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In this advanced Spanish podcast we review the film, El Laberinto del Fauno or Pan’s Labyrinth by the director, Guillermo del Toro.

We aren’t film critics but we were inspired to talk about this particular film because of the fact it’s based in Spain during the Spanish civil war when Franco’s men ruled the country with an iron fist of brutality and fear and were constantly in battle with the rebels.

Despite the film’s harsh brutality and shocking reality of life during Franco’s regime, (be careful with the scene with the two poachers), it has a fantastical, yet dark side to it which contrasts what happens in the real world.

The main “protaganista” of the film is a young girl who is taken by her pregnant mum into the countryside to live on an army camp with her new husband and captain of the army.

The captain is a terrible “déspota” and treats everyone around him with cruelty and disdain including his pregnant wife.

Like all good films, everything ends well (or does it?) and it gives you a great opportunity to learn about the terrible days of Franco’s regime in Spain as well as listening to authentic Spanish.

This entire advanced Spanish podcast has been transcribed and translated for you all the additional information and guidance can be found in the comprehensive Spanish help-sheets that we have produced for each podcast we make to help you gain the maximum from these lessons.

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:22 — 11.3MB)

In this free Spanish audio lesson, we discuss la familia española, the Spanish family.

Every culture has its own personality and way of being and none more so than the Spanish from mainland Spain. For them, family is still very important, (thank goodness for that) and day to day life resonates with the sounds of the names of everyone in their extended family group.

For the most part, everyone must have their title, which serves as the identification of who they are within the group. In a typical family you will hear “los abuelos”, “los primos”, “mi cuñando”, “mi suegro”, bandied liberally around every day of the week.

Listen in as Gordon tells the tale of the title he was given when he first became part of the Cynthia’s family. Having a name like Gordon in Spain is not without its difficulties…

We have transcribed and then translated every word in this free Spanish audio lesson, along with every other audio in the series so that you can listen along and help your mind begin to link sounds with words. In addition to that we have added a wealth of information and guidance in the comprehensive Spanish worksheets designed with you in mind.

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:21 — 9.5MB)

This free Spanish audio should get your toes tapping because today we’re talking about la musica.

One of the downfalls of living in the UK for us is that the music that gets played on the radio is only either English or American. Once in a while there appears a novelty song from another country, but in general the radio stations never stray from music of their own language.

This is a real shame, given that the music from Spain and from Latin America is some of the best in the world! There is such a variation of style, rhythm and genre that a listener could well be overwhelmed by it.

Now, we are lucky to have the Internet and therefore can access music every day through mediums such as Youtube and Spotify, among many others. We now can immerse ourselves completely in Spanish music.

But why should we do that? Well, quite literally, listening to Spanish music will drive your Spanish forward at a much faster rate. Of course, learning with music has been around for centuries. Parents have always done it with their children and every country teaches its children nursery rhymes that are remembered for the rest of their lives.

Listen in as we talk about music and list some of the important artists in the Spanish speaking world.

The transcription and translation of this podcast along with a host of additional information and guidance can be found in the comprehensive Spanish language help-sheets written and designed with you, our learner, in mind.

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:32 — 9.6MB)

For someone learning the language, there’s no replacing Spanish listening practice. Listening to native speakers is a fundamental part of the learning process.

Here, Leti, Cynthia’s cousin, describes some of the strange things she’s been required to do during her time as a veterinary assistant. Leti, or Leticia, loves animals and really enjoys working with them. However, she has one small problem. At the first sight of blood, she faints!

This certainly hasn’t put her off and although she has problems with blood, she certainly has had to do some very unusual things whilst working in the surgery. Listen as she tells the tale of the owner who wanted to mate his two dogs and what had to be done to try and make that happen.

Warning: Leti speaks quickly and so you may find understanding all of this podcast a challenge. What is more, Leti “no tiene pelos en la lengua” (She pulls no punches) when describing some of the procedures she’s been involved with. This is not for the faint hearted!

If you have issues understanding Leti, then a full transcription and translation is available at www.lightspeedspanish.com as well as a wealth of additional information and guidance which can be found in the comprehensive help-sheets created for you, our students.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:59 — 11.0MB)

Whilst in Spain did you ever notice the amount of bumps and bruises that most Spanish cars have? Listen in and learn some of the reasons why they treat their cars so roughly.

Of course, all the additional information and guidance can be found in the comprehensive help-sheets.

Video for This Spanish Lesson

Audio for This Spanish Lesson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:15 — 9.4MB)