from the context. This is actually just one example of a wider point: Vietnamese grammar is incredibly simple. Most of the time, you can just say the minimum amount of words needed to get your point across and the result is grammatically correct Vietnamese, no matter how "broken" it would sound in English. This is why you'll often hear Vietnamese people using incomplete English sentences like "no have" or "where you go?". They’re just translating directly from how they’d say it in Vietnamese, forgetting to apply the much more complicated rules that English insists on. It's a big disadvantage for Vietnamese people wanting to learn English, but it makes your life much easier as a learner of Vietnamese.

9. Vietnamese Vocabulary is Highly Logical

Most foreigners in Vietnam, even if they don't speak Vietnamese, will know the amusing fact that xe ôm - the local name for Vietnam’s ubiquitous motorbike taxis - translates literally as “hug vehicle.” But it doesn’t stop there - a huge percentage of Vietnamese vocabulary is formed by just combining two words in a logical manner, whereas in English you'd have to learn an entirely new third word that sounds completely different. For instance, if I told you that máy means “machine” and bay means “flying”, could you guess what máy bay means? There are more examples than I can begin to list, but to give you an idea: a bench is a “long chair”, a refrigerator is a “cold cupboard”, a bra is a “breast shirt” and a bicycle is a “pedal vehicle”. To ski is “to slide snow”, a tractor is a “pulling machine”, a turkey is a “western chicken”, a zebra is a “striped horse”, and the list goes on and on and on. This massively speeds up your learning of new vocabulary! As you build up a foundation of basic words, they become more than the sum of their parts as you automatically unlock hundred of new translations.

Vietnamese is Easier than You Think

Have I convinced you yet that Vietnamese just might be easier than you previously thought? Hopefully I've managed to undo some of the myths and misconceptions you may have held around Vietnamese, and given you an insight into how the language works. Are you inspired to study Vietnamese after reading this article? Let us know in the comments.

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Episode 21 (Preview) – Season 4 – Coffee Break Spanish

We’re back with a new episode of Coffee Break Spanish, catching up with our story featuring Scottish student Rory who’s spending the summer in Mallorca with his Spanish girlfriend María and their friend Alejandro. Things have moved on, and María is now keen to be involved in the plan to search for sunken treasure, revealing a surprise to Rory about how she can help them in their adventure.

In the preview episode available here on the Radio Lingua site, on iTunes and on Soundcloud, you’ll be able to listen to Carmen and Mark’s introduction, to the core text of this episode, and to the summary in English of what happens in the text. For a full analysis of the text and in-depth discussion of the words and phrases contained in the episode, you can subscribe to our premium version. For further information, please see below.

Accessing the Premium Version

The premium version of Coffee Break Spanish Season 4 provides additional materials which will help you move forward more effectively with your advanced studies of Spanish. The premium version includes the following elements:

• full-length audio episode: in each episode Mark and Carmen discuss the language covered in each text in depth, providing further examples and testing you on your understanding;
• transcript: a full transcript of the entire episode including notes on complex language and grammar points;
• bonus audio episode: test yourself on the key constructions included in the audio episode with this bonus audio translation exercise.

The members’ version can be accessed through our membership system. You can purchase a membership using the links below.

• Season 4: Lessons 1-40
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Newbie Lesson S3 #19 - Giving Commands in Spanish: You Have to Eat Healthy Food!

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Well, today is the new nanny’s first day on the job. Oh, how you hope she survives at least a few days longer than the last one! As usually, your girls are so good at giving commands in Spanish! And of course as soon as lunch time rolls around, the nanny [...]

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Episodio 186: Tipos de timos

Today we talk about traditional Spanish scams. If you're a tourist or your want to visit our country you can learn how to avoid them listening to this episode. Learn Spanish while you learn how to avoid scammers in Spain. Transcript available: "Hola chicos y chicas, ¿qué tal va todo? Esperamos que muy bien y con fuerzas de seguir aprendiendo español. Hoy tenemos un episodio que complementa al número 131 titulado “Evitar los robos”. En este episodio hablamos sobre las estafas más comunes de España. Casi todos los timos que os mostramos a continuación van dirigidos a los turistas. No son exclusivos de nuestro país, también se dan en otras partes del mundo ... "

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Episodio 185: Quedar como Cagancho

What's the meaning of 'quedar como Caganho'? In this episode we talk about a curious expression. Learn Spanish with native speakers. Transcript available: "Hola a todos y bienvenidos a un nuevo episodio de SpanishPodcast.net ¿Qué tal va todo? Nosotros estamos bien, seguimos trabajando y planeando cosas para el futuro y también esperando que llegue la primavera para tener un tiempo más agradable. Hoy vamos a explicaros una curiosa expresión por la que nos pregunta Morten desde Dinamarca. Estuvo pasando unos días en España por motivos de trabajo y escuchó utilizar esta expresión a uno de sus compañeros españoles. Cuando escuchó la expresión no la entendió, pero después se la explicaron. A través de nuestro correo electrónico nos contó la anécdota y nos sugirió que explicáramos esta expresión. Pues allá vamos. "

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