Hey there!
It’s been about a month since my Running Dictation post went a little viral (over 2,000 unique views in a month is viral for this small blog!). While I could probably write a controversial blog post each month filled with hot takes about teaching, I figured it was time to lighten it up around here and share something that I am really enjoying right now.
A few years ago, I wrote a blog post for Calico Spanish, with Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell, about ways you should feed your own Spanish. Her recommendation was one I never thought about….Spanish podcasts. That summer started my new obsession!
I don’t know about you, but I love a good podcast. So much so that I am writing this blog post while wearing my favorite podcast merch sweatshirt from The Toast. I also love anything true crime, New Heights, Call Her Daddy, etc. My car rides and curriculum writing sessions for Calico Spanish become so lonely and boring without them. So, when my favorite podcast, “The Toast”, went on winter break, I made it my mission to listen to Spanish podcasts to help me improve my interpretive listening skills. During my quest, I stumbled upon some really incredible Spanish podcasts that I can not gate keep from other Spanish learners and teachers.
This podcast is definitely for advanced learners and accompanies a famous Spanish newspaper, El Mundo. It breaks down different articles in the paper each day and provides more context to situations, such as what is currently happening in Ecuador. That particular episode really opened my eyes to a situation that I didn’t even know was happening at the time. I highly recommend this podcast for any Spanish teacher who is looking to better their own Spanish, or who just wants to stay up to date on current events.
More recently, they covered my all time favorite human, Taylor Swift!!!!
Want to know a secret? I never listen to podcasts about World Language teaching. Ever. As explained above, I listen to them for fun and to unwind a bit and when they are about work, it doesn’t exactly make me relax. However, I stumbled across this podcast and saw that there was a podcast episode about Write and Discuss, something that I have tried and ultimately wasn’t sure if I was doing it right. I immediately fell in love with listening to this podcast and it has become a new regular for me. I love that Joshua invites so many diverse individuals from different backgrounds, teaching philosophies, and languages. I have learned so much in just a short amount of time.
This is the OG Spanish stories podcast in my opinion. I listened to this while I was still in college, long before many of these podcasts were ever created. I LOVE the wide range of topics of this podcast and I love that Small Town Spanish provides a transcript, translations, and a video of herself telling the story. I really really recommend this for your classroom or your rides to and from school.
This Spanish podcast is perfect for any age and is a great option for teachers when they want to give input but they need to preserve their energy. Each podcast comes with a free activity and the transcript. I also love that I can tell my high schoolers that they can skip to a specific part to listen to the entire thing at once without the comprehension questions if they want. Since this is for any age, I find that my high schoolers are not really buying into some of the earlier stories because the host pauses very often to check for understanding and encourages TPR motions, etc. My kids are “too cool” for that right now and are in a new stage of teenage angst, so we do what we have to in order to maintain interest. I think younger kids would LOVE this style of podcast for sure!
This is a perfect podcast for multiple languages! I have listened to it a few times and I do find it to be more advanced, but it can definitely work in a classroom. This podcast translates the L2 to English which is not my favorite, but you may find that it works well for you! You could also use the transcript as a reading or create a CLOZE activity while learners listen.
Am I missing anything? Send me an email at hayleeziegler@gmail.com or a DM on Instagram with any suggestions you think I should add to this post! Happy listening 🙂 Oh, and don’t forget to download FREE podcast graphic organizers below!