Listening is one of the most important things that you can do to improve your language skills, especially when you’re hovering in that seemingly interminable stretch between intermediate and advanced. Words – hours and hours and hours of words – can help you bridge that gap.
So here are some of the many words that I’ve been listening to over the past month:
This weekly RTVE podcast – one of the best I’ve listened to in any language – takes listeners on an audio adventure to a different part of the world every week.
Music, nature sounds, interviews, virtual tours, stories, history, snippets of conversation in the local language, city sounds, current affairs – this podcast is the next best thing to actually being there. I particularly like that the podcasts often include interviews with locals who speak Spanish as a second language. It’s interesting to hear Spanish spoken with so many different accents!
A few interesting episodes: (Limerick, Ireland) and (Papua New Guinea).
This weekly RTVE podcast lives at the intersection of science and science fiction.
All things geek – comic books, video games, science fiction and fantasy movies and novels – are interspersed with debates and interviews with authors, scientists and even philosophers. There are usually several dialogue clips from a movie or a video games, and generally at least one interesting song. You’re never quite sure what to expect with Fallo de Sistema!
A few interesting episodes: (artificial intelligence and the Turing test) and (Sherlock Holmes’ many incarnations in movies, books and video games).
This weekly RTVE podcast (are you sensing a pattern here? What can I say…I really love Spanish public radio) is all about science.
A Hombros de Gigantes features debates and interview, reports on recent discoveries, and snippets on the history of science – all in accessible language. Each weekly podcast starts with a particular theme, but also includes information and stories about other news in science.
A few interesting episodes: (memories, learning and the human mind) and (the rapidly expanding universe).
This weekly RTVE podcast (yes, another one) focuses on questions and concerns that affect society in general.
Each week, Futuro Abierto chooses a different theme to focus on, digging into the topic with an interesting mix of interviews, debates and reports. Each podcast also includes short interviews with people on the street, presenting a wide variety of opinions from average people.
A few interesting episodes: (healthy living and weight loss) and (demonstrations and public protests).
Finally, something that isn’t from Spanish Public Radio!
This daily half-hour news broadcast focuses on current events in the United States and throughout Latin America. Buenos Días América is my daily dose of Latin American Spanish. It tends to revisit the same story multiple times throughout the week, as news reports generally do, which makes it great for people making the move from using “learn to speak Spanish” resources to actually using Spanish in real life.
…here are three more promising podcasts. I haven’t listened to them often enough yet to give an honest and informed opinion, but they’re definitely on my list!
Please note: all of the podcasts in this post are aimed at native speakers, so don’t feel frustrated if you’re a beginner and you find them hard to follow. If you’re looking for podcasts for beginners or intermediate learners, check out (podcasts free, transcripts for sale – excellent for any level, including advanced) or (shorter version of podcast available for free , full version with transcripts available to paying members only). Absolute beginners who are taking the very first steps of their language-learning journey might also be interested in .
All images in this post are by on freedigitalphotos.net.