Other learning resources (podcasts, movies etc.)?
I'm living in Spain and learning Spanish and I want to start using as many other resources to improve my vocab and understanding as possible so I'm looking to make a conscious effort to read, watch and listen to more material - what can you recommend for an intermediate student? A good Spanish movie, a popular Spanish podcast, news column, TV show, book, comic etc. - anything that helps to learn outside of the classroom and is accessible and interesting.
I love the ShowTime Spanish podcast. It's presented as an intermediate podcast by a Scottish man who has a near-native Spanish accent (at least I can't tell!) and a woman from Barcelona. They have a conversation in Spanish that lasts about ten minutes, then another native Spanish speaker comes in to teach you some slang, and then the Scottish guy goes over some grammar points (in English). You can skip the grammar if you're just looking to listen to some Spanish. The conversations are varied and fun to listen to. They speak clearly but very fluidly so it doesn't sound at all like they're reading a script.
What makes a good movie will depend on your tastes, but El Orfanato is a fine Spanish horror movie. "El laberinto del fauno" is a good fantasy movie set in Spain, though it is actually a Mexican film and I am not sure how true to Spanish grammar the film is.
Also, Hulu has a lot of Latino content. It's a lot of soap operas, some entertainment shows, romance movies, and -- my personal preference -- some campy horror movies. You probably won't hear many vosotroses, but it still offers vocab practice.
I'm not sure if you have access to it but in school we used to watch this show called "Extra" and that was pretty good. Also on bbc there's a great interactive video called "Mi Vida Loca". http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/mividaloca/ Hope that helps! :)
hi everyone. i have such a this problem. i try to find stage 1, 2 or 3 books but i haven't been find. Please help me with subject. i really want to learn this language. i'll be wait to your answers ...
The Pimsleur CDs are good for basic travel conversation. For books, I have found the "Practice Makes Perfect" series published by McGraw Hill Education to be quite good. They have a number of titles with different subjects and levels.
My friends in higher spanish classes than I am in watch scooby doo in spanish in class.
I like a podcast called "News in Slow Spanish." It is produced in the US, and the presenters are a native Spanish speaker (from Barcelona) and an American fluent in Spanish. It is a weekly podcast in which the hosts present and briefly discuss a few major world news stories--usually a mix of some serious news and some human interest stories. They also include a section on grammar. They key is that they speak slowly so that an intermediate-level learner can understand. Even though the presenters can be a little corny, I like it because I get to hear grammar and vocabulary in context. Also, since it has to do with current events, I am already familiar with the topics so I can understand what they are talking about even if I don't know every single word. The audio version of the podcast is free on iTunes; for complete access to the transcripts and lessons you have to pay for a subscription on their website. They have also just started a Latin American version of the same podcast for people interested in Latin American Spanish. Also, I don't know what captioning is like on TV in Spain, but I have found that watching Spanish-language channels here (in the US) with the closed captioning turned on (in Spanish) helps me immensely.
Todos, Hola ! A quien le interesa de praticar un poco conmigo. Pienso a hacer regularmente una llamada por Skype. De esa manera hablaramos un poco y comenzamos a cononcernos. Bueno ? Vivo en Lovaina, una ciudad cerca de Bruselas. Te espero con impaciencia.....Chauuuu, Roel