You already know how important listening is to your Spanish progress.
The hard part is finding things that are both (a) near your level and (b) not so dull you want to throw your phone out of the car window.
This week, I spent some time combing through Spotify to find my favorite podcasts for upper beginners — a level that I think describes many of you.
It’s a level where you know lots of words and some grammatical concepts, but native content is too advanced, intermediate content is a bit too fast, and typical beginner content is no longer a challenge.
So in today’s edition of Saturday Spanish, I’m sharing free podcasts that offer interesting content on diverse topics, spoken at a level that will hopefully challenge but not frustrate you.
When you build this kind of listening practice into your routine, the patterns of the language sink in while you’re engaged in an interesting story or conversation — rather than filling in the blanks until your hand cramps.
Here are my 5 podcast recommendations for you:
Chill Spanish Listening Practice
Hosted by Anthony Morey, a Peruvian-American (I think) who covers topics from improvisation to onomatopoeias to musical instruments, all in slow, clear Spanish. When tricky words pop up, he often mentions the English word just after.
Episodes are short, relaxing, and perfect for focused listening.
An episode to check out:
Un día en español
I generally prefer to recommend podcasts from independent creators than big companies, but I was surprised at how much I liked this one (produced by Babbel) and had to include it.
Each episode has two versions:
- A short narrative story in Spanish, broken up by English narration (around 15 min).
- The same story, without the English narration, all in Spanish.
Each one features one speaker, from places like Caracas, Andalucía, and rural Guatemala.
An episode to check out:
“A new life over the Atlantic”
Cuéntame
Host Marta Ruiz Yedinak covers everyday topics in slow Spanish. Topics range from the World Cup’s human rights concerns to restaurants in Mazatlán. Very worth checking out.
An episode to check out:
Visita México: La Tostadería del Mar
Linguatalk Spanish
Hosts are Rocio y Jesús, two Spaniards who discuss everyday topics in peninsular Spanish. They speak in a casual tone and at a slower but still natural-sounding pace.
An episode to check out:
Español a la mexicana
All in Spanish, aimed at beginners — she does speak clearly, but doesn’t speak as slowly as some of the others.
An episode to check out:
Meditación: Mi Experiencia (or on Apple podcasts)
Pick one and focus.
I wouldn’t recommend listening to all of these at once. It helps to get used to one format and host, and this way you avoid getting distracted by too many options.
Happy listening y feliz sábado.
Connor
P.S. In case you’re looking for something more, here are two ways I can help you:
- The Confident Spanish Pronunciation Workshop: The step-by-step system for developing a clear, natural-sounding accent in Spanish in 5 minutes a day.
- Roadmap to Conversational: Build the skills you need to become a smarter Spanish learner and confident Spanish speaker. For upper beginners. Working on some improvements which aren’t reflected on this page yet. Sign up to have first dibs at one of probably 5 spots.
