Exercise Videos in Spanish

Challenge your mind and your body by exercising using Spanish language workout routines.

Recently I was browsing one of my favorite YouTube channels, OnceTV México, when I saw a show called Energía. This caught my eye because I work out at least five times a week and am always looking for new routines.

When I googled the show, I discovered that not only do they have regular exercise shows (cardio & strength), but also yoga, pilates, and a couple of other types as well. 

Del sitio

Energía invita a las mujeres a conservar su salud física y mental mediante distintas técnicas para realizar en casa sin necesidad de aparatos o equipo especial. Se busca con ello un equilibrio en la relación con el cuerpo y el bienestar al reforzar aspectos espirituales, de fuerza muscular y cuidado cardiaco. 

Have fun working out your Spanish language skills and your body!

Links

OnceTV México Energía 

OnceTV YouTube Channel

By the way, I discovered the videos by browsing the channel's upload feed. 

First NASA Google+ Hangout in Spanish

Space and Spanish go together like... well, I'm not sure, but in any case, you'll get the chance to participate in NASA's first Google+ Hangout in Spanish hosted by NASA en Español.

From the Google+ Hangout event page:

Durante este evento, la científica terrestre Erika Podest y la investigadora principal e ingeniera de sistemas Michela Muñoz Fernández, ambas del Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) de la NASA en Pasadena, California, compartirán sus historias. Ellas responderán a preguntas de los participantes sobre el camino que tomaron para llegar a la NASA, lo que hacen, por qué es importante y cómo formar parte del programa espacial.

The event is scheduled for Thursday, March 28 from 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM EDT. To participate, visit the event page at Google+ or watch it on the NASA YouTube Channel.

For more information about Podest and Fernández, visit the Women@NASA y Science4Girls.

Spanish Classes at Verbling.com

Well, that was a lot of fun! I just finished a conversation class in Spanish on Verbling. I learned that the classes were being offered just a couple of days ago via Learn Spanish with Paulino.

Currently it appears that there are several Spanish teachers offering classes from beginner to advance. You chat using Google Hangout, but keep in mind you have to connect via a link within the Verbling website.

You can join the classes for free or become a premium member which guarantees you a seat in advance which may come in handy.

EDITED 5/12/2013
Now it appears you have to buy tickets to join a class. Please visit Verbling for more information.

Coursera Classes in Spanish

If you really want a language challenge, Coursera.org is now offering select classes in Spanish. 

So far, there are two universities participating: La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Tecnológico de Monterrey. 

Classes include Matemáticas y movimiento, Innovación educativa con recursos abiertos, Ser más creativos and more. (To view the classes, click on the university links above.)

The following video is from Dra. María Soledad Ramírez Montoya, one of the instructors of Innovación educativa con recursos abiertos.

Also from Tecnológico de Monterrey, a 6-week Latin American Culture class will be available in June. From the About the Course section:

This course will develop students’ abilities to understand Latin American culture at both the national and regional levels. Students will analyze the social, economic, political, and cultural development of the region by applying modern critical thinking to the understood history of the individual Latin American countries. At the same time, students will study the contributions of different cultural and ethnic groups that exist within these countries, in order to understand fully the social complexity of what we call “Latin America”. Lastly, students will evaluate the developmental needs of Latin American countries and propose possible solutions in which individuals can act as a force for change.

Unlike the others, it appears this class will be in English.

To learn more about Coursera.org, visit the About page. By the way, all Coursera classes are free.

Free online magazine: El mundo con eñe

El mundo con eñe is a new free magazine available online. The first one is about Argentina – covering topics such as literature, music, movies, recipes and more.

Each article is given a reading level from A1 to C1. (Look for the number of aliens near the top of each page… yes, aliens.) Also throughout the articles certain words are highlighted which can be found in the glossary section near the end of the magazine. You will also find comprehension exercises for the reader.

In addition to the magazine, there are podcasts and a YouTube channel (links can be found in the magazine).

From their blog:

¿Qué es "El mundo con eñe"?
Es una revista mensual dirigida para quien estudia, enseña o simplemente le gusta el español.

¿Cuánto cuesta?
¡Nada!

¿Dónde la encuentro?
Aquí mismo, en nuestro sitio. Su publicación en línea permite que esté siempre disponible para descarga o lectura en el propio sitio donde la subimos.

Pero...¿qué voy a encontrar en la revista?
Todos los meses trabajaremos un país de habla hispana. Este mes se lo dedicamos a Argentina. Incluimos varias secciones: historia, qué hacer allí, literatura, música, entrevistas y recetas; todo referido al país elegido. Incluimos tambien, un  glosario y ejercicios para aplicar lo que aparece allí.

¿Cuándo la publican?
El útlimo viernes de cada mes.

¿Contiene audios para practicar la comprensión auditiva?
Sí. A partir del segundo número, todas las revistas serán acompañadas por un archivo de audio donde encontrarán  los textos leídos para quien quiera escucharlos y no leerlos. Pero hagan las dos cosas, vamos...

¿Qué harán cuando cubran todos los países de habla hispana?
(Silencio)

No entendí la respuesta...

(Silencio- silencio. Ruido de grillos)

From the questions and answers you can tell that the magazine will be pretty interesting.

Hat tip: http://www.todoele.net/

About.com en español

Okay, where have I been and why haven’t I noticed this before? As I was scrolling through the Teaching & Learning Spanish Facebook page, (yes, shameless plug, but turning out to be a great resource) I ran across a post on mamalatina.about.com. I paused and thought, wait a minute, about.com in SPANISH! So, I clicked on the About.com en español link at the top of the page, sat back in my chair and thought how cool is this!

The menu at the top lists the following topics: Autos, Casa, Cocina y recetas, Cultura, Deportes y actividades, Educación, Familia y more. (Hmm… shouldn’t that say más?) Either hover over the menu at the top or scroll down to view the subcategories.

Needless to say, this is a great resource for learning everyday Spanish. I can’t wait to dive in!

Radio Ambulante

Radio Ambulante is a new monthly Spanish-language radio program. Here’s more from their web site:

Radio Ambulante es un nuevo programa de radio que contará historias latinoamericanas provenientes de todos los países de habla hispana, incluyendo Estados Unidos. Buscamos llevar la estética de la buena crónica de prensa escrita a la radio.

Nuestro podcast podrá ser escuchado pronto desde nuestra web en cualquier parte del mundo. Además crearemos alianzas con emisoras en Latinoamérica y Estados Unidos, para alcanzar una audiencia de habla hispana en todo el continente.

Una de nuestras metas es formar una comunidad de cronistas de radio en distintos países, aprovechando los avances tecnológicos para producir, distribuir, e intercambiar historias.

There are stories, so far, from Peru, Argentina, United States and others. You can keep up with Radio Ambulante on Twitter and Facebook. I think this program is of course wonderful for native Spanish speakers to listen to stories in their own language, but also for those of us who are learning the language.

JP Is Back!

And it’s about time! Just kidding, JP. Seriously though, I was a big fan of his when he was on SpanishPod. He had such a great way of explaining Spanish grammar, vocabulary, etc. So when I saw a post on my Facebook page (via Medical Spanish Podcast) that he was on a new podcast, I immediately came here to write a quick post about it.

The podcast is called Q&A Spanish and is part of the Radio Lingua Network… you know, the wonderful folks who produce Coffee Break Spanish, ShowTime Spanish and many more high-quality language podcasts.

From the Q&A Spanish web page:

When you’re learning a language on your own and you don’t have access to a teacher or a native speaker it can sometimes be difficult to get the help you need in order to build confidence in the language and make progress. Here at Radio Lingua we receive requests for help all the time through our website, email, our help desk, Twitter and Facebook. We’ve decided that the best way to answer these questions is by launching our new weekly show Q&A Spanish. Q&A Spanish is hosted by Spanish teacher and language expert JP Villanueva. JP is joined by Nahyeli Mendivil who will be sharing her native speaker knowledge with learners in each show.

You can also download the podcast via iTunes. And here’s the link to the Q&A Spanish Facebook page.

Destino: España

I’m totally addicted to the show, Destino: España, on RTVE. I ran across the program via the RTVE app on iTunes.

During each episode you meet several people from various parts of the world (from Togo to Mongolia and everywhere in between) who have chosen to set up residence in Spain. They talk about how long they’ve been there, introduce their family and friends, visit various parts of their town including where they work when applicable.

The program is organized by regions. I started with Aragón since that is where I spent most of my time when I studied abroad in Spain umpteen years ago. For instance, in the Aragón II episode, they talk to a gentleman from Romania who is a gardener at the Monasterio de Piedra. It was lovely to “re-visit” this beautiful location even for just a little bit.

I could see this being used in the classroom (upper-intermediate, advanced) for listening comprehension, Spanish language (of course), geography and culture.

How-to videos in Spanish

Practicopedia.com is chocked-full of videos about how to do everything from packing a suitcase to touring El Prado, from how to transport a pet in your car to how to speak in public.

From the site:

Practicopedia.com es el líder del How-To audiovisual en España con más de un millón de usuarios mensuales. Practicopedia intenta dar solución a los problemas de la vida cotidiana creando contenidos originales, gracias a su equipo de redacción. Practicopedia.com también vigila por la calidad de los contenidos que envían los usuarios y sólo publica aquellos que pasan el filtro por tener los estándares de calidad periodista exigible.

You can also hover your mouse over any word and get the definition – in Spanish, of course. There is also a free iPhone app, so that you can watch the videos wherever you are.

To view more categories: http://categorias.practicopedia.com/

How would you use this site in your classroom?

Los misterios de Laura

Even though this series is probably not new to you, it’s new to me, so I thought I would post it here for those who didn’t know about it. Here’s a snippet from RTVE.es:

Laura Lebrel tiene que compatibilizar sus labores de esposa, ama de casa y madre de dos gemelos de cinco años con su trabajo como inspectora de policía. Pero no es una inspectora cualquiera... No se basa en pruebas científicas, ni controla el análisis psicológico. Su arma es la intuición y el instinto, que la llevarán a desmontar la coartada más perfecta…

Even though I don’t normally watch this sort of programming I’m willing to watch in Spanish just to help with my listening comprehension.

Where to go:
About the series - http://www.rtve.es/television/misterios-laura/serie/
(To watch the individual shows, click on the capítulos tab.)

Website: Practica Español

I’m again amazed at the amount and quality of free learning materials that are available to the Spanish language student. In my weekly CASLS (Center for Applied Second Language Studies) email newsletter, I ran across this wonderful resource – Practica Español. From the site:

Dispones de una variedad de contenidos con diferentes temáticas: ESPAÑA, MUNDO, DEPORTES, ENTRETENIMIENTO, VIAJES, SALUD, NEGOCIOS, CULTURA, CIENCIA y GASTRONOMÍA.

Todos los contenidos tienen soporte en TEXTO, SONIDO E IMÁGENES (Video y/o Fotografía). Lo que te permite LEER, ESCUCHAR, PRACTICAR, APRENDER Y PARTICIPAR a través de los ejercicios que te proponemos.

And here’s their video:

Where to go:
Practica Español
Center for Applied Second Language Studies

More Science in Spanish

Hot off the Twitter presses… um, Twitter stream… well, in any case, I just saw this and wanted to pass it along to you.

From the EarthSky press section:

U.S. Spanish speakers will find more science on both radio and television in the coming three years, thanks to a new National Science Foundation grant, EarthSky announced today. The grant will support EarthSky’s goal of reaching, educating, and inspiring Spanish-speaking audiences in the U.S. with relevant and interesting science content.

What an exciting endeavor! Also, right now you can read articles, watch videos and listen to audio on their Spanish-language site.

Where to go:
More details in press release
EarthSky in Spanish

Free Online Magazine: VeinteMundos

Through the CASLS (Center for Applied Second Language Studies) newsletter I learned about a fairly new online magazine totally in Spanish called VeinteMundos. Here’s the information from their site:

Journalists from Spain and Latin America write interesting reports and articles about everyday life and culture in their homelands. Alongside, Latinos tell us about their experiences in Europe, and Europeans and Americans about their experiences and travels in Spain and Latin America –all in Spanish, of course.

The texts are accompanied by key vocabulary and are written in varying degrees of difficulty, so that you can practice and refresh your Spanish in an efficient and enjoyable way.

An issue is released every month, free of charge, which includes a PDF version of the magazine, an audio version and a vocabulary list. Also, there are resources for teachers such as teacher guides, vocabulary lists, mp3s and more.

Where to go:
VeinteMundos
VeinteMundos for Teachers
CASLS

NY Times: A guide to online educational resources

I found this article link in the latest issue of the ACTFL SmartBrief. It talks about the free educational materials that can be found online and highlights several including YouTube EDU, Connexions, iTunesU among others.

Where to go:
NY TImes: How to Learn Something for Nothing
Connexions
MIT OpenCourseWare
YouTube EDU
Open Culture: Free Language Lessons
iTunesU
OpenCourseWare Consortium
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ACTFL SmartBrief – April 20, 2010

Actualidades Revista

One of my favorite blogs now will be publishing a downloadable magazine which will feature printable versions of some of the articles from Actualidades: Blogueando Para Aprender as well as exercises including crossword puzzles, reading comprehension questions and more geared toward high school Spanish language students.

Take a look at the magazine’s masthead:

 
I think this is brilliant. What a wonderful resource this will be for high school/college teachers!

Where to go:
Actualidades Revista – first issue
Actualidades: Blogueando Para Aprender

Catalog of Spanish Voices

First, let me say again, that I love Twitter. Why? Because that’s how I ran across this site Catálogo de voces hispánicas from the Centro Virtual Cervantes. Thanks to Deborah from @bilingualparent for tweeting it!

You’ll find a list of countries with links to various cities within each country. Once you make a selection, then you’re taken to a page with a video of a person from that area speaking. You’ll also find the linguistic characteristics, a transcription of the video and more information about the location including a map.

I can’t wait to explore this site!

Where to go:
Catálogo de voces hispánicas from the Centro Virtual Cervantes
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Authentic material on Facebook

Become a fan! Recently I’ve become a fan of several Spanish organizations on Facebook. I’ve discovered that this is probably one of the easiest ways to access authentic Spanish-language material online.

Here are some of my favorites:

RTVE - http://www.facebook.com/rtve
Muy Interesante - http://www.facebook.com/pages/MUY-Interesante-GJ/50689135867
BBC Mundo - http://www.facebook.com/pages/BBC-Mundo/81395234664?ref=mf

What I have found interesting and sometimes even entertaining are the comments left by the fans – especially on the RTVE page.

If you have any suggestions, please post them in the comments.

Oh, one more thing. I have to give a big shout-out to the Mis Cositas Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/MisCositascom/190662591830

Become a fan! She’s always posting resources, helpful links and much more.
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Give your Spanish a boost by volunteering

As you may have noticed, I haven’t really been blogging a lot lately. Well, one of the main reasons is that I got a job back in April which has kept me extremely busy. It’s a steady paycheck so no complaining here. I work for a children’s summer camp. Some of my duties include taking photos for print materials, maintaining the website, social networking (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc), and much more. On the downside, I haven’t really used my Spanish too much except for a few emails.

Well, I decided that I needed to fix that. Very soon I’ll be volunteering as a bilingual reader for preschool age children. I’ve really missed teaching Spanish at the preschool, so I’m very excited about this new adventure. Currently all I’m doing at home is reading in Spanish… pretty much on a daily basis in fact, but I’m not using it in an active manner – i.e. conversing or writing. With this new position, I’ll be reading aloud and also interacting with the children in Spanish.

I can already tell that the “spark” has returned. In preparation for this new position I have started talking to my own kids more in Spanish, writing in my journal in Spanish and more. All I needed was that little push.

So, do you want to give it a try?

Where to go:
Volunteer Match: http://www.volunteermatch.org/
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20 Free Online Resources for Spanish Language Learners

Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer.

Learning Spanish is a great way to open doors to opportunities in travel, professional areas, and even education. The Internet plays host to many different resources that would be useful to anyone who wants to learn Spanish. Here is a list of 20 free resources for Spanish language learners to explore:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT offers over 1,900 free courses for online learners, including several free Spanish courses. Course offerings include Spanish I-IV, oral communication, and advanced Spanish communication.

123TeachMe - This free service offers basic and conversational courses that cover vocabulary, grammar, and conversational Spanish. 123TeachMe also has resources strictly for kids, including games and quizzes.

Discover Spanish - Discover Spanish has fun, free podcast Spanish lessons. Podcast episodes last 15 minutes and cover greetings, numbers, age, and much more.

Insta Spanish - This online learning site features free Spanish podcast lessons for all levels of learners. Throughout this site, you can also find Spanish speaking pen pals, an e-learning newsletter, and a forum.

Learn Spanish Online - Learn Spanish Online offers 903 free pages of Spanish grammar with audio files to guide all examples. Language learners can find everything they need--from accents to verbs.

BBC - The BBC offers a large collection of resources for learning Spanish. Learners can find online courses, speaking resources, and quick fixes.

Radio Lingua Network - The Radio Lingua Network provides two free learning podcasts for learners to build their Spanish speaking confidence.

Study Spanish - This teaching site offers free tutorials for anyone interested in learning Spanish. The tutorials consist of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, verbs, idioms, and a travel helper.

Vocabulix - Vocabulix offers over 90 vocabulary lessons for improving your Spanish skills. Users of this site will also find verb drills and verb conjugation tables.

Babbel - This online language platform offers fun, multimedia courses for learning Spanish, English, German, Italian, and French. This is a great place for Spanish learners to find grammar builders, multimedia courses, and grammatical exercises.

Rolling R's - Rolling R's has a series of free videos lessons for building your Spanish speaking and writing skills. The site offers over 75 video lessons, most of which are available for free download or viewing.

don Quijote - This language site offers free Spanish lessons from Spanish teachers. Simply register for a free membership to gain access to this online language resource.

Edufone - Edufone has 40 free podcast lessons for all levels of Spanish speakers. The podcasts cover grammar, verbs, pronunciations, and conversations.

SpanishUnlimited - SpanishUnlimited features free services for learning and practicing Spanish. This site offers users lessons, vocabulary words, tests, and vocabulary games.

Spanicity - This Spanish learning site features grammar and vocabulary lessons complete with audio. Spanicity also comes complete with a Spanish dictionary and quiz.

LearnerSpanish.com - The LearnerSpanish.com site provides online tutorials on vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. This site utilizes both text and audio to help you learn.

Spanish Romance - Spanish Romance offers free online Spanish courses created by Spanish teachers. This site features resources for learning vocabulary, numbers, and phrases.

Palabea - This online social network offers video lectures, virtual classrooms, documents, podcasts, and language partners for Spanish language learners.

iTalki - iTalki is an online social community for learning a wide variety of different languages including Spanish. Users of this site will find 43 different courses, language partners, groups, and a knowledgebase.

Livemocha - Livemocha is a free way for Spanish learners to find self-paced lessons, practice, and native speakers who want to share their skills. All you have to do is sign up for a free account to immerse yourself into the Spanish language.

Karen Schweitzer is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes for OnlineCollege.org, an online college resource.
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