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.

More Free Resources for Learning Spanish

I ran across this resource via Twitter. Es de la página del Departamento de Español de la Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Coruña.

En la página hay tres secciones:

1) Para comenzar a saber el español
2) Para reforzar el español que aprendemos
3) Situaciones más específicas

Y no dejan de echar un vistazo a los enlaces en la lista de blogs y sitios a la izquierda de la página.

Students use Spanish language skills to help needy

I love this! Two groups of high school Spanish language students in northern Kentucky are using their growing language skills to help the needy in their community. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Aside from helping local families, the students are also improving their Spanish, according to Cobb.

"They're learning so much, not just about the language but also about the culture," said Cobb. "It's a huge benefit for them to be able to speak Spanish with native speakers.

"They're excited to help and the group is really getting into the project."

This is how to learn a language! I wish I had had a similar opportunity when I was in high school or college.

By the way, I ran across this article via the CASLS newsletter which I would highly recommend. I look forward to it every Monday morning.

Khan Academy… en español

Quick post to let you know that so far, close to 900 Khan Academy videos translated into Spanish have been uploaded on YouTube:

I ran across this piece of news on Facebook.

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.

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

SpanishDict: A very helpful app

I’m reading the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, but of course in Spanish (Los juegos del hambre). Currently I’m reading the second book En llamas (Catching Fire).

This series came highly recommended by several friends. When I read the description, I must admit I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but I trusted my friends, so I bought the first book. I flew through it and enjoyed every minute of it.

But wait, the title of this post is about an app, right? Well, I don’t usually travel with a regular dictionary, but I always have my iPod Touch with me. Several months ago I downloaded the free SpanishDict app to test it out. While reading the first book I had to look up a few words. (I mainly do not look up every unfamiliar word because usually I can get the meaning within context.) Well, I was able to find every word in the dictionary section of this app (over 100,000 entries) and there were a few obscure words, let me add.

Frankly, I was impressed. What’s nice is that I don’t have be online to use it since I just have an iPod Touch. (There is an option to look up further meanings which requires you to be online, but I didn’t need to at the time.)

You can learn about the other features (phrasebook, word of the day, word game) using the links below.

Oh, by the way, they have a video podcast as well which is also free.

Where to go:
SpanishDict App on iTunes
SpanishDict Blog (post about the app)
SpanishDict Video Podcast on iTunes
Los juegos del hambre

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

Blog Spotlight: English Tricks

Huh? Wait a minute… isn’t this a blog for learning Spanish? It certainly is and that’s why I thought I should bring this particular blog to your attention because you might not have noticed it otherwise.

Ramses from the Spanish-Only.com blog, first brought it to my attention via Twitter. (Seriously, Twitter is a great resource for finding things like this.) I started subscribing to it immediately and have kept up with it ever since.

The blog author who is a native Spanish speaker writes about English expressions and vocabulary. First, what the expression or word means in Spanish, then example sentences in English followed by the same sentences in Spanish.

An example from the blog:

Once and for all

El equivalente en español es: “de una vez por todas” y se usa para mostrar que algo termina definitivamente, después de un gran esfuerzo o de muchos intentos.

The pipe has been leaking for months. I’m going to fix it once and for all.

La tubería lleva goteando meses. Voy a repararla de una vez por todas.

Where to go:
English Tricks: http://www.englishtricks.com/
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La policia mexicana de Saturday Night Live

Bablingua: resource for teachers

Eleena over at Voices en Español just wrote a review for Bablingua. Go check it out! Also, as a Christmas gift, if you subscribe to their mailing list, you’ll receive a free sample. You’ll find more information on their blog.

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The Open University: Languages

And this is why I love Twitter. Just this morning Kevin Gaugler, an Associate Professor of Spanish posted a link to the Open University on iTunes. He recommended that we look at the Languages section which I promptly did.

What did I find? Three Spanish language courses for beginner, upper intermediate and advanced learners. 

Portales: Beginners’ Spanish – audio tracks and transcripts  
Viento en Popa: Upper Intermediate Spanish – iPod video, video, transcripts
A Buen Puerto: Fast Forward in Spanish – iPod video, video, audio, transcripts

There are also courses for French and German language learners.

For more information about these courses, visit The Open University’s Spanish Language section.

Oh, if you haven’t downloaded iTunes, click here. You don’t need to be on a Mac or have an iPod to enjoy the benefits.
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ShowTime Spanish Podcast

 
Recently I started listening to a new podcast that I wanted to share with my readers here at TLSB. It’s called ShowTime Spanish, a new podcast from the Radio Lingua Network.

The two main presenters are Mark, an experienced teacher who has lived and worked in Spain and Alba, from Barcelona, who is teaching Spanish in Scotland. José Picardo, a native speaker from Andalucia, who currently teaches in England, makes a guest appearance in each show.

There are two acts in each podcast or show. During the first act, the presenters have a conversation about a particular topic. To help listeners understand the conversation, they provide a summary using more “straightforward” Spanish afterwards.

In the second act, the grammar and vocabulary used during the first act are then explained by Mark. In between the two acts is the intermedio where José talks about taking the language to the next level by introducing helpful phrases to sound more native. Also during the intermedio, Alba introduces trabalenguas (tongue twisters).

To access the podcasts, you can subscribe for free through iTunes or listen directly on the ShowTime Spanish site. You can take your learning even further by becoming a premium member. As a member you’ll have access to the lesson guides which include: “full transcripts of the introduction, the main conversation and any other Spanish texts used within the lesson. The guide also features the text and explanations relating to our intermedio section… premium members can also use the Encore podcast to test their understanding of what has been covered in the main lesson.”

For those who like to kick the tires and look under the hood so to speak, you can access the lesson 3 materials for free either through iTunes or here.

I have to say that I’m quite impressed with the entire package. The presenters are engaging and very knowledgeable about the Spanish language. The grammar and vocabulary explanations are done well and easy to understand. Overall I’m pleased to have found a new podcast to listen to as I go about my day in the car or around the house. I also have to mention that the Radio Lingua Network produces a podcast for beginners called Coffee Break Spanish as well as programs for other languages.
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Profeland: A resource site for Spanish teachers - high school & up

 
Profeland: La web para el profesor de español is a site that might be quite helpful to high school teachers, college professors and adults learning on their own.

They combine different types of media such as music videos, short movie clips and more along with support material. Here's un buen ejemplo. In fact, I think I might use this site myself.
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