Do you feel like you “should” listen to podcasts in Spanish but don’t because it’s exhausting, frustrating, and maybe even a little boring?

Oftentimes, beginner and intermediate students shy away from listening to podcasts in Spanish because they feel overwhelmed. This is completely understandable!

As teachers, we find that if the podcast content is not at least 50% comprehensible for a student, they will not be engaged. Consider a young child – if they are not able to passively understand at least half of an adult conversation, they are likely to become frustrated or bored and walk away. Language learners are similar in this regard. It can be tricky to find a stepping stone to begin to engage in real-world Spanish content without the overwhelm.

Our best recommendation for beginner and intermediate students is the Duolingo podcast. This story-based podcast switches back and forth between English and Spanish – the English provides the core context of the story and a native Spanish-speaking host and guests add color and detail using real-world language. We love this format! Students listen with ease because 50% of the story is passively understood in English. Their interest is peaked and they have enough engagement to fuel their determination to understand at least some of the Spanish portions.

As a place to begin, we love these sweet episodes about some special and inspiring perritos (doggies): Piji y yo follows Piji and his owner from Perú to the U.S.; Perros de La Condesa transports listeners to this relaxed, dog-friendly capital of Mexico City; and El perro que protestó tells the story of the infamous Chilean canine hero who led protests and became a national symbol in the fight for social justice. We hope our many dog-loving students enjoy these episode recommendations if they happen to have missed them!

Because you will be able to passively understand the core of these stories, you can listen to them in your car. As a way of making the most out of your time, try this simple exercise:

• Listen for just one phrase or word that you easily understand but haven’t incorporated into your own Spanish.

• Make a mental note of it and when you stop driving, jot it down.

• Find a time to use it when you are speaking Spanish soon – perhaps first in class with your teacher then out in the real world with a Spanish-speaking friend!

If you don’t have time to jot something down, you can always go back and review the transcript which is an excellent resource.