Hola de nuevo a todos:

Today more PBO teachers share Spanish learning resources. Last week, teachers Adri, Gracia, Susanna and Vanessa shared some of their favorite resources to learn and practice Spanish with us. This week, Sara & Caro tell us what resources they like to recommend to Spanish students who want some extra help. Stay tuned next week to hear from Lorena, Daniela, and myself, Octavi.

 

Spanishdict and BBC Spanish Language  – Sara

SpanishDict is the leading Spanish translator, dictionary, conjugator and learning website, trusted by more than 10 million people each month.

With BBC, learn Spanish in your own time with interactive courses, videos and audio clips: essential facts, holiday phrases, games and worksheets.

I recommend these two websites to students in need of grammar practice and reading comprehension.

Spanishdict

BBC Spanish

 

Spanish Extra – Sara

For listening skills improvement I sometimes recommend (depending on the level) an educational show called “Spanish Extra” that can be found on YouTube.

Spanish Extra

 

Coffee Break Spanish & BUSUU – Caro

In each lesson, Coffee Break Spanish focuses on the language you need to know, and before long you’ll be making yourself understood with native Spanish speakers. Season 1 lessons are for absolute beginners, and the courses increase in difficulty as the seasons progress.

Busuu offers bite-sized lessons to improve language skills. It’s similar to Duolingo, but more relevant.

I recommend these two resources for beginners:

Coffee Break Spanish

BUSUU

 

News in Slow Spanish – Caro

I recommend News in Slow Spanish for intermediate levels. Listen to the news in Spanish, and follow the conversation with the interactive transcripts.

News in Slow Spanish

 

Radio ambulante – Caro

Radio Ambulante is a Spanish-language radio program that tells Latin American stories from anywhere Spanish is spoken, including the United States. For advanced levels.

Radio Ambulante

 

PBO’s Facebook page and Twitter – Caro

For all levels, I recommend our Facebook page and our Twitter account.

On Facebook you can find La conversación del día, which is a random question or topic from different teachers on different days of the week. It’s an excellent way to improve your vocabulary, your comprehension, and your writing skills, in 5 minutes a day.

Our Twitter page s currently reserved for idioms and expressions, which are what makes a Spanish learner sound like a Spanish speaker.

Pura Buena Onda – Facebook

Pura Buena Onda – Twitter

 

Did you already try some of these resources? If you did, tell us what you think of them in the comments sections, or share your favorite Spanish learning resource.

Stay tuned next week when more PBO teachers share their favorite Spanish learning resources!

 

Hasta pronto!

Octavi

Spanish students: Ready to get back on track and learn faster?

¡Hola a todos y a todas!

PBO is open again! Yay!!! How has the first week of 2019 in PBO been for you? Did you miss taking classes with us? Was it hard to start speaking Spanish again after 4 weeks of no classes? It’s always a little hard to speak a language after long periods of not using it, right? Well, for those of you who want to be back on track, and for those others who want to learn Spanish faster, here are some tips:

1 – Many of you take notes during class. That’s very good! However, do you ever review those notes after class? Or later? I encourage you to take a look at the things you wrote after the class is over, or when you get home. Besides, it is also good to read the notes you took during the last several classes right before the beginning of your next class. It will help your brain get ready for Spanish and the things you’ve been writing down that you reviewed will come back to you more easily during class.

2 – You probably know that we have many events at PBO, like the Buena Onda Social Club events. Make sure you participate in those social gatherings, because they provide an additional chance to practice your Spanish, and to get to know other students and teachers. Remember, the key to learning a language is: talking (and listening)! (Our next event is on 2/2 – please check the newsletter for details)

3 – Do you participate in the PBO’s facebook question of the day? Every single day of the year we offer you a chance to write in Spanish, which allows you to improve your vocabulary and writing skills. The best part of it is that the following day, one of the teachers from PBO will correct your comment, so you’ll be able to learn from your mistakes. It only takes some minutes to write something, just try it! Also, it’s free. Participate in La conversación del día!

4 – A language is a very complex system of elements. Many of our students focus on the grammar and the vocabulary, but there’s one thing that will make you sound much more natural when speaking any language: expressions and idioms. Several times per week we publish idioms or expressions on Twitter. Make sure to check them out and learn something funny and useful that will help you take your Spanish to the next level. Follow us on Twitter!

5 – You can also learn faster by doing the optional homework assignment that we have for you as part of the weekly PBO lesson. It is clearly optional, but throughout the years we’ve seen how the students who do the optional homework improve faster than the ones that don’t do it. Any extra work you do is going to be very rewarding in the long run, so do your homework, even if it’s not every week! The homework will be reviewed in class every week and will also be posted right here in the blog on Saturdays for the following week.

6 – Talk to people in Spanish. San Diego is full of Spanish speakers, and they tend to be very nice and kind. Tell them that you’re learning Spanish and that you’d like for them to speak to you in Spanish a little bit. I know it’s hard to approach strangers and talk to them in another language, but remember that Spanish speakers who live here know very well how it feels having to use another language they don’t master to communicate with people, so they will never make fun of you because of your Spanish, quite the opposite, they will appreciate the fact that you’re learning their language. Plus, our new “Háblame en español” pins will be here soon, which should help!

7 – Listen to the radio in Spanish. Again, we live in San Diego, so you can tune to a Spanish language radio station and listen to it when you drive to work or when you go somewhere else in your car. Songs in Spanish are great, but don’t forget to pick some shows where they talk, or the news. You don’t need to understand everything, just get used to the normal speed in which native speakers talk, and to the fact that we don’t always understand all that is being said, and that’s ok too, as a big part of learning a language is being comfortable with being a bit uncomfortable!

Alright, these were some tips on how to improve your Spanish skills faster. I myself use most of them for the languages I learn, and they have helped me, so hopefully these tips will help you too in your Spanish language journey. I hope you have found these ideas interesting!

Nos vemos la próxima semana,

Octavi