dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5015 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish
| Message 81 of 319 31 December 2013 at 11:14am | IP Logged |
Some links to really good beginners podcasts:
SSL4U
Lots of free podcasts with transcripts,free
espanol podcast
Loads of content, all free, along with transcripts, maybe a little slow after a while
Spanish Pod
More content than you could possibly know what to do with, for different levels. Conversational dialogs which in my opinion are both more authentic and advanced than can be found on the Notes in Spanish site.
They do charge a subscription fee, but I was naughty and downloaded everything in the week free trial!
News in Slow Spanish
Does exactly what it says on the tin. A great stepping stone to help you graduate to something like Democracy now en Espanol or
NHK world Spanish (news with transcripts).
Of course there is always viente mundos, which is great, although I am not to fond of the audio.
A really great resource which I seldom see discussed is Audiria.
There is a ton of content for all levels on there. I like the fact that they have a lot of native speed video clips with transcripts and exercises which are great for intensive listening practice.
There was also a post on HTAL a little while back linking to a blog someone had written, which linked to a wealth of Spanish content with subtitles. I will try and dig it up.
That's all I can think of for now, but that's already more than enough to get you right into native content.
Another thought. Notes in Spanish is mentioned a lot. It is indeed a good resource, and I myself have listened to loads of their podcasts, but I found that even the advanced levels aren't actually that advanced. I suppose, in common with most of the links above (with the exception of Democracy Now and NHK) that they provide a great stepping stone into full speed audio, but after a while you really have to jump right in to the real thing.
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Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5002 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian
| Message 82 of 319 31 December 2013 at 5:10pm | IP Logged |
I started watching series in Spanish with Erase una vez, (dubbed Once upon a Time) and it was a good choice. Especially for those with background in another romance language, such as French. It isn't too hard, I found it really fun (even though I totally understand not everyone got similar tastes) and it wasn't too hard. I tried Pillares de la Tierra and while it moved me forward and I watched it all (and enjoyed it), I wouldn't recommend it as the first series in a new language to quite anyone.
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July Diglot Senior Member Spain Joined 5266 days ago 113 posts - 208 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishB2 Studies: French
| Message 83 of 319 31 December 2013 at 5:19pm | IP Logged |
I know it's a bit late, but I would love to be part of this. I'm getting back into Spanish in
a big way this year and I'm even thinking of doing the DELE C1 if all goes well. It would be
great to have some support and folks to discuss the learning process with. Very exciting.
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PointsDotsLines Diglot Groupie United States Joined 3999 days ago 76 posts - 110 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, English Studies: Spanish
| Message 84 of 319 31 December 2013 at 6:35pm | IP Logged |
In addition to the resources/websites that have been posted, I also use the following ones:
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www.viki.com --It’s similar to Dramafever where one can watch TV shows/films with Spanish/English subtitles.
www.practicaespanol.com --one can listen to various topics organized by three levels from A1 to C2.
www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/index.html --Spanish proficiency exercises by UT-Austin
There are a large number of video clips (with the English/Spanish transcripts) spoken by native speakers. The content covers a wide range of topics that people usually talk in a social setting or at Meetups -- families, daily activities, hobbies/interests, favorite food/restaurants, etc.
Edited by PointsDotsLines on 31 December 2013 at 6:38pm
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Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 4137 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog
| Message 85 of 319 31 December 2013 at 7:38pm | IP Logged |
dbag wrote:
Another thought. Notes in Spanish is mentioned a lot. It is indeed a good resource, and I myself have listened to
loads of their podcasts, but I found that even the advanced levels aren't actually that advanced. I suppose, in
common with most of the links above (with the exception of Democracy Now and NHK) that they provide a great
stepping stone into full speed audio, but after a while you really have to jump right in to the real thing.
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Agreed! Notes in Spanish is "learner advanced". It's not advanced in the way that native material is advanced. I think
that it's a great transition resource for intermediate learners who are *almost* ready to move exclusively to native
materials. Most of my listening is now native TV, but radio is still tricky for me, so I listen to NiS in the car while
commuting. It's very easy for me to understand now, but I still learn something with every podcast.
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James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5368 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French
| Message 86 of 319 31 December 2013 at 7:56pm | IP Logged |
Can anyone suggest a telenovela with 30 minute (or less) length episodes?
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JIK Diglot Groupie Bahrain Joined 4095 days ago 58 posts - 58 votes Speaks: Estonian, English* Studies: Spanish, German
| Message 87 of 319 31 December 2013 at 8:02pm | IP Logged |
Stelle, dbag, and James29: I've been following all three of your progress quite a bit over the past year or
so. Any plans to upload a youtube video or anything of yourself/yourselves speaking Spanish? It would be
great to hear!
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dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5015 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish
| Message 88 of 319 31 December 2013 at 8:31pm | IP Logged |
JIK wrote:
Stelle, dbag, and James29: I've been following all three of your progress quite a bit over the past year or
so. Any plans to upload a youtube video or anything of yourself/yourselves speaking Spanish? It would be
great to hear! |
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Maybe later in the year, but I'm a bit shy for that! I think if I could dramatically improve my accent, I would definitely do it. In fact that could be something to work towards?
Actually I think that Stelle has some videos of her speaking, and last time I watched one, which was months ago, I was very impressed, especially given the small length of time she had been learning.
BTW are you native Estonian or just living there? I was in Talinn only a few weeks back, nice place.
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