Spanish Phone Conversations

While on Twitter, I ran across the Spanish Phone Conversations site from the Defense Language Institute via Kristen at Spanish Is Your Amigo.

Since this was new to me, I thought I had better check it out and write a quick post about it.

So, upon visiting the Spanish Phone Conversations site, you can choose a country which there are only six available (Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Cuba, Honduras and Argentina), level (2, 2+, 3) and various topics ranging from clothing and working conditions, to education and family life. There are 10 total.

Once you make your choices, you can either listen to the conversation online or download the audio to put on your mp3 player.

There are over 300 phone conversations which should provide plenty of listening comprehension practice. Even though they mention lesson plans, I'm afraid they're not available. In any case, I feel it's still a good site for practicing your Spanish language listening skills.

Spanish Language Podcast: "A mi aire"

First of all, I apologize for the long break. My paying job is working at a summer camp so summer is one of my busiest times of the year. Hopefully in a couple of weeks, I can start writing blog posts on a semi-regular basis. (By the way, we have had three campers from Spain and one from Mexico, so I have been able to use my Spanish a little.)

I started listening to a new podcast (new to me at least) about a month ago and I must say I have really enjoyed it. It’s called Alicia: A mi aire and can be found at www.podclub.ch. You can find past episodes here with links to entire transcripts and vocabulary used.

An overview from the site:

A mi aire es un podcast de Alicia para estudiantes de español a partir del nivel A2/B1. Alicia es el seudónimo utilizado por Paloma Bétrisey. Paloma tanto como Alicia es de Madrid y llegó a Zürich cuando las tiendas cerraban a las seis y media y los bares a las doce de la noche. ¡Qué tiempos aquellos! Alicia se acuerda de lo extraño que era para ella pasear por el centro de la ciudad a las siete con las tiendas cerradas y sin ver a nadie. Se preguntaba: "¿Dónde estará la gente?". Acababa de llegar de Madrid, una ciudad enorme, donde hay ruido y personas por todas partes. Su hermana Lucía se lo había dicho: "Alicia, te vas a Europa, allí no puedes comprar todo a última hora y tendrás que cenar a las siete, ¿eh?". "Ya lo sé, ya lo sé", le contestó ella entonces convencida, pero no fue tan fácil como ella pensaba al principio.

What makes this podcast different? Well, I find them engaging and truly interesting. She speaks clearly and a bit slower than normal, but not too much. And they’re free which is always a good thing.

The podcasts come out every two weeks. She is on a summer break, but it appears the podcasts will start up again in mid-August. Also, they offer podcasts in other languages such as English, German, French and Italian.

Happy Hour Spanish

As usual, I ran across this resource as I was spending a bit of time this morning on Twitter. Happy Hour Spanish is a fairly new site (2011) that features videocasts, podcasts and exercises to help you learn Spanish and about the Spanish culture.

Hayley, a California native, was a student of Maider who was teaching classes in Bilbao (her native city) when they decided to start the Happy Hour Spanish program. More information from the About Us page:

After becoming fast friends, we decided to embark on creating the ultimate language learning program based on our unique experience in both teaching and learning foreign languages. We have designed Happy Hour Spanish as a program that teaches Spanish grammar while also giving you an immersion-style experience of Spanish culture and the Spanish lifestyle.  We like to say you can consider our program a cross between “Rick Steve’s Europe” and “Rosetta Stone”.  Follow along with us on our video tours throughout Spain and enjoy all the sights and sounds the Iberian Peninsula has to offer while feeling what it is like to be immersed in a foreign language…

With the podcasts, you’ll find transcripts and translations. Accompanying the videocasts are transcripts, translations and printable exercises (beginner and intermediate).

Here is look at one of their videos about La Boqueria in Barcelona:

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/

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.

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

Nature ebooks in Spanish with support materials

Well, this is a neat “discovery” and I didn’t find it through Twitter this time. Actually my younger son showed me the book, Baby Owl’s Rescue by Jennifer Keats Curtis. As we were looking through it I noticed that there were resources and teaching activities on the publisher’s site.

I visited the site and was very pleased to see support materials in both English and Spanish. For example if you visit the Baby Owl’s Rescue page and click on For Creative Minds (en Español), you’ll find Great Horned Owl fun facts, a matching activity, owl life sequencing activity and information about what to do if you find an injured bird.

You’ll also find ebook previews in English and Spanish – look over the books and listen as it is read aloud in either language. You’ll find just part of the text available, but you can listen to the entire book.

From what I gather from the site, the hardcovers and paperbacks are only available in English, but you can purchase ebooks – actually licenses for 1, 3, and 5 years or lifetime - in English or Spanish.

Where to go: 
Sylvan Dell Publishing
Ebooks in Spanish from Sylvan Dell Publishing

News in Slow Spanish

While wading through my Twitter stream, I saw an interesting tweet by @SECottrell. Her link led me to News in Slow Spanish which is basically what is says. From the site:

News in Slow Spanish is a podcast for those who already possess a basic vocabulary and some knowledge of Spanish grammar. Your host is a native Spanish speaker from Spain. Our section Explorando Latinoamérica is hosted by a native speaker from Latin America. In our program we discuss the Weekly News, grammar, and expressions, and much more in simplified Spanish at a slow pace so that you can understand almost every word and sentence.

There is both free and paid content. The free content includes the audio with a transcription of the introduction (not the entire audio). Several words are highlighted in the transcription which you can hover your mouse over to see a translation in English. The paid content includes grammar lessons, expressions review, pronunciation practice, flashcards, grammar exercises and more depending on the subscription level. You can find a demo episode on the homepage.

Where to go:
News in Slow Spanish
Mis Musicuentos – SECottrell’s blog. (She’s a Spanish teacher.)