Blog

Advanced Intermediate Free Spanish Podcast 16 – Elena Los Jovenes

In this free Spanish podcast, we interview with Elena Durán (la hermana de Cynthia) we discover an interesting perspective on life as a young person in Spain. Like in every culture, the Spanish youth have a certain lifestyle that they enjoy as well as things that are important to them.

Given the current economic climate in Spain, it’s very common for young people to live at home with their parents until they leave to get married. This is because the cost of living and renting “un apartamento” alone is generally prohibitive.

Another interesting difference about the youth who choose to study in university is that, unlike here in the UK, they study locally and live with their parents. It’s fairly uncommon for them to move away from home to study their “carrera”.

The up side is that the cost of getting your degree in Spain is far less than in other countries in which the young people live in halls of residence and suchlike. The downside, however, is that many children find themselves living with their parents into their thirties!

The full transcription and translation of this free Spanish podcast can be found in our Spanish worksheets as well as an analysis of the expressions used throughout the conversation. ¡Seguro que os va a gustar!

Advanced Intermediate Spanish Podcast 17 – How to Use Para in Spanish

This most recent Advanced Intermediate podcast is all about how to use para in Spanish.

Along with its partner in crime, por, para is one of the mysteries of the Spanish language that we will help you unravel. It seems that no matter how long people study the language, they still have problems choosing between the two.

Like everything, the more you use it, the easier it becomes, however, we have some tips that will help you use Para more effectively and “más importante”, more accurately.

One tip that is worth keeping in mind is that, para tends to be used far more frequently at the beginning of your learning journey. Most times, when students get it wrong, it’s because they’ve used por instead of para.

Thus, the tip is: If in doubt, use para. You have more chance of being correct!

Why not come and join us in this podcast and learn when to use para as well as a quick and easy trick to help you get it right most of the time.

Listen in and become demystified!

A wealth of additional information and guidance on how to use para in Spanish can be found in the comprehensive Spanish help-sheets that we have produced specifically with you, our students, in mind.

Esperamos que os sirven.

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Advanced Intermediate Spanish Podcast 18 – How to Use Ya in Spanish

¡Hola! In this free Spanish podcast episode, we’re going to explain exactly how to use ya in Spanish.

Despite being such a small word, just two lonely letters, it is probably one of the most flexible and diverse of them all.

When we compare the uses of ya in Spanish, we find a lot of similarities to the American usage of “already”. And, “already” is exactly the translation the dictionary would give you for this word. But ya is more complicated than that and it has nuances that aren’t always immediately apparent.

In this episode we run through the range of different ways that you can use this surprisingly flexible word and give you some practical examples of how you can put them into conversation.

Listen in as Cynthia and Gordon unwrap the many uses and meanings of ya. “Ya sabes que es importante.”

As always, the a full translation and transcription as well as all the additional information and guidance can be found in the comprehensive Spanish helpsheets, which have been created with you, nuestros estudiantes, in mind. With these resources, you’ll learn how to use ya in Spanish in no time at all.

Seguro que os van a gustar.

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Advanced Intermediate Spanish Podcast 19 – Difference between Saber and Conocer

Do you know the difference between saber and conocer? Maybe you think you know these verbs already, however, like many areas of learning in the Spanish language, there are layers within layers of meaning for these two words.

Did you know that the verb saber can be used reflexively giving it another meaning?

Did you know that conocer doesn’t just apply to “knowing people and places”?

This is a wonderful, though admittedly often frustrating, part of learning a language. Many text books just cannot, or will not, delve into these more subtle areas of the Spanish language. But they’re there and we’re going to show them to you.

Listen in as we examine some of the more interesting meanings that you typically won’t find in the study books and help you use these two verbs, not only in their conventional sense, but also in the way only native speakers do. ¿Qué os parece?

The entire podcast is transcribed and translated to give you a full understanding of what we say. What is more, all the additional information and guidance can be found in our Spanish helpsheets that offer you practical examples and fun tests to check your understanding. Try our free samples to check their value for money.

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Advanced Intermediate Spanish Podcast 20 – How to Use Por in Spanish

We have previously covered the uses of para and now we complete the circle with a look at how to use por in Spanish.

Por is certainly far more idiomatic and has an incredible rich range of expressions that are in daily use. However, more importantly, the rules behind the use of por are vitally important to any student of Spanish.

In this podcast we offer you practical examples and ways of using por correctly. Of all the areas of Spanish learning, por and para are probably some of the most incorrectly used words. If we had a dollar or pound for every time one of our students has confused one with the other, we’d be “forrados”. Jeje.

However, as that is not the case, we consign ourselves to helping them get it “right the first time”, which isn’t as difficult as it may seem.

As we have emphasised, any student worth his or her salt needs to have this word ‘totalmente controlada’ and so, come and join us as we help you learn what’s most important to know about how to use por in Spanish.

Of course, all the additional information and guidance can be found in the comprehensive Spanish worksheets which are crammed full of practical examples of por in action.

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson