Episodio 236: El sillón del diablo

Do you want to learn Spanish while listening to a scary story? Improve your Spanish comprehension while you enjoy Halloween. Transcript available: "Hola a todos los oyentes de SpanishPodcast.net Os doy una terrorífica bienvenida a un nuevo episodio de nuestro podcast. Bueno, os pido disculpas por este tono de voz, pero el ambiente del día de hoy es un poco especial, así que, me ha salido así. Muy bien. Hola a todos los oyentes y las oyentes de SpanishPodcast.net, os doy una terrorífica bienvenida a un nuevo episodio de nuestro podcast. El año pasado, en esta misma fecha, os hablamos sobre Halloween en España y sobre cómo esta tradición o costumbre ha cambiado a lo largo de la historia. Además, os contamos una historia de terror sobre una leyenda de nuestra región ... "

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Spanish Vocab Builder #68 - Sports

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

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Episodio 235: Por un pelo

We explain what's the meaning of "por un pelo" in Spanish. You can learn and memorize its meaning and practice its pronunciation with exercises. Transcript available: "Hola y bienvenido o bienvenida de nuevo a un episodio de SpanishPodcast.net ¿Qué tal estás? Espero que hayas practicado la repetición con nuestros episodios y que esto te esté sirviendo para ir mejorando poquito a poco tu español. En este episodio tienes una nueva oportunidad para practicar tu comprensión oral y además aprenderás una expresión. Hemos creado este episodio por un mensaje que nos envió Vanessa desde la ciudad de Auckland en Nueva Zelanda. Ella entendía bien la expresión, pero le pareció interesante que hiciéramos un episodio para poder practicar la pronunciación, estudiarla con la repetición y también escucharla en un contexto ... "

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Basic Bootcamp #3 - How Do You Say…?

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! One of the best ways to strengthen your Spanish-speaking ability is to use Spanish as much as possible! Therefore, when you travel to Latin America, it only makes sense to use the language to learn the language! Let’s say you are shopping in Latin America and you see a beautiful bracelet [...]

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Episode 37 – Season 4 – Coffee Break Spanish

It’s time for another episode of Coffee Break Spanish and this time we’re reading Rory’s email to Alejandro in which he updates his friend on the recent happenings in Mallorca, including the reception held in their honour in Palma. This episode gives us an opportunity to take a closer look at a range of interesting language points including the use of pedir que + subjunctive.

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
  £89.00 GBP inc VAT / approx $109 USD ex VAT for non EU customers)

Subscribe links

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

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Top 400 Activities: Daily Routines in Spanish #7 - Hanging Out

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Being able to talk about daily life is a great way to improve your Spanish. In this new series of ten lessons, you’ll learn practical Spanish phrases for over four hundred daily activities including going to work and hanging out with friends. Your Spanish will improve in no time with these [...]

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Expensive Spanish Mistake!

Image – Madrid’s Retiro Park

When our boiler broke the other day (No hot water for showers! No heating just as it gets colder in Madrid!), I (Ben) was left in charge of dealing with the plumber that came round to fix it. He found the problem, and as he was getting to work on fixing it, I remembered to ask how much it was going to cost before he got under way…

Ben: ¿Cuánto nos va a costar entonces?

Plumber: Ciento y pico…

Now, I always understood …y pico to mean, ‘and a little bit’, so in my head I thought, “OK, it’s going to be about 120 or 130 Euros max”, and seeing as we’d paid 110 euros the last time, I said, “Pues adelante” – go for it.

Imagina my surprise when he presented me with a bill for 175 Euros at the end!

Plumber: Pues aquí tienes la factura, son 175 Euros – Well here’s the bill, it’s 175 Euros

Ben: Pero, ¿No habías dicho ciento y pico? – Didn’t you say it was one hundred and a bit?

Plumber: Sí, 175 Euros son ciento y pico. – Yes, 175 Euros is a hundred and something.

So, Marina, after getting over her surprise that I’d paid 65 Euros more than the last time to fix the boiler, explained that ciento y pico means anywhere between 100 and 200.

Mil y pico would be anywhere between 1000 and 2000. As the plumber pointed out, ciento y pico means ‘100 and something’, not, as I’d understood it, ‘100 and a bit’.

I felt pretty annoyed that I’d gone so long using y pico in the wrong way, but quite delighted to have learned (the hard way!) what it really means at last. Still it could have been worse, it was a ciento y pico mistake, and not a mil y pico mistake!

Let us know in the comments below if you’ve had any ‘put your foot in it’ Spanish mistakes in your Spanish learning life!

Remember, our Spanish audios and worksheets are full of Real Spanish to help you avoid mistakes like this!

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Join us for some special announcements

Radio Lingua is 10 years old!

We’re celebrating this milestone with some special announcements! Join us on Thursday 3rd November at 8:00pm UK time (3:00pm Eastern) for a live broadcast in which we’ll be sharing some highlights of the past 10 years, and looking forward to the next ten! The broadcast will be on the Radio Lingua Facebook page. This event has been rescheduled from the original date of 18th October which unfortunately coincided with DNS problems on the site.

What’s your Coffee Break Story?

As part of the event, we’re planning to share some “Coffee Break” stories, and we’d love you to join in. All you need to do is record a 30-second video telling us your Coffee Break story. Tell us what you enjoy about Coffee Break languages, or about a situation you’ve experienced as a result of learning a language with Coffee Break. You could even tell us where you like listening to Coffee Break. Once you’ve recorded your video, you should send it to us either by email to birthday@radiolingua.com, or send it to us on via our Facebook page. If you’re not sure how to do that, Mark has created a short video with instructions.

A couple of important things: firstly, please make sure your video is no longer than 30 seconds. Well, 32 or 33 seconds is fine, but anything above 40 is too long! Secondly, please film your video in landscape format – across the way, rather than “up and down” portrait mode. Please note that by sending us your video you are giving permission for us to include your video in our compilation of Coffee Break stories during the live event on 3rd November. Please also only include your first name when introducing yourself. We need to receive your video no later than 11:59pm UK time on 31st October 2016 in order for us to be able to include the video in the compilation.

Don’t miss our event!

If you’d like to be part of our biggest announcements for years, don’t miss our event on 3rd November! Join us at 8:00pm UK time live on Facebook.

Problems sending us your video?

If you’re having any probles sending your video from an iPhone or an Android device because the video is too large (over 20mb), then we have a solution. Simply search for the WeTransfer app in the App Store / Google Play Store and then send your recorded video through this app. Here’s a video which may help:

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10 Ways Low Confidence Holds Back Your Language Learning

“I’d love to learn a new language, but I feel really nervous about actually speaking it.” Does this sound like you? Learning a new language - especially when you’re taking the first steps - can be a big struggle. So it’s little wonder that language learners often struggle with feelings of low confidence. I’ve felt this way many times when starting a new language. How can low confidence impact you? Maybe you avoid having face-to-face conversations with native speakers. Even thinking about getting into a conversation puts butterflies in your stomach. Maybe you hold back at language Meetups and sit quietly in the corner. Or maybe you feel anxious about making mistakes in front of others, so you stick with Duolingo because you can study on your own. No one sees your mistakes. It’s safe. At Fluent in 3 Months, we hear from people all the time whose confidence gets in the way of their language learning. Check out these emails that arrived in the Fluent in 3 Months inbox recently: I find these emails really powerful. For years I struggled with low confidence in my language learning - and it’s a really difficult thing to admit. For many years I was in denial my low confidence, and especially about how much it held me back. I thought “sure, I’m not confident at speaking a new language, but I’ll make up for it in other ways”. I did make up for my lack of confidence, through intensive study and being really disciplined with myself. A few years down the line, I finally addressed my low confidence through steps I was taking in my (non-language related) career. With my newfound confidence I found I could learn to speak new languages much, much faster and more effectively. I would have saved myself hundreds of hours of study time if only I’d addressed my confidence issues first. Or, to put it another way, I speak 4+ languages at a high level now, but I could be speaking at least three to four more than that. So, how does low confidence impact your language learning? It’s really important to be honest about this, so you can start doing something about it. Self-honesty is the first step. To get you started, here are some of the most common signs that low-confidence is holding back your language learning:

1. You Feel Like Language Learning is a “Waste of Time”

You really want to learn a language. But when you sit down to study, you start to feel like “this is a waste of time”. When you hit this frame of mind, it’s really easy to give up and find other things to do. What’s going on here? Deep down, you know that your low confidence is holding you back. Without self-confidence, you’re unlikely to actually use the language you’re learning in real life situations. So, learning the language feels like a waste of time. In some ways, this is true, because it is really important to sort out your confidence. In other ways, this voice of doubt is really unhelpful because the process of learning a new language can help you grow in confidence. So, when you feel like learning a language is a waste of time - that’s exactly the time to keep studying. Here’s another way the voice of doubt causes havoc...

2. You Constantly Compare Yourself to Other Language Learners

There’s never been a better time to learn a language. Technology has made it possible to connect with people all over the world. Connecting with other language learners can be super inspiring. But sometimes, seeing other language learners succeed can make you wonder about your own ability. You ask yourself: “Am I not good enough? Am I not smart enough? Am I not talented enough?” Do you find yourself asking these questions? That’s a good indication that you struggle with confidence. And the problem with these questions? They make you feel even less confident about learning a language. Comparing yourself to other learners discourages rather than inspires you. It’s a downward spiral. It can mean you end up avoiding other language learners - and without that inspiration, it’s difficult to stay motivated. Talking of which...

3. You Only Study Alone

When you’re low in confidence, you worry a lot about what other people think of you. So, you avoid reaching out to other language learners, and you study on your own. You do this to avoid comparing yourself with others (see #2 above), and because you're afraid of making mistakes in front of other people. Don’t get me wrong: holing yourself up with a language book or a podcast can be a great way to spend time and can improve your skills. But if you’re only doing this, and hiding away from the real world, then you’re doing huge damage to your language learning potential.

4. You Want an Adventure - but that also Scares You!

Are you learning a language to tap into your sense of adventure? Maybe you want to travel the world. Or perhaps you want to meet interesting people from other cultures. You’re not alone - this is a BIG reason behind many people’s language learning. But… wanting to climb Mount Everest and actually doing it (with all the months of training and mental grit you need) are two different things. Adventures are easy when they’re a dream for the future. When you make them real, they can be much more difficult than you imagined. Even more so when anxiety gets in the way. That’s why, when you’re low in confidence, you can find it difficult to take action on your language dreams. Especially when it requires you to go beyond your comfort zone.

5. You Keep Changing Your Mind

One day you’re learning French. The next day, Mandarin seems like the perfect language. A week later, you’re onto Spanish. And that’s just choosing a language. Don’t get me started on how difficult it can be to choose the right tools for learn a language! When you’ve got a confidence block, you have trouble making solid, long-term decisions because you worry that you'll make the wrong choice. You struggle to trust your own judgement, especially when it comes to deciding what you want. Sometimes, this means that you let others decide for you, even if it isn't in your best interest. When you can’t stick to a decision, it’s little wonder language learning is such a struggle. Let me tell you, after years of struggling with confidence - it feels great to just choose something, then run with it!

6. You Put Things Off Until the Last Minute

You want to learn a language… you really do. But you find that you only think about language learning at the end of the day… when you’re already exhausted and Netflix seems like a good option. Or maybe you schedule time for language learning - but when the time comes, you suddenly remember all the cleaning and washing that needs doing, and you give that priority. Procrastination isn’t always a sign of low confidence (it can be caused by many different things), but if you’ve got this symptom along with two or three others in the list, it’s likely that your low confidence isn’t helping.

7. You’re Terrified of Eye Contact

Rather than making eye contact, you tend to cross your arms over your body, look down, and feel awkward smiling. You may lean away from the person you're speaking with or even glance around to avoid looking at them. Eye contact is seen as a key indicator of confidence - at least in Western society. If you find that you struggle with eye contact, there’s a very good chance that you need to work on your confidence.

8. You Avoid Speaking Your New Language

As I mentioned in the introduction, during the years when my confidence was low, I did everything I could to avoid speaking that languages I was learning. Honestly? I still prefer other ways of learning. I’m an introvert who enjoys studying alone. And I’m totally okay with that. But I’ve also found that real conversations with real native speakers help me learn a language much faster. If you avoid speaking altogether - or if you only speak your language once in a blue moon - then confidence is holding back your language potential.

9. You Replay Your Past Failures in Your Mind

What’s it like if this one is true of you? Instead of investing your mental energy into learning a new language, you spend hours going over how things could have been if only you hadn’t messed up. Your failures haunt you. Your failed language exchanges or early efforts in your target language make it hard for you to try again. Instead, you find yourself dwelling on the embarrassment of whatever happened in the past. Yes, it’s important to nurse your wounds and let them heal. But letting them fester is a really bad way to go.

10. You Self-Sabotage

In many ways, this final symptom covers all the others - and more. Low self-confidence turns you into your own worst enemy when it comes to language learning. Because of your fear of rejection, you often set yourself to fail from the get-go so that your rejection or failures won't come as a surprise. You also use these continued failures as excuses to avoid putting yourself out there the next time around.

What’s Your Low Confidence Challenge?

Learning a new skill - like a language - is challenging. When you add in low confidence, learning a language just gets that much harder. How does low confidence impact your language learning? Let me know in the comments - I read every one.

The post 10 Ways Low Confidence Holds Back Your Language Learning appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

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Spanish Vocab Builder #67 - Health Concerns

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

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Absolute Beginner European Spanish for Every Day #13 - 15 Break-Up Lines

Learn European Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! In your home country, there are some phrases that are so common you use them or hear them every day. The same is true in Spain too, so why not give your European Spanish an instant boost by learning them in this video lesson? With Rosa’s help, you’ll be sounding [...]

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Episodio 234: Perfección y perfeccionismo

We talk about perfection, perfectionism and its relationship to language learning. Are you a perfectionist? Not a perfectionist? In any case this interests you. Transcript available: "Hola otra vez a todos los seguidores de SpanishPodcast.net Hoy otro episodio para que mejores tu compresión oral del español. Hoy no voy a explicar una expresión nueva, tampoco voy a hablar sobre costumbres españolas o sobre la historia de nuestro país. Hoy voy a compartir una reflexión contigo. Es posible que preguntes: ¿qué es una reflexión? Voy a explicártelo ahora mismo ..."

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Absolute Beginner European Spanish for Every Day #12 - 10 Phrases to Amaze Native Speakers

Learn European Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! In your home country, there are some phrases that are so common you use them or hear them every day. The same is true in Spain too, so why not give your European Spanish an instant boost by learning them in this video lesson? With Rosa’s help, you’ll be sounding [...]

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All About #13 - Five Things Your Spanish Teacher Won’t Teach You

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! So you have studied your Spanish lessons until you can recite them in your sleep. In fact, your friends think you moved six months ago because you have spent all your time indoors studying to speak Spanish before you leave on your big trip to a Spanish-speaking country! When your big [...]

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Top 400 Activities: Daily Routines in Spanish #6 - Health and Diet

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Being able to talk about daily life is a great way to improve your Spanish. In this new series of ten lessons, you’ll learn practical Spanish phrases for over four hundred daily activities including going to work and hanging out with friends. Your Spanish will improve in no time with these [...]

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Radio Lingua Update

Over the past few days we’ve been experiencing major problems with the Radio Lingua website. We’d like to apologise to the Coffee Break learning community for any inconvenience you’ve experienced. The problems were a result of a change made by our domain registration company which blocked access to the website for users and indeed to the site admin for us.

As of Tuesday 18th October at 8pm UK time, the site is gradually becoming available again to users around the world as the DNS propagation takes place. If you are seeing this article, it means that the the DNS propagation has taken place for your ISP. Basically, your ISP has picked up the new IP address of our site and you should be able to access everything once again. However, we will be closely monitoring the site and now that we have access to the admin of the site, we’ll be looking into any further problems and taking cautionary measures.

We had originally planned to make some announcements this evening to celebrate our 10th birthday, but we had to deal with the site issues. As soon as everything is working again as it should, we’ll announce the new date for our special event.

Thank you for your patience and understanding throughout this time. We’ll hopefully be back very soon doing what we do best, helping you learn languages in your coffee break!

Mark and the Radio Lingua Team

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How I Learned to Speak Mandarin Chinese while Living in Kansas

If there is one language where it is important to speak to natives regularly, it’s Mandarin Chinese (or any Chinese dialect really). The reason for this is simple: you must practise Chinese tones if you want to be able to speak the language! A year ago I was in a pretty difficult situation: I had spent about six months learning Mandarin and couldn’t speak a word of it. I had spent about $200 on Rosetta Stone (mistake #1) and not only was my vocabulary in dire straits, my pronunciation was terrible. I was looking at my progress at the time thinking “is this impossible or am I just stupid?” Sound familiar? Yes? Then please keep reading. You’re not stupid and Mandarin is far from impossible (in fact, I bet it’s easier than you originally thought - I’m now at HSK Level 5). For those of you who don’t know Mandarin, the language consists of five different tones which need to be pronounced correctly for a given word, or else you’ll completely change the meaning of the word. Because of this, people often look at me like “exactly what is wrong with you?” when I tell them I am learning Mandarin, especially where I live (the middle of Kansas). But I’m here to tell you today that no matter where you live, you can learn the language of your choosing. Let me give you the seven ways I have used to practise Chinese tones in the middle of Kansas.

Tip 1: Speak To Chinese Waiters

Let me start here by saying: some of these tips you might read and then think to yourself “yeah Ryan, that’s obvious.” To which I respond: if it’s obvious why aren’t you doing it? Chinese restaurants are probably one of the most underrated and underused ways to learn Chinese and improve your speaking ability. Why? Well honestly because it is simply a little uncomfortable to speak with your waiter in a language you probably aren’t that comfortable with using yet. I get you. About a million different things are going through your head when you think about talking to a brand new person in their native tongue, almost all of them revolving around “what if I look like a complete idiot?”, or my personal favourite “they will most likely find this offensive.” Let me stop you right there. Those who are unafraid of looking stupid are the most successful language learners. Don’t focus so much on the details! You need to practise and trust me, they will know you are learning and will give you a break for mispronouncing shì (是) (“to be”) as shí (十) (“ten”). Will you get a chuckle or two? Sure. But you need thicker skin than that to achieve your fluency goals anyway, so why not start here? Also: no, they absolutely will not find this offensive. Do you have any idea how many westerners can speak Mandarin? Very few. If anything, they will be impressed. So this weekend, go to a Chinese restaurant, have a seat and say these exact words: “nǐ hǎo. wǒ de míng zi shì [your name] ér qiě wǒ zài xué zhōng wén” (“Hi. My name is [your name] and I’m learning Mandarin Chinese”), and go from there. What are you going to say next? Who cares! Just talk. You will get better, I promise you.

Tip 2: Teach What You Already Know

Let me give you a little story that makes this specific tip my favourite one on the list. I was absolutely stuck on Chinese grammar. And when I say stuck, I mean stuck. For some reason it just would not resonate with me. After all, Mandarin is a completely different way of looking at the world. After hours of frustrating work, I remembered a piece of advice given to me by one of my old high school teachers: “Learn what you are doing as if you are going to teach it.” Boom, talk about a “Eureka!” moment. It seemed so simple now. Let’s create some material that would help another language learner learn Chinese grammar and through that process, I will become the master. Now how do you apply this to pronunciation? Simple: head on over to italki and reach out to a couple of language buddies that are a little newer to learning Mandarin. Offer to teach them pronunciation. This backs you into that corner and forces you to learn. After all, you’re not going to teach them the wrong way to do something are you?

Tip 3: Teach English to Chinese Speakers

Probably one of the most underused resources to help one learn Chinese is by teaching English to Chinese people. It is absolutely no secret that the number of English tutors who can speak Mandarin is dramatically less than the number of teachers that is needed. In case you have been asleep for the past 15 years, China is now an economic superpower and happens to carry the world’s biggest population, all of whom begin learning English from the age of five. This is probably the biggest opportunity for you to improve your Mandarin because, guess what, you don’t have to be fluent in Mandarin to teach English. Which is kind of appalling when you think about it, but that is the time we live in. I have two friends I went to highschool with who spent two years in Shanghai teaching English and came back knowing how to say “nǐ hǎo” (“hello”) and “wǒ xiǎng yào yì pí pí jiǔ” (“I want a bottle of beer.”) which is apparently all that is needed to get by as an English teacher. This does not have to be your story though. Head over to Boxfish and apply to become a tutor. You will get paid for your time and you will be able to use this time to speak to native Chinese speakers. Yeah, I get it, you have to teach them English so you might be thinking to yourself, “that doesn’t sound like the best time to improve my Mandarin, Ryan.” Well not with that attitude it isn’t. Listen to their pronunciation, listen to how they talk. Learn how to flow with the words that your student is saying. This is going to help you tenfold when improving your own Chinese pronunciation, trust me. Not to mention: you get paid in the process! What do you have to lose?

Tip 4: Learn Chinese Through Testing

Don’t underestimate the impact that testing can have on your Chinese skills. Recent studies on memory have shown that the use of testing while learning concepts is far more effective at reinforcing material in the student’s memory than just about anything else. And by testing I do mean using an actual test. Which one, you ask? Why the HSK of course. Using the practice tests at the link above can tremendously improve your abilities. I’ve seen the greatest leaps forward in my listening comprehension and speaking abilities when going through these tests. I of course was using a tutor, which was helpful because I had instant access to questions. But you don’t need a tutor to benefit from this study method. Simply:

• Print off the practice tests
• Download the MP3
• Listen to the MP3 while writing out the pinyin you hear
• Translate every sentence

Yes, I know the test is in Chinese characters. But look at this as an opportunity to make your written Chinese as awesome as your spoken. You won’t get better unless you practise.

Tip 5: Schedule a Full Weekend of Only Chinese

This one no doubt will raise a few eyebrows but just hear me out, I’m not (that) crazy. Let me start by saying that I get compliments on my pronunciation all the time, and I don’t say this to brag; I say it to inspire you and because I can attribute it to the following method I found to rapidly improve my speaking skills. For two weekends in a row, I simply locked myself in my apartment and went over the audio lessons from Yoyo Chinese Beginner and Intermediate lessons over and over again. I was inspired by the fact that I had been studying Mandarin for six months and yet still only knew something along the lines of 400 words! Me being the obviously patient person I am (kidding), I decided something needed to change. The results? Outstanding. Before I had been tripping over the flow of one tone to the next.Now, I simply intuitively pick it up. I attribute this ability to the discipline I had to take a couple weekends off from the friends and simply practise. There is actually a good amount of logic behind these kind of results when you think about it. People tend to think it should take you years to learn a new skill, but I simply think it is the number of hours you put into learning it. Mastery will come after a certain number of hours. How quickly you devote those hours is entirely up to YOU!

Tip 6: Do a Two-week Exchange (for Free!)

This is by far one of the greatest pieces of advice I could ever give to anyone wanting to improve any part of Mandarin, or simply wanting an adventure. When it comes to studying in China, you might think that ship has sailed for you if you are out of college, or if you don’t have a year to take off of work. Or if schooling isn’t an option for you because you don’t want to go to a university, or perhaps your Mandarin isn’t as up to speed as you think it should be to attend a university or get a job in China. I have great news for you: no matter how old you are, you can study in China, at an immersion program, for the exact amount of time you wish to study. I have a school to recommend actually: Hutong School. Go check them out. You can do a program for a little as a week. I personally recommend two weeks because you will have made the trip to China. Not to mention, you can get this for absolutely free. Take a look around at Chinese education grants. There are scholarships you can apply for on Hutong’s site that will finance your education in China. Bottom line: immersion is the best way to learn a new language (and I mean real immersion, not Rosetta Stone). Live a little and take a two-week exchange my friend!

Tip 7: Contribute to Google Translate

This is probably one of the most unknown ways to learn Chinese because I don’t think many people consider being a contributor to the Google Translate community to be a good way to learn the language, and that it should be reserved for those who already speak it. Let me be the first to tell you this simply isn’t the case. It’s no secret that Google has quite a way to go when it comes to accurately translating any language. I find mistakes all the time. Because of this, they have created the translation community. This is by and large one of the best ways to learn your target language and I highly suggest you head over there now to sign up for an account. Click on “become a contributor” when prompted, which brings you to various sentences written in Simplified or Traditional Chinese, depending on the one you want to learn (if you’re stuck on characters, begin with Simplified). From there, you translate the sentences you see. If you don’t know a character, look it up in an online dictionary or Google translate. What I have found is that Google has not quite gotten Chinese grammar down, but obviously knows the meaning of individual characters. You can use this to your advantage. Since the characters are known but the entire meaning of the sentence is not, you can help piece together what they are trying to say. This is going to give you a more intuitive feel for the characters and how they flow in the sentence, which will be reflected in your future conversations with native speakers. Worried about making a mistake? No worries, Google checks these translations using other human beings over and over again before they post them to the web. In my experience, the less you are afraid of making a mistake, the quicker you learn the language.

You Can Learn Chinese, Even in Kansas

In the end, it’s not what you do, but the way that you do it. I may have stolen that quote from Across The Universe, but it still is very very true indeed. What I mean by this is that Mandarin is not nearly as hard as you think it is. When you learn a new language, you are simply learning a new way to think. What better way to learn how to think than to immerse yourself in the other’s point of view? For those of you naysayers who think you can’t do this sort of thing if you aren’t in China, now you know differently. I live in Kansas which is obviously known for its burgeoning Chinese population, and I am doing just fine. If I can do it, so can you! 加油！再见！

The post How I Learned to Speak Mandarin Chinese while Living in Kansas appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

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News #217 - Do You Have These Top 4 Spanish Learning Fears? We’ll Tell You How To Beat Them

Every Spanish learner will have these fears – “I’m not good enough yet.” “I don’t think I’m making any progress.” “What if I never reach my goals?” Spanish learning fears – we all get them from time to time. What are yours? And are they worth being scared of? Click here to get a MONSTER-sized 28% [...]

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Spanish Vocab Builder #66 - Major Cities

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

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Verb Conjugation Series #22 - Imperfect with conditionals

Learn Spanish with Spanishpod101.com! It’s that time of the week again! Join Dylan and Carlos as they continue the most practical of all of our series, the verb conjugation. In today’s lesson, learn about the imperfect tense with conditional statements. You will learn from this lesson no matter what condition you are in. Learn how [...]

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Episodio 233: Montar un pollo

You'll learn Spanish as you learn a bit strange expression: "to assemble a chicken". We explain its meaning, we use it in a context and you'll practice pronunciation and conjugation. Transcript available: "Hola y bienvenido o bienvenida de nuevo a un episodio de Spanishpodcast.net Hoy vas a aprender una nueva expresión que se utiliza en el idioma español. Es una expresión relativamente moderna y se utiliza con mucha frecuencia. Se trata de la expresión "montar un pollo". La expresión "montar un pollo" es una expresión del lenguaje coloquial. ¿Qué quiere decir esto? Esto quiere decir que solo se utiliza en contextos informales, cuando hablas con amigos, familiares o compañeros de trabajo de forma relajada. Por ejemplo, es una expresión que no se debe utilizar en una reunión de trabajo formal ... "

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Episode 36 – Season 4 – Coffee Break Spanish

In this episode of our advanced Spanish course we’re joining María for a diary entry in which she’s thinking about the possibilities of living and working in Argentina with Rory. Of course, with Alejandro already in Argentina, he would be able to help them get settled. From a language point of view, Mark and Carmen discuss various aspects of grammar and idiomatic expressions including the use of “una vez” with the imperfect subjunctive.

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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Top 400 Activities: Daily Routines in Spanish #5 - At the Office

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Being able to talk about daily life is a great way to improve your Japanese. In this new series of ten lessons, you’ll learn practical Spanish phrases for over four hundred daily activities including going to work and hanging out with friends. Your Spanish will improve in no time with these [...]

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Get Ready to Travel and Master the Basics of a Language in Just 7 Days

True story: on a trip to France I walked into a coifferie believing that it would be a coffee shop A coifferie is not a coffee shop. It’s a hair salon. Boy did I feel silly. And a little guilty about my lack of French skills. Have you ever felt bad when travelling because of your lack of language skills? You know, where you go to a new country and suddenly feel awful because you can’t even speak essential phrases in the native language. You know you should have learned a little of the language before you got on the flight. But deep down, you hoped everyone would speak fluent English, despite the fact you knew you’d be hundreds of miles from home in a foreign country. Feeling guilty isn’t the only problem. It’s really tricky to get around in a new country if you can’t communicate or read signs. Well...today you can make those worries a thing of the past. I’m going to show you how to become travel fluent in just seven days. So, no matter where your next trip is, you can get around with ease.

What is Travel Fluent?

Travel Fluency is being able to speak a language easily and accurately within the confines of your next trip. It’s the ability to get by in the situations you’ll find yourself in. You'll know the essential phrases so you can get by in the common tourist situations you'll find yourself in. Let’s say you’re going on a weekend trip to Paris. You’re going to be in a few different situations where you may need to be able to communicate in French:

• Getting from the airport to your hotel
• Checking in to your hotel
• Ordering in a restaurant
• Getting directions to a museum
• Asking how much an item costs in a supermarket

Those situations will be completely different on each trip you take, too. A hiking trip in Slovenia will need much more specific phrases, such as asking for help finding the right trail, compared to a romantic weekend in Paris. Being able to get by and get the results you’re looking for - with as many gestures and puzzled looks as it takes - is travel fluency. You'll feel ready to travel and speak the local language. You’ll be no means speak perfectly. And in some cases, people will respond back to you in English. When they respond in their native language, you’ll mostly only be able to pick out the keywords from their responses, rather than understand full sentences. But being able to make the effort in a new country, and take comfort in the fact that you can communicate when you have to, is a brilliant start. It’s also an excellent place to begin confidently interacting with people and learning the basics of a new language.

How Much Time Do You Need to Become Travel Fluent?

To get the best results in the next seven days I’d highly recommend that you allocate 90 to 120 minutes each day. You don’t have to do it all at once; feel free to break it up. If you have 30 minutes on your commute or 20 minutes to twiddle your thumbs on your lunch break, fit it in there. Don’t worry if you can’t make that much time each day. You can stretch the seven days to 10 days or two weeks - whatever fits your schedule. But the more time you make, the better (and quicker) your results.

What Tools Do You Need?

I’m with Benny in that I don’t particularly enjoy the process of learning a language, which is why I love using tools to make that process as quick and painless as possible. Everything on this list is free and plays an integral role in this method:

• Anki: This is a flashcard app for your phone. It uses spaced repetition, so you can learn (and remember) specific words and phrases more easily.
• Forvo: Shows you how any word is pronounced.
• iTalki: Allows you to communicate with people online who speak your target language, if you have nobody available at home.
• YouTube: So you can listen to how people speak and get used to the sounds.

You’ll also need a language-specific online dictionary to find new words. Okay, that’s your tool-kit taken care of. Let’s see what the next seven days are going to look like, shall we?

Day 1: Greetings, Numbers And Finding Your Phrases

Today is going to set you up for the next six days and give you the essential parts of the language you’ll need. I’ve broken it down into three steps:

Step 1: Get Stuck Into The Language (15-20 minutes)

For the first part of today, go online and find this information:

• Numbers 0-100
• Greetings and pleasantries (Hello, please, thank you, etc.)

There are a few places you can find them. For example, there will be online lists - like this one for Spanish numbers - that show you each number or phrase. Or, you’ll be able to find YouTube videos that say them for you, like below: You can also enter anything you struggle with into the Forvo tool and find out how it’s pronounced: Once you’ve done all of that, it’s time to add them into Anki. You can find a tutorial on how to do that right here. The app will then give you up to one minute to choose an answer to a flashcard, and you can select whether it was easy, good, hard or if you need to practise that card again. By the end of the next seven days you’ll have a list for every day, similar to mine below (I last ran this with German): Knowing numbers always comes in handy, and not just for money. You can use it find the right bus, train platform or explain how many guests you need in your hotel room. Greetings, on the other hand, go a long way with native speakers. I have no data to back it up, but I’ve seen around a 1000% increase in customer service quality when I use them. If you’re stuck for what greetings you should learn, here’s where I’d suggest you start:

• Hello
• Good morning/afternoon/night
• How are you?
• Please
• Thank you
• Yes
• No
• Sorry
• The bill, please
• I don’t understand

Don’t worry if they don’t all stick right away because you’re going to come back to them later.

Step 2: Outline The Phrases You’ll Need (20-25 minutes)

In this step, you’re going to look at all the phrases you feel you’re going to need. Take a look at your trip - or why you’re travelling - and think about the types of situations you’re going to encounter. For example, I first used this technique when I was backpacking in Peru. So my survival situations looked like this:

Hostels

• Booking
• Checking in
• Checking out

Buses

• Finding the station
• Is it going to where I want to go?
• Which ticket do I need?
• How much does a ticket cost?
• How long does it take?
• Can you tell me when it’s my stop?

Restaurants

• Ordering food
• Paying

Supermarkets

• How much is this?
• Where is [item]?

Bars

• Ordering beer(s)

If I could get by with those, I could survive. Which, I did (just about). It also led to me going on Tinder dates and learning how to have conversations while giving me the confidence to take classes. Go ahead and write all of the situations you’re going to need into a notebook or a Word document. You don’t need to write the translations just yet. This is where you’ll highlight the situations. A pro tip here is also to underline the situations that are similar, like I’ve bolded the following:

• How much does a ticket cost?
• How much is an apple?

Because the first portion of the sentence will be the same:

• ¿Cuanto es un billete?
• ¿Cuanto es una manzana?

This will help you tie everything together in the days to come. Once you’ve got that in place, let’s head to the final step for today.

Step 3: Study What You Started With (Remaining Time)

Head back to Anki and see how much you remember from earlier. It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember everything; you’ll be coming back to this each day. But work through the deck and do your best to remember them. If you really struggle to remember any of them, try using mnemonics to etch them in your mind.

Day 2: Your Most Important Situation(s)

Start today off by reviewing your cards from yesterday. Take 10 to 15 minutes to work through your greetings and numbers. See how much you remember, and refresh your memory on others. The rest of today is going to be spent on putting together a list of phrases, and responses, to your two most important situations, which we’ll go through together next.

Learn Your Two Most Important Situations (Remainder)

When you made your list of situations there were likely one or two that really stood out to you. You may have rushed to write them down, or felt like you’d really struggle to get by without them. For me it’s always public transport and ordering in a restaurant. I don’t like being lost or hungry (or both), so they’re of high importance. So, it’s time to break them down from the list you made yesterday and explore the parts of the language you’re going to need to know.

What Are You Going To Need To Say?

If you’re in a restaurant, what are you going to need to say? Go through the process in English and look at the times you come into contact with someone:

• Ask for a table
• Ask for the menu
• Order a drink
• Order your food
• “Yeah, it’s nice...thank you”
• Order the bill

You can then start to translate the phrases you’ll need for those situations and learn what you need to say. This takes some research on the internet. And, I don’t recommend you rely on Google Translate for this. Instead look for language-specific phrasebooks with English translations. Once you find them you can start writing up your list of phrases. For example, in Spanish:

•  “A table for four, please?” – “Una mesa para cuatro, por favor”
•  “Can I see the menu?” – “Hay una carta?”
• “Can we order?” – “Podemos pedir?”
• “I’ll have a beer to drink” – “Una cerveza, por favor”
• “Can I have [name of food], please?” – “Me da [name of food on menu], por favor”
• “It’s lovely, thank you” – “Todo es muy rico!”
• “The bill, please?” – “La cuenta por favor”

A trap a lot of language learners fall into here – especially if you’re learning from a phrasebook – is you learn what you have to say, but not what they may say back to you. So, you’re going to reverse this and put yourself in the shoes of the person you’re speaking to. In this case, the waiter. You’ll never be able to predict their exact response. So because of that you should focus on learning the key words. Like the ones in bold here:

•  “What would you like?” – “Que quieres?”
• “Would you like a drink?” - “…para tomar?”
• “What would you like to eat?” – “…para comer?”
• “Is everything okay?” – “Que tal todo?”
• “Yes, of course” – “Si, claro”
• “Would you like dessert?” – “Quieres postre?”

From those you can figure out what’s being asked based on the context. Heck, with my intermediate Spanish I still use this method. So, to wrap up this section: Learn what you’re going to need to say Learn what they’re going to say back to you That way conversations don’t come as a surprise and you don’t feel panicked when someone asks you a follow-up question.

Days 3 and 4: Time to Start Listening

For days three and four, the schedule is the same for each. You’re going to:

• Review each of the last few days (20-30 minutes): Go through Anki and review your flashcards. You should feel like you’re starting to get a grip of Day One and Two by the end of this.
• Tackle one new topic (30 minutes): As you saw in the last section, break down one of your topics and find the phrases and the responses to work through. Add them to Anki as you go for review later on.
• Listen to your language being spoken (10-15 minutes): I’m going to expand on this next so you know what to do.
• Review today’s Anki cards (remainder): Review what you learned in section two.

Now let’s look at what you can listen to and why you should be listening to it:

Listening to Your Language Being Spoken

So far you’ll have mostly heard your language through Forvo or YouTube examples. But today, you’re going to amp that up and do some intentional listening, where you hear the language spoken in context. This allows you to pick out the sounds that you know, and listen to the general pronunciation of the language. You don’t need to know what’s being said. It’s only been three or four days, so unless you’re a savant that’s pretty impossible. But taking the time to listen will make hearing people speak back to you much easier. But, what should you be listening to? Well this is where YouTube really comes into its own. You can find:

• Podcasts: For language learners and natives
• Music: In just about every major language in the world
• Interviews: Find TV interviews in your target language

For example if you search “French Podcast” you’ll get a full page of results like this: I like YouTube because it lets you see the mouth movements as well as the words. It makes it a little easier to pick the defined start and end of a word. If you work from a computer - and your boss lets you listen to music while you work - you can incorporate this stage into your workday, too. (I feel I owe Julieta Venegas and Juanes at least $500 in Spanish lessons). The important thing here is that you’re listening and absorbing the sounds. I feel this step made a big impact on my later Spanish and German pronunciation, so really give it some time.

Days 5 and 6: Time to Speak to Someone

By now you should be feeling pretty confident with what you learned on days one and two. And, days three and four are just about sinking in. For the next two days you’ll follow a similar structure. Start by reviewing the last few days. And, after that, work through any outstanding situations you have left. You can also continue to listen to music and podcasts if you like (foreign music is pretty cool, right?). But the main change for these days is that you’re going to have a conversation with someone. Don’t worry, it’s nothing major. Let me explain…

Get Talking To Someone

Having this conversation is really useful because It allows you to correct any mistakes you may be worried about before you need to use the language on your holiday. You can also hear the responses you wrote earlier – and their variations – so you can pick out the words you know and improve your understanding. And, from experience, I’ve found that when you say what you’ve learned, it sticks in your mind a heck of a lot longer. If you have any friends or family that can speak the language you’re learning, collar them and get them to ask you a few simple questions based on your situations. (Pro tip: if they’re not able to do a real-time call or meet you in person, they can send WhatsApp or Facebook recorded messages). But what if you don’t have anybody around you to talk to? Then you can use italki. Here you’ll find hundreds of people here who are dying to speak English to you and will gladly swap a few sentences in their native tongue for the English practice. If this feels a little intimidating, you can fully explain what you’re trying to achieve in English before you jump onto Skype. I’m not really a telephone person, so I find this settles the nerves a little. Okay, now you’ve got that in place, let’s look at the final day:

Day 7: The Finishing Touches

For the last day you’re going to work on anything that you struggled with over the previous six days. Whether that is:

• Reviewing the phrases you struggle to remember
• Listening to YouTube videos and picking out the words you know
• Practising your phrases with someone on italki

I like to plan today to be the day that I fly, so I can use the language in practice. It’s also a good way to pass two hours on the plane by reviewing my flash cards and what I may need to say when I land. If this is a few days ahead of when you travel, be sure to practise the flash cards and keep listening before you do fly. If you stop using a language when it’s this fresh in your mind, it’s easy to forget it. And, if this is your first time using a new language, remember it doesn’t need to be perfect. This is about making the effort and getting your point across. You’ll be amazed at how helpful, and happy, people can be when you try to speak their language to them.

Wrapping It All Up...

Phew! If you made it here, well done. You’re either about to start this challenge or you’ve followed along and are now on your way to travel fluency. Either way, you’ve taken a big step towards a new language, and getting rid of that English Guilt. Here’s a summary of all the days:

• Day 1: Learn greetings and numbers. Then, map out all of the major situations you’re going to find yourself in.
• Day 2: Translate your two most important situations from English and look at the responses you’re likely to get. Be sure to focus on the keywords to listen out for.
• Days 3 and 4: Pick one more situation for each of these days. But, now is when we inject listening - podcasts/YouTube Videos/Music - into the mix.
• Days 5 and 6: Work on any outstanding situations, or your weak points. These days you’ll use to speak to someone and practise your phrases.
• Day 7: Review everything you’ve learned and tackle any points you struggled with.

All that’s left for you to do now is to get out and use your new skills on your trip. Which language, or place, are you going to choose first? Let me know in the comments...

The post Get Ready to Travel and Master the Basics of a Language in Just 7 Days appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

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A New Spanish Word, after 18 years!

Deep in the basement of Madrid’s beautiful old Mercado Vallehermoso, where fruit stalls are being replaced by cool eateries, I found this notice on the back of the toilet door. Can you guess which word I’d never heard after 18 years living in Spain?

Pulcritud! Who can be the first to look it up and give a definition in the comments? And feel free to leave your favourite new word too!

A quick reminder – our Early October Worksheets Sale, with 25% off all products in our store, ends at midnight tonight,  Monday October 10th (Pdt) – Use Coupon Code oct16 at check out in our store

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Spanish Vocab Builder #65 - Hobbies

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

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Innovative Mexican Culture for Absolute Beginners #4 - How to buy souvenirs at a local market

Learn Spanish with Spanish Pod101.com! Whether you’re moving to Mexico or just visiting, you’ll need the fundamental Spanish words and phrases we cover in this Innovative Mexican Culture Absolute Beginner video series. Featuring vibrant animated scenarios and plenty of time to practice out loud, these videos cover everything from introducing yourself and talking about [...]

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Absolute Beginner S2 #14 - Is This the Best Spanish Movie to Rent?

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! You really want to learn the Spanish language, but you don’t want to spend hours learning Spanish from a book. Instead, you want to pick it up from native speakers of the Spanish language. So, you think to yourself, what better way to learn than by entertaining yourself while listening to [...]

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Episodio 232: ¡Me gusta!

In this episode you'll learn different forms and uses of the verb "to like" in Spanish. In Spanish there are many ways to say you like something or someone. We explain the most commonly used vocabulary and phrases. Transcript: "Hola de nuevo y bienvenido o bienvenida a un nuevo episodio de SpanishPodcast.net Hoy vamos a hablar sobre cómo decir en español que algo te gusta. El verbo gustar suele causar dificultades a algunos estudiantes de español. Gustar, aunque tiene un significado sencillo, puede ser un verbo complicado para estudiantes de español. Si estudias gramática habrás visto que existen verbos transitivos y verbos intransitivos. Los verbos intransitivos son los que no necesitan complementos como el complemento directo o el complemento indirecto, por ejemplo. El verbo gustar puede comportarse de las dos formas. El verbo gustar puede ser transitivo en algunas ocasiones e intransitivo en otras. Sin embargo hay muchas alternativas y expresiones que puedes utilizar para decir que algo te gusta. De eso es de lo que voy a hablarte hoy ... "

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Tener Mano Izquierda and Other Untranslatable Spanish Words and Phrases

Today I was talking to a Spanish friend about parenting, and I said “Hay que tener mucha mano izquierda”. He asked how you directly translate Tener mano izquierda in English and I said… I don’t know!

Tener mano izquierda means to handle a difficult situation, or person, with skill, astutely, in a clever, wily, roundabout way. If a child doesn’t want to do something and just telling them to do it doesn’t work, then maybe you can come up with a clever, roundabout way of getting them to do what you want. That is to “Tener mano izquierda” and there is no direct translation!

Below is a list of a few of our favourite real Spanish words or phrases that have no simple, direct translation in English, do you know any more?

Estrenar – To use something or wear something for the first time, e.g. “estrenar un coche nuevo” – to drive a new car for the first time, or “estrenar un vestido nuevo” – to wear a new dress for the first time.

Madrugar – to get up very early in the morning. “Hoy he madrugado mucho para estudiar antes de ir a trabajar” – today I got up really early to study before going to work.

La sobremesa – time after a meal spent sitting around the table chatting, often for a very long time. “Después de la comida tuvimos una sobremesa fantástica” – after the meal we had a fantastic time sitting around chatting.

Un ligón – somebody who is always flirting with the opposite sex or getting dates all the time with the opposite sex. “Cuidado con ese chico, es un ligón” – watch out for that guy, he’s a real flirt/ladies-man.

Empalagoso – food that is ridiculously rich and sweet. “Esta tarta es demasiado empalagoso para mi, no puedo con ella” – that cake is too ridiculously sweet for me, I can’t deal with it.

Desfogarse – To let out all your energies, to let off steam by running around a lot, e.g. “Los niños tienen que desfogarse un poquito, diles que vayan al jardín un ratito” – the kids need to let off a bit of steam, tell them to go out to the garden for a while.

Fútbolisticamente – used in post-match analysis or the football press, meaning ‘in footballing terms’, e.g. “futbolísticamente hablando, no hay nada perfecto” – in footballing terms, nothing is perfect.

Un tuerto – A one-eyed person. There is a typical Spanish phrase, “Un tuerto es rey en el país de los ciegos”, which literally translates as ‘a one-eyed man is king in the country of the blind’, and means that someone that doesn’t know much about something still looks very clever when surrounded by people that know even less! Sometimes used ironically when someone is trying to be clever but clearly doesn’t know very much.

Trasnochar – To stay up all night, for example partying or studying, and not go to bed until the next day. “He trasnochado cuando tenia que haberme ido a la cama pronto” – I stayed up all night when I should have gone to bed early.

Remember, our Spanish audios and worksheets are full of Real Spanish like this, it’s our speciality!

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Top 400 Activities: Daily Routines in Spanish #4 - Housework

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Being able to talk about daily life is a great way to improve your Japanese. In this new series of ten lessons, you’ll learn practical Spanish phrases for over four hundred daily activities including going to work and hanging out with friends. Your Spanish will improve in no time with these [...]

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Introduction to Spanish #4 - Introduction to Spanish Writing

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com’s new Introduction to Spanish video series! With this vibrant five-lesson video series, we’ll introduce you to Spanish-from why you should learn this great language, to pronunciation, grammar, writing, and more. In this lesson, you’ll learn a little about how to write in Spanish. Visit us at SpanishPod101.com for more great lessons and [...]

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Introduction to Spanish #5 - Basic Bootcamp

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com’s new Introduction to Spanish video series! With this vibrant five-lesson video series, we’ll introduce you to Spanish-from why you should learn this great language, to pronunciation, grammar, writing, and more. In this lesson, we’ll put you through a Spanish learning bootcamp! Visit us at SpanishPod101.com for more great lessons and learning resources. [...]

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News #216 - New! How to Immerse Yourself in Spanish All Day with Autoplay

Know how you let your music autoplay? What if you could do that with your Spanish lessons? Play one track, and SpanishPod101 will do the rest – play your lessons, from #1 to #2 to #3 and beyond.How can you do this? You’re about to find out. Click Here to Get 20% OFF Premium. Welcome back to [...]

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Spanish Vocab Builder #64 - The Baseball Words You’ll Need For The World Series

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com! Our Spanish vocabulary lists are listener favorites, and now we’ve made them even better! In each lesson, you’ll hear the Spanish words and phrases from the Spanish vocabulary lists. Join us for Spanish Vocab Builder! In this lesson, you’ll learn The Baseball Words You’ll Need For The World Series. Click here to [...]

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Inner Circle #33 - September 2016: How to write 1,000 words of Spanish in a 5 Minutes a Day - Daily Dose Diary

Last time, you learned about the benefits of speaking about someone else. We covered how applying that tactic allows you to speak longer, and lets you use sentence structures you already know in new situations. In this Inner Circle, we’re talking about how to write 1,000 words of in your target language…   …in just 5 minutes [...]

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Introduction to Spanish #1 - Introduction to Spanish

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com’s new Introduction to Spanish video series! With this vibrant five-lesson series, we’ll introduce you to Spanish -from why you should learn this great language, to pronunciation, grammar, writing, and more. In this lesson, we’ll start from the beginning and tell you why you should learn Spanish! Visit us at SpanishPodPod101.com for more [...]

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Introduction to Spanish #2 - Introduction to Spanish Pronunciation

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com’s new Introduction to Spanish video series! With this vibrant five-lesson video series, we’ll introduce you to Spanish-from why you should learn this great language, to pronunciation, grammar, writing, and more. In this lesson, you’ll learn a little about Spanish pronunciation. Visit us at SpanishPodPod101.com for more great lessons and learning resources. Be [...]

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Introduction to Spanish #3 - Introduction to Spanish Grammar

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101.com’s new Introduction to Spanish video series! With this vibrant five-lesson video series, we’ll introduce you to Spanish-from why you should learn this great language, to pronunciation, grammar, writing, and more. In this lesson, you’ll learn a little about Spanish grammar. Visit us at SpanishPod101.com for more great lessons and learning resources. Be [...]

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