As many of you know, our Inspired Beginners podcasts cover Spanish grammar and vocab basics, going into detail on things like verb tenses, and useful vocab for areas such as making excuses, giving advice and so on.

We are about to embark on season 2 of our Inspired beginners series, and we would love to know: what would you like us to cover?

Update: We have had so many great suggestions here and by email that we have planned the next season already! I’m going to close comments here in case I miss more great suggestions, but we will definitely be asking for more feedback and ideas soon! Thanks again, and look out for the first new Inspired Beginners podcasts very soon! Ben and Marina.

 

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Hi everyone,

We have just put out a news broadcast on all our feeds, to say to say where we’ve been and where we are going next! You can listen to the broadcast here or in your regular Notes in Spanish podcast feed.

The news-cast includes details about when our regular podcasts will be back (very soon!), and includes a 5 minute sample from our latest project, our Real Spanish Phrase Book and Audio Guide

We are very grateful to Ian McMillan and his colleagues at Shimna College for producing a list which matches topics from our advanced Spanish audio with topics and themes from the AS and A-Level exam specifications. Hopefully this will be an invaluable resource for teachers following the Spanish A-Level and AS-Level Curriculum. The list can be found in the Spanish teachers area in our Help Section.

Spanish Teachers - How can we help each other to help even more Spanish teachers?

Do you use our audio in your classes or for Spanish exam preparation? We would love to add more ideas and resources to our help section, to benefit more teachers around the world. If you use our podcasts in your teaching program please do contact us to tell us how you find our podcasts or worksheets useful. We’ll be happy to share your tips and ideas with others in our Teachers and Schools Help Area.

I (Ben) used to be a classroom language teacher, and I know that every little bit of fellow teacher support and inspiration really helps!

Many of you have asked why there haven’t been any new Intermediate podcasts since November, and if we plan to continue. Well, we DEFINITELY plan to continue with the Intermediate podcasts, and are recording the latest series right now!

We want to apologise for the delay (we were busy recording the Inspired Beginner series and dealing with Christmas!), and hope to have new Intermediate and Advanced podcasts ready by the end of the month.

Any suggestions for topics you would like covered are very welcome.

Is one of your resolutions for 2008 to learn more Spanish? If so then Marina and I have written a special 9 page free report, full of great tips and pointers, to help get you going.

To get your copy of our free report ‘Kick-Start your Spanish this Year!’, just sign up for our Newsletter, using the form at the top of the right-hand column of notesinspanish.com.

Once you have completed the sign up process you’ll be directed to a download link for the report. We hope it helps!

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Ben and Marina

Hey everyone!

We are offering a special 15% Christmas discount on all our worksheet packs. Head over to our store now and check out the great discount prices on our:

- Inspired Beginners Worksheets - 15% Off!
- Intermediate Worksheets - 15% Off!
- Advanced Worksheets - 15% Off!

The sale ends December 28th, giving us a few days before January 1st to put our 2008 prices into place.

Other News: 2008 - Change to Euros

From January 2008 the store will be operating in Euros. This is by order of our gestor, or accountant, who rightly points out that living in Europe we really must start operating in our own currency. It will still be possible for customers from everywhere else in the world to purchase worksheets from our store after the change to Euros: the Euro amount will just be converted to your currency (pounds, dollars etc) at the payment stage. The change to Euros will be effective from December 29th 2007.

Until then…

Don’t forget the December Sale - 15% Discount on Worksheet packs!
Check out the store now for the great sale prices!

Of course the answer to that depends a lot on how much time, motivation, and passion you have, but I have to say that Michael Tipper did pretty darn well in 33 days! Check out this video for proof! All done using nothing more than free resources on the internet, including Notes in Spanish podcasts of course!

Many of you will now that our Facebook app gives Facebook users a new, cool Spanish phrase every day. At last we have put together a list of the first 88 phrases for you all to use and enjoy here on Notes in Spanish.

Click here for our complete Real Spanish Phrases list.

Enjoy!

David Dunlap was working as a pilot on that terrible day 6 years ago, and came horrifically close to the events we all know so well. His story is terrifying, and told from a unique perspective. The story is told here, is well worth reading, and contains some strong language, understandably.

6 months after those events he finally decided he could no longer continue flying for a living, and turned instead to a labour of love, developing language learning tools based on a 3D game. There is a Spanish version, 3D Language Spain, and David is looking for beta testers, particularly those who are:

-Planning a trip to Spain
-Living in Spain and trying to learn Spanish
-Just returning from a trip to Spain

If you are interested, contact David via Info@3dlanguage.net

There is also a 60 minute trial version available for those who just want to check it out. Take a look, tell us what you think, and do read David’s 9/11 story.

Apologies to all of you who follow our Inspired Beginners podcasts, we will be recording the next batch next week and hope to have them ready for you within the next 10 days. Thanks for your patience! - Ben

We recently received a great question by email (thanks Rob!):

I was just wondering at what point you suggest moving from Beginner to Intermediate and then Intermediate to Advanced. How long should one stay at each level before he/she is prepared to move to the next level?

The answer of course is that you move up when you feel ready to, but how do you work that out? Well, the obvious place to start is with the Intermediate Podcasts. If you find that these challenge your listening skills, that a few words slip by, but in general you get the gist of our conversation, then this is probably the level for you. Even if it seems frustrating to miss out on some of the vocab, don’t worry, as you get used to the level and to our voices, then you will get more and more out of the podcasts.

If you find the Intermediate podcasts way too difficult then obviously it is best to start with the Beginners podcasts, then every now and again come back and try the Intermediate until you find you can understand most of what is being said and feel ready to make the jump. The same goes for the move from Intermediate to Advanced. If you feel the Intermediate podcasts have become too easy, then try a few Advanced episodes. If they are still too tough then wait a while longer before making the jump. It may be best to start with the Advanced podcasts with just Marina and I talking before you take on the interviews, as you will be used to our voices from the Intermediate level.

Remember, this is a really personal thing, and only you will know when you feel like stepping up a level. Language learning is always best when you are in charge and decide how fast you want to go. Also bear in mind that a lot of Intermediate listeners still listen to the Beginners series for the extra explanations they include and, finally, that the transcripts in our worksheets can really help you make the jump up to a higher level.

Do you have any experience of making the jump between levels?

Libsyn, the company we use to host our podcasts, has reported problems with podcast delivery around the globe in the last few days. This was a result of some ‘DNS issues’ (which may mean something to some of you, and is fully explained here), and may have meant that some people have had trouble hearing our podcasts. Hopefully this situation will be resolved fully in the next day or so. Many apologies to those of you who have not been able to get our podcasts over the last few days.

Hi all, first of all the Intermediate podcasts are back at last. We also have some important news about changes in the store - please head over to the forum to read the news in this post. If you have signed up for our newsletter then the same news should already be in your inbox.

¡¡Saludos!! Ben and Marina

Want to learn a new, real Spanish phrase every day of the week? If you have an account on Facebook, you can now add our Spanish Phrase of the Day app to your profile!

Haven’t got an account at Facebook yet? Sign up and add Marina and Ben as your friends, join our NiS listeners group, and put our ‘Phrase of the Day’ app on your profile!

Want to know how to get more cool phrases like the ones on our Facebook app.? Click here!

I wanted to share a couple of great finds from our forum over the past couple of days. First of all forum-member Doc Molly has started her own podcast! How great is that! She uses the podcast, called Gramática Española, to help revise grammar points, and I’m sure it’s going to be really useful for others as well. You can find the podcast here.

Seconly, there was another great video blog, this time from Torres: I want a boat like that! See below…

Haven’t joined our forum yet? Come over and say hello!

There’s still time to make a bid for the prize, and improve your Spanish at the same time! Full details in our forum.

We have a new group on Facebook: Notes in Spanish listeners and viewers, a place to have a chat, meet other Spanish learners, and get the latest NIS news! Come and join up!

All you have to do is write or video an imaginative review of something you use all the time… full details are in our forum, where the competition will be taking place!

Hi all,

Just a quick note to say that the next Inspired Beginners podcast will be out in a week’s time, around July 20th, sorry for the delay! The next Intermediate Spanish podcast series should start around August 14th, and the next Advanced Spanish podcasts a week later. More news and specific dates on those two next month. Finally, there should be a new videocast out in the next day or two, and news of a new inspiring competition!

Saludos!

Ben and Marina

We have now released the first 5 episodes of our new Inspired Beginners Spanish Podcasts, and we would love to hear your feedback.

What did you think of the episode format? Is there anything you would like to change? Did those of you that purchased the worksheets find them to be a nice addition? What did you think of the audio flashcards included with the worksheet pack?

Please let us know in the comments below (or in this forum post)!

Hi everyone, just a quick update to let you know what is going on. We are on holiday until the very beginning of July, after which we will be back to work on the intermediate and advanced podcasts, which we hope to start publishing again in August - the new Inspired Beginners podcasts will of course be continuing in the meantime, keep an eye out for the latest episode this Thursday. We hope you are all having a great summer, you’ll be hearing a lot more from us as soon as we get back from our holiday (including some fun video blogs!)

Saludos!

Ben and Marina

We are delighted and indeed very honoured that Alexander Atallah has created dashboard widgets that dispay and play all of our Advanced podcasts and Intermediate podcasts. Interested Apple people can pick it up here. Many thanks Alexander!

Hi everyone,

We’ve got some news for you about a couple of changes here at Notes in Spanish. First of all, the Intermediate and Advanced podcasts will be taking a break until a little later on in the summer, giving us time to prepare the next season of exciting, fresh, podcasts. If you want to be first to hear about exactly when we will be back, then sign up for our newsletter (the form is at the top of the right hand column of this page).

Secondly, we are making some changes to the store. We are now selling all the worksheets so far for each level in giant packs! This means that the following packs are now available:

• Intermediate Season One Part 1: Worksheets for Intermediate podcasts 1 to 15 (available here)
• Intermediate Season One Part 2: Worksheets for Intermediate podcasts 16 to 31 (available here)
• Advanced Season Two Part 1: Worksheets for Advanced podcasts 35 to 55 (available here)
• Advanced Season Two Part 2: Worksheets for Advanced podcasts 56 to 76 (available here)

N.B. Worksheets are not available for Advanced Season One: Advanced podcasts 1 to 34

Please note that from June 1st it will no longer be possible to purchase the individual worksheets and worksheet packs, so if you have any more individual worksheets or 5-worksheet packs that you wish to purchase to complete your collection, please do so before June 1st. From June 1st onwards only the above-mentioned, new giant packs will available (Intermediate 1 to 31 and Advanced 35 to 76).

We will be back very soon with the next Intermediate and Advanced Seasons, and in the mean time, stay tuned for more news here on the blog, more Spanish video blogs (we won’t be stopping those, don’t worry! Keep sending in yours too!), and we hope to chat in our forum!

Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to find out as soon as the Intermediate and Advanced podcasts are back!

Saludos!

Ben and Marina

Unfortunately family events beyond our control meant a complete breakdown in the schedule over the past week as we were in the UK and unable to work. We hope to get everything back on track next week, with an intermediate podcast out on Wednesday April 25th, and the next advanced on Friday 27th.

Many many apologies for the delay. Everything now seems to be sorted out and everything should continue as normal from now on.

We’re really sorry that the podcasts are late this week. We are trying to stick to a Wednesday - Intermediate, Friday - Advanced schedule but the past couple of weeks have thrown up a couple of crises that have bent the timing out of shape. We hope to publish the latest intermediate worksheet tonight or tomorrow and the advanced over the weekend, then get back into gear as soon as possible.

Thanks, Ben and Marina

Tony Spanos and his students over at Weber State University are doing great things with the Spanish video blogging movement, with Tony introducing us to excellent modismos, and his students producing videos of their own. You can see their work over at Tony’s youtube page. Nothing, however, propared us for the following masterpiece by Marcus Asay and Jeff Jepperson:

¡Muchísimas Gracias Chicos! Nos ha encantado. You can see all the Notes in Spanish videoblogging community’s obras de arte over at our special youtube group page, and discuss them in the forum.

Now we need another university to take up the challenge of producing work as good as we’re seeing from Weber State. Keep these video blogs coming!

¿Cuáles son las mejores novelas en Español?

Movies in Spanish that aren’t too hard to follow

Does anyone know how to say: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in Spanish?!

Come and join the conversation!

Many apologies as due to technical problems we won’t be able to publish our intermediate podcast until tomorrow. While we wait for it I will answer Pepino’s comment from two posts ago about the meaning of Comerse los mocos.

Comerse los mocos (literal translation - To eat snot)

Significado real: Se me ocurren varios significados:

• Cuando las cosas no salen como uno había pensado, fracasar. Se utiliza a menudo cuando un negocio o trato no sale bien, o cuando alguien intenta ligar y fracasa.
• Cuando uno no hace nada de nada y se aburre (como el amigo de Dave).

Ejemplo 1:
- Ana le dice a su novio - Llevo dos días comiéndome los mocos en el trabajo. Mi jefe se fue de vacaciones hace una semana y solo me dejó trabajo para los dos primeros días.

Ejemplo 2:

- Ejemplo real sacado de un comentario a un artículo en el 20 minutos -

¿Se os ocurre algún otro ejemplo?

We recently received an email from a Spanish teacher, Marcy, and thought that perhap you guys could help. Here is Marcy’s message:

I teach 8th, 9th and 10th graders (13 to 16 year olds) - Spanish level 1 and 2… A question: Given the ages and levels of the students I teach, what suggestions would you give me for: a). Using your site/podcasts in my teaching; and b.) ways to make learning Spanish come alive and be more authentic and less theoretical for them.

Can anyone give Marcy a hand? Let us know your thoughts below in the comments or in a similar post in the forums. Thanks!

Para aquellos de vosotros que estéis en Cataluña, os recomendamos los libros bilingües que ofrece el Periódico Catalán La Vanguradia.
Los colección se entrega de manera gratuita al comprar el periódico los sábados y domingos hasta el 14 de marzo, y, está compuesta por libros clásicos ingleses con una traducción página a página al castellano.

En bien-estar.com nos enseñan a hacer una tortilla rápidamente y sin manchar nada.

“Esta es una manera fácil y rápida de hacer un Omelet (tortilla), en una bolsa de plastico o similar (que se pueda cerrar) se meten dos huevos (no mas de dos), se agitan y se agrega el jamón, el pimiento, la salchicha, el queso o lo que se le quiera agregar al omelet, se vuelve a agitar, se le saca el aire y se cierra la bolsa.
Esta se mete a un recipiente con agua a que hierva, en caso de que mas personas gusten de un omelet, en una olla se pueden meter entre 6 y 8 omeletes dependiendo del tamaño de la olla, en caso de que sean con ingredientes diferentes, se pone el nombre del comensal en la bolsa.
Con esto se ahorra gas, tiempo e inclusive tener que lavar el sartén donde se hubieran cocinado los omeletes utilizando el método tradicional y sin mezclar sabores de los otros ingredientes.
Para servir se corta la bolsa (pues ya no será posible abrirla) y se sirve en el plato.”

Por valor de 5 puntos y 1 smilie alguien sabe lo que significa: agregar, comensal.

Para ver el artículo original CON FOTOS haz click aquí.

We are back after the Christmas holidays, full of energy and ready to go!

We will be publishing an intermediate podcast later today but in the meantime I’d like to let you know that Marina’s timetable for conversation classes in January has been published in the Calendar (other times will be considered, email Marina if these don’t fit!):

To read more about Marina’s classes click here.

A very Happy Christmas to everyone, we are off to the UK for a few days so things will be a bit quiet around here until New Year. We will still be popping into the forum regularly over the Christmas holidays though, so hope to see you in there.

¡Felices Fiestas! Happy Christmas!

Ben and Marina

…it should be out tomorrow. We hope to get the timetable nailed down again in the New Year to make sure both the podcasts are out weekly.

Saludos!

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CLASSES ARE NOT AVAILABLE AT THE MOMENT.

Marina is running a program of private, one-to-one Spanish conversation classes over the internet. These are available to anyone and ideal for:

• improving your spoken Spanish fluency
• interview or exam practice
• preparing a presentation

The classes are conducted using Skype (for free calls over the net) or the normal telephone. They may cover material from recent podcasts, or specific requests from you based on your practice needs. At the end of each class Marina will email you a summary of important vocabulary and helpful corrections.

Each class lasts 30 minutes and costs 15 euros (around 19 US Dollars or 10 UK Pounds), payable via Paypal’s secure on-line payment system before the class.

Choosing a time for your class

We have set up a Google calendar to timetable the classes: click on the button below to check the main available times (”Clase Disponible”), though other times will of course be considered if these aren’t convenient. Once you know when you would like a class, e-mail Marina directly to confirm the times. Marina will then reply with further details regarding payment and calling in for the class.

Check here for class times:

N.B. If you are expecting an email from Marina, please keep an eye on your spam/junk email folder in case it gets lost in there!

A set of excellent grammar resources set up by Enrique Yepes is creating a lot of buzz in the learning Spanish part of our forum at the moment, so I thought I would mention it here in case any of you missed it. It certainly does seem to be a very useful resource. Are there any others that you rely on for your grammar fix?

A quick P.S. on the Madrid weekend: you don’t have to be a forum member to come along, or a long-time NIS listener, but the forum will be the best place to discuss the weekend as time goes on. We really hope this will be a collaborative effort, a great weekend discussed, planned and decided upon by all those that want to come along. You’re all very welcome to join us in April. See you there

It’s really going to happen! A long time ago the idea was put forward that when we reached 1,000 forum members we should organise a big pary in Madrid for Easter 2007. Well we are nearly there, so we have picked a date so you can all start booking your flights! (And you certainly don’t have to be a forum member to come along!)

So here’s the plan: As many of you as can make it (the more the better!) will come to Madrid from Friday April 20th until Sunday 22nd, 2007. On the Friday night we’ll organise an informal get together (tapas til late? ). On the Saturday we’ll organise a trip around Madrid or a trip out to one of the beautiful nearby towns, it’s up to you. And on Saturday night we’ll have a big celebration meal. Then maybe a trip to the Rastro on Sunday.

The point is that anyone who listens to the podcasts, or drops by the websites, is very welcome. It’s a chance to meet Marina and I, and all of you, and to see some of the best bits of one of the most exciting cities in the world!

Everybody will be responsible for sorting out their own flights and accommodation (though we may be able to sort out a discount somewhere if enough of you are interested in coming!) We will obviously help with ideas on where to stay, and sort out the place for the meal on the Saturday night. The idea though is to plan this all together in a special part of the forum, where you will also find a list of who has signed up already.

Come and join us for a great weekend in Madrid! Just e-mail me (Ben) if you are interested in coming along!

We have teamed up with the web’s favourite T-Shirt maker, Cafepress, to bring you t-shirts, aprons, mugs, notebooks - with many of the designs based on suggestions made by you in the forum.

Click here to see the full range!

“¿No quieres caldo? Pues toma dos tazas” (literally, Don’t like broth? Well have two cup-fulls!)

This week’s expression is one of my favourites, and is all about when life comes along and gives you an extra helping of something you really don’t want or like:

Expresión que se utiliza en cualquier situación de la vida (no solo con la comida) para expresar esa sensación que sentimos cuando tienes que hacer algo, o te pasa algo, o te tienes que comer algo, que tu ya has dicho que no quieres. O cuando te pasa dos veces algo de lo que tu ya te has quejado.

Por ejemplo:

1-El otro día le comenté a mi jefe que cuando terminara este trabajo que me buscase uno más cerca de Madrid. Pues hoy he vuelto a hablar con el y ¿que no quieres caldo? pues toma dos tazas, me mandan a las Rozas (que está más lejos todavía que donde he estado trabajando hasta ahora).

2-¿Te acuerdas que ayer te comenté que se había estropeado el tren y estuvimos 45 minutos parados en un túnel?
Y hoy… ¿que no quieres caldo?… pues toma dos tazas. Se ha vuelto a estropear y he llegado 30 minutos tarde al trabajo.