9 of the Best Resources for Learning Spanish Online
Finding credible resources for language learning can be difficult and time-consuming, but don't worry...I'm here to help! There has never been a better time to learn Spanish, and with these 9 indie resources you'll be using the language comfortably in no time.
Finding credible resources for language learning can be difficult and time-consuming, but don't worry...I'm here to help!
Insider Info Comin' Right Up..
Here at Fluent Language, I love supporting independent language producers. So my indie Top 9 means that these resources are not part of a big corporation or brand of language businesses. They're insider tips that you might miss otherwise.
What’s the best way to learn Spanish on your own?
Many people think that you have to travel and take huge amounts of language lessons, but learning Spanish on your own is absolutely possible! Make sure you have a good mix of the four core skills in your routine: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Rule one should be to follow your heart and do what you enjoy the most. All three methods are efficient, and there is no reason why you can’t do a bit of each. You are NOT doing it wrong.
Here are the Best online Resources for Learning Spanish
There has never been a better time to learn Spanish, and with these 9 indie resources you'll be using the language comfortably in no time.
My friend Olly Richards is fluent in a whole bunch of languages, but I'm never more impressed than when he speaks Spanish. Olly knows what it takes to become confident, and he knows that being stuck on "intermediate" can be frustrating.
He runs Spanish Uncovered over at StoryLearning. This an innovative and SUPER effective online course designed to guide you from beginner and into language fluency. His programme includes:
The complete 20-module Spanish Uncovered programme to learn Spanish through story
100+ video lessons on reading, vocabulary, grammar, listening skills and pronunciation to learn with in an exciting "virtual classroom" environment
Dozens of interactive quizzes, to consolidate your learning, grow your vocabulary and perfect your grammar naturally
Fully downloadable material so you can learn faster - anywhere, any time, and on any device
20 integrated speaking training worksheets, so you can learn to speak your language with confidence and take part fully in basic conversations with native speakers
A 365-day money-back guarantee, so you can enrol without risk today, try out the course, and get a full refund if it's not right for you
They even do a free 7-day trial over there so you can see the course for yourself!
Easy Spanish have numerous videos that help you learn 100% authentic and natural Spanish. Created by polyglot favourite Easy Languages, the videos offer a mix of language and culture by chatting to people on the streets about certain aspects of their culture or language.
By the way, if you like podcasts then don't miss my best podcasts for Spanish learners.
It's informal, it's not very time-consuming - each video is less than 10 minutes, perfect to cram in as a working break between your studies. And most importantly it's fun and fulfils that wonderful language learning motivation: wanting to hear from real people who live somewhere else!
Randall Munroe's beloved XKCD webcomic has a global following, so much so that the community of fans decided to create a Spanish version! XKCD en español is available for all strips that the translators found "translatable", and there's enough to keep you going for days and days.
Another perfect study break, or try adding XKCD it into your daily routine. Reading one comic strip a day won't make you fluent, but it will get you used to seeing and reading written Spanish, and these short strips fit into the busiest of days.
Glossika
If you already know some Spanish and you want to start practising and adding more vocabulary over time, than the Glossika style might be perfect for you! This multilingual AI app is all about sentences… Lots and lots of sentences.
In every session, you will hear and see 10 to 20 sentences that you hear in your native language, and in Spanish, then you repeat these, and overtime, you can improve your grammar, vocabulary, and feel more ready for real, fluent conversations.
Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish
(UK Amazon Link | US Amazon Link)
Margarita Madrigal's textbook on how to learn to read, write, and speak Spanish in only a few short weeks with her proven method has become something of a cult classic as far as language books go. Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish begins by teaching you the past tense since this is the tense we use when we tell stories, and telling stories is a lot more interesting than repetitive sentences introducing ourselves.
The book's approach is focused on communication, so you'll get most out of this for boosting the speaking skill. Serious students will do well to support this with a grammar book.
The book was originally published in 1953 and is still praised today, more than 60 years later! A must-have for keen learners.
Language Transfer is a platform providing language courses for free in podcast and PDF-form. Project costs are funded through a voting campaign and occasional donations from users. The founder, Mihalis Eleftheriou, works with native speaker volunteers that he sources from the users of LT. The courses are user-funded and users can vote with a small sum of money to decide on the language or level of the next course. They have a complete Spanish course just waiting for you to get listening!
El Blog para Aprender Español, written in Spanish with the occasional English translation or guideline, offers free materials for download to use to practice your Spanish. The blog is run by Raquel and María, both Spanish ELE teachers from Madrid with experience from classrooms across Europe.
El Blog offers you everything from an insight into Spanish culture and life in Spain to basic grammar lessons. And if you like these two ladies, you can book them for one-to-one Skype Spanish lessons.
Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Daddy Yankee, Enrique Iglesias...I could name amazing Spanish language artists all day long. Maybe you've thought about learning Spanish through music before (that's got to be more fun than Duolingo!!). But how??
Tamara from Spanish Con Salsa has the answer! She has created a FANTASTIC Spanish programme all around the power of music and dance. This truly special music will ignite your love of Spanish and take you to brand new places. Unmissable! 💃🏽
Check out my interview with Tamara to learn more about how it works here:
I am a HUGE fan of Say Something in Welsh, so imagine my excitement when I found out about their Say Something in Spanish range!
Say Something In Spanish's system is simple: they say something in English, you say it in Spanish, and then you hear it twice in Spanish.
By turning language learning into a game of words, SSI allows you to explore a new language without the pressure of instant perfection. SSI started out with a very successful Welsh version of their language course, and their Spanish version is just as good.
Try a sample and Say Something in Spanish immediately on this sample page.
Have You Used Any Of These Yet?
Before you read this article, you probably already heard about Duolingo …and I hope you have discovered a lot of brand-new resources. For me as a language learning coach, it’s also important to show you how to learn vocabulary in Spanish and how to grow yourself teaching skills.
Why not join my newsletter to find out even more about this? I share great tips on a weekly basis for free and I look forward to seeing you there.
The Ultimate Top Tools for Language Learning from 2016-2020
If you’re a regular listener of the Fluent Show podcast, you know that we regularly recommend our favourite new tools to help language learners. We’ve been doing this for 4 years (40 recommendations below!
For our first 2020 edition, we felt that it was time to revisit every single one of these recommendations to sort out which ones we have LOVED for years now. The results are in, so roll out the red carpet and let’s see who’s in the…
You can listen to our deliberations and discussions of every single top tool and its merits at:
Top Tools Hall of Fame
The best tools for EVERY language learner:
ALL of these top tools have web and app based versions and lots of languages available for you to pick from.
The Beginners Badge for people who want good beginner materials goes to 50 Languages.
The Minority Medal for a tool that is best if you are interested in learning a minority language goes to the LiveLingua Project.
The Goblet of Recognition for a tool that we brought back again and again goes to VOCAB NOTEBOOKS like these. In America, Gregg or Pitman ruled notebooks might do this job for you.
Top Tools Nominees
Here is the FULL list of nominees, including links to every podcast episode and blog article so you can follow our discussions and read more about the tools you like.
Autumn/Winter 2016
Podcast: https://www.fluent.show/57
Blog: https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/the-best-language-learning-tools-of-autumnwinter-2016
- Lyricstraining.com
- Gus on The Go
- TuneIn Radio
- Tiny Cards (by Duolingo)
- Eggbun
Spring/Summer 2017
Podcast: https://www.fluent.show/61
Blog: https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/top-tools-summer-2017
- Clozemaster
- Live Lingua Project
- YouTube in your Target Language
- Subasub
- Charity Shops and Library Sales
Autumn/Winter 2017/2018
Podcast: https://www.fluent.show/71
Blog: https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/language-tools-winter
- Leaflets from tourist attractions and reviews on TripAdvisor
- Libby
- Léa Knows
- Flowlingo
- Lingq
Spring/Summer 2018
Podcast: https://www.fluent.show/89
Blog: https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/podcast-episode-89-language-tools
- FutureLearn
- Babadum
- r/languagelearning on Reddit
- Lingodeer
- Text Inspector
Autumn/Winter 2018
Podcast: https://www.fluent.show/109
Blog: https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/language-top-tools-autumn-winter-2018
- Writing Prompts
- 50languages.com
- Omniglot
- Yask
- Calligraphy Sets
Spring/Summer 2019
Podcast: https://www.fluent.show/137
Blog: https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/toptools-springsummer-2019
- Evertype
- Music Planet Roadtrip
- Insight Timer
- Genius
- Pleco
- Teach Yourself Library
Autumn/Winter 2019
Podcast: https://www.fluent.show/160
Blog: https://www.fluentlanguage.co.uk/blog/toptools-autumnwinter-2019
- FlipWord
- The Indo-European Cognate Dictionary
- Quizklip
- Master Any Language
Enjoy a browse through all these recommendations and let us know which ones you enjoyed the most!
Get in touch:
Before You Set Your 2019 Goals, Here's What You Can Do To Get Ready
Don’t leave good lessons on the table - listen to this podcast episode to learn about the most important language lessons from 2018 with special guest Shannon.
Plus: More resources you can try right now!
Happy New Year, hurrah, welcome to 2019!
I bet you've been itching for January to kick off so you can go full steam ahead in lots of new language projects! But before that, let's not forget the year that's just gone by.
That's right, there are some goodies and lessons in the old year that can make a huge difference in how successful you'll be in 2019.
We'll find them with an annual review! For this purpose, I hung out with my friend and 10-language polyglot Shannon Kennedy to talk through her experiences of language in 2018, and how to set the best possible goals so your year goes better than ever.
Hit play to listen to our podcast:
In our conversation, Shannon shared her stories of how 2018 went as a language study year.
A New Language Learning Routine
Shannon's language learning routine changed away from setting specific task goals like "learn 30 new words". It is now more free and focuses on time spent with the language, which allows space for inspiration and still means a lot of productivity.
Shannon also had to deal with big routine changes like the loss of her 2-hour commute which used to provide lots of focused language time. She quickly learnt how to make up for that loss and now pairs her activities with more intention, for example using household chores as a great opportunity to put on an audio course or a podcast.
The Value of Discipline Over Motivation
Shannon also talks about how motivation can be a bad friend for language learners. It's just not as reliable as you would want it to be. She discovered just how valuable discipline is instead, and the difference it can make when you make discipline a value in your study routine.
How To Set Great Language Learning Goals
Finally, we discussed the way Shannon sets herself goals and works with the structure of Vision Goals and Path Goals. She shares a few of her own Vision Goals and I promise you, they're among the best I have EVER heard from a language learner. These goals are your "why", your source of all the mental energy you may need to focus on your language and keep moving forward.
TIP: If you can anchor your goal in real life and make it about a real situation you'd like to experience, it will be a more powerful and helpful Vision Goal.
Here Are The Year Review Questions
You can use them to conduct your own review of 2018 and set goals for the next year.
- How would you sum up the year in your languages?
- What changed in your life and in your languages in 2018?
- What lessons do you think you learnt from the year 2018?
- What surprised you?
- What will you change going forward?
- Looking forward, what are your language learning goals for 2019?
Shannon's top 3 books of 2018
- Grit by Angela Duckworth
- The Organised Mind by Daniel J. Levitin
- Courses from the Assimil series
Shannon's top 3 apps of 2018
Shannon's top 3 courses
- The Add1 Challenge
- Yoyo Chinese
- 90 Day Korean
What Were Your Top Books, Apps, and Courses?
And do you set yourself regular vision goals?
Share them in the comments below!
9 of the Best Podcasts for Learning German
German is a great language for learning by podcast. There is a big selection, so I've gone and selected 9 of the best shows for you to discover.
In this article, you'll find
- German Podcast Courses from Deutsche Welle
- Podcasts in Slow German
- German Video Shows
- Story-Based and German Culture Podcasts
- A tip on how to find podcasts produced by native German speakers
What would you do if you could easily understand spoken German? Perhaps you'd finally travel to the places you've dreamed of, watch the original version of your favourite film, or try ordering that fabled Club Mate to go full on German hipster.
If you want to prepare yourself for real conversations with German natives, there's great value in developing those listening skills.
Why Practice German Listening Skills?
German is a language with consistent pronunciation and spelling, so you will find that the more you listen, the more you can work out. And for any level of language, podcasts have come onto the scene.
And what easier way to do this than with a German podcast.
Podcasts are a great way to add a little German listening practice into your day-to-day life. They are free, and can accompany any part of your day: driving a car, washing your dishes, doing laundry, working out, reading, and more.
Quick Primer: How Do Podcasts Work?
If you're curious about podcasts, but not quite sure how they work, here's what you need to know:
You can subscribe for free to podcasts on your phone, tablet, or computer.
If you use an iPhone or iPad, go to the Podcasts app. If you're on a Mac, use the iTunes directory.
On a PC or Android device, try the Pocketcasts app for a quick and easy start.
Subscribing means you'll always have the latest episode ready and waiting for you as soon as it's published.
German is a great language for learning by podcast. There is a big selection, so I've gone and selected 9 of the best shows for you to discover.
Listen To The Fluent Show
In addition to the German podcasts you'll find in this article, check out the my own podcast The Fluent Show where we share languages, learning methods, and how to live a multilingual life.
As a German learner, you will love this recent bilingual episode in German and English with polyglot Judith Meyer.
The 9 Best German Podcasts for Learners
In this article, you'll find
German Podcast Courses from Deutsche Welle
Podcasts in Slow German
German Video Shows
Story-Based and German Culture Podcasts
A tip on how to find podcasts produced by native German speakers
German Podcast Courses from Deutsche Welle
- Deutsch - Warum Nicht? (Deutsche Welle - A1-B1)
Deutsch - Warum Nicht? is a 4-part podcast series for complete beginners and early German learners. Parts 1 and 2 focus on the A1 and A2 (beginner) stages while Parts 3 and 4 focus on the B1 (intermediate) stages. It tells the story of Andreas Schäfer, a journalism student and hotel doorman. Each of the four series contains 26 lessons all with PDF dialogues, exercises, and downloadable audio clips. These series are for beginners, intermediate learners, and advanced learners.
- Deutsch - Wieso Nicht? (Deutsche Welle - B1)
Deutsch - Wieso Nicht? is the sequel to Deutsch - Warum Nicht. It focuses on intermediate level German (roughly B1). Everything is in German and like its predecessor, downloadable PDFs and audio files are available. The podcast focuses on topics related to daily life in Germany and Austria on fun and interesting topics and situations. It is very clear and easy to understand and follow. I wholeheartedly recommend it to intermediate German learners.
Podcasts in Slower German
These podcasts present slow or slightly simplified German language content, while keeping you attuned to real German voices. Make sure you keep yourself attuned to faster spoken German too, otherwise you might flounder in conversation.
News in Slow German is an intermediate level podcast. This podcast covers world news, grammar, and expressions and slows down all the dialogue to make it easier to process what you hear. Every episode breaks down a point on grammar and vocabulary.
The audio is very clear and easy to follow. On the website there are transcripts for each episode available with grammar, expressions, pronunciation, and quizzes.
Annik Rubens from Munich produces German learning podcasts for two levels:
- For absolute beginners, there is a podcast in English which introduces basic German words.
- For intermediate learners, she covers interesting aspects and stories about Germans, German culture, and German places.
The podcast offers a paid premium version with great extras such as slowed down lessons, PDF guides, grammar and vocabulary tutorials, fairy tales, and quizzes.
German Video Shows
- Learn German With Videos (Yabla)
Yabla is a video-based learning platform with bilingual subtitles and integrated dictionaries. The subtitles are interactive, which is a really cool concept! Check out how Yabla works in detail by reading my full review.
Yabla is great for all levels from basic to advanced. There is a free German podcast available with plenty of videos to watch.
Story-Based and German Culture Podcasts
This podcast comes on the back of the successful Authentic German Learning website and YouTube channel! It promises to be an exciting one, as the host, Marco Rösler, is an enthusiastic and energetic host with a zest for life. This podcast is focused on learning German through personal development and the TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) method. The concept invites you to read and listen to the dialogue at the same time.
The LingQ German podcast was recommended to me by German learner Alex Gentry as one of his favorites. Steve Kaufmann, the founder of LingQ, emphasises learning German through extensive listening to audio and reading of texts. This is called the comprehensible input method.
The LingQ podcast is excellent for beginner and intermediate learners. There is no English, the tone is relaxed and conversational, and steve gets right in there talking to German native speakers. All exercises are available to download via iTunes, and you can sign into LingQ to get the podcast notes, transcripts, and exercises.
Coffee Break German, a podcast from Radio Lingua Network, combines German language lessons with a lot of useful information about German food, culture, German-speaking countries, and so on.
My favorite part of the podcast is the chemistry between relaxed and charismatic host Mark from Scotland and native speaker Thomas from Bavaria. Cultural Correspondant Julia from Potsdam has great cultural advice, and Grammar Guru Kirsten from Scotland discusses grammar in a clear, easy to understand way.
GermanPod101 from InnovativeLanguage covers any level you can think of from basic to advanced German. With enticing titles and interesting themes for each episode, you'll never get bored.
The dialogues are presented by engaging presenters and the hosts Judith (a native speaker) and Chuck (a fluent speaker) cover both cultural and grammatical aspects clearly and concisely. On the website you can sign up for the premium content to access spaced repetition flashcards, PDF lesson notes, and a community forum for a subscription fee.
Advanced Learner Tip: Native German Podcasts
The German podcast world has come a long way in recent times, and these days you'll be able to find a big array of native level content to listen to when you want to get German language immersion. You can choose from a full catalogue of shows on topics from politics to film reviews. The easiest way to access native German language podcasts is to go to iTunes and switch your country setting to "Germany" or "Austria".
There's no restriction on your switch, and you'll be able to access all podcasts in the same way that listeners from Germany can. One of my favorites is Serienjunkies, covering TV reviews from Game of Thrones to new netflix arrival Dark.
Free German Guide for YOU
My mini-guide to speaking German is out now! It’s called Make Your German Sound Amazing and will give you the best tips and 26 key phrases to make you ready for any conversation. Get it today by subscribing to the Fluent Language Newsletter.
Struggling with listening? Discover realistic tips, challenge prompts, and the best tools for improving your listening skills as a self-guided language learner