I have to confess, I am a big fan of podcasts and I use them almost daily to keep practising my English. That is the reason why I have thought of writing an article about the best podcasts to learn Spanish.
However, while I was doing my research for this article, I was thinking of how I use podcasts to practice English. Then, I realised that we have material for two articles: the best podcasts to learn Spanish and the best podcasts to practise Spanish.
Yes, because there are two types of podcasts that are really well differentiated. Today we’ll discover the best podcasts to learn Spanish, which have a clear educational side and are adapted to the six official levels of Spanish (A1, A2: beginner; B1, B2: intermediate: C1, C2: advanced). Some of them are even bilingual (in English and Spanish) and all of them offer their transcriptions to help you with your language training.
The most popular platforms to access to podcasts
For those of you who are not familiar with the podcast format, let’s begin the article explaining how to access the episodes of the different podcast channels.
Most of the podcast channels that we are going to see in this article have their episodes available on their own websites. However, you can also access them using a podcast platform. The most popular are Spotify, Apple Podcast (iTunes) and Android (Google Play).
To find the Spanish learning podcast you are interested in, you should search for the title of the podcast. Once you find the podcast channel that you are looking for, you can listen its episodes directly from the platform or you can download your favourite episodes, so you can listen to them offline anytime you want.
Instead of classifying the best podcast to learn Spanish into the three traditional levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced), we’ll first see the ones that cover all the levels and then, the ones that fit into one specific level.
This way, if you are starting your journey in learning Spanish, you can choose one of the podcasts that goes from zero to advanced and if you like the style and the format, you can progress along with it on your learning journey. On the other hand, if you already are an intermediate or advanced student, you can see the best podcasts that create content for that specific level.
Shall we start?
1. Coffee Break Spanish – Radio Lingua
Spotify | iTunes | Google Play | Website
We begin our list with one of the pioneers, Coffee Break Spanish, by Radio Lingua. Radio Lingua was founded in 2006 by Mark Pentleton, a former teacher of French and Spanish. Its first podcast was released on October 18th, 2006.
Since then, Mark and his team have done a fantastic job teaching the Spanish language for all learning levels.
They cover all the elements of language learning: grammar, vocabulary, expressions, pronunciation, intonation, fluency,… through interesting lessons, dialogues and stories. The episodes are organised into four seasons, each one for a specific language level:
In addition to the four main seasons, there are additional podcast series called CBS Magazine, CBS Travel Diaries, CBS To Go, CBS En Marcha and CBS Espresso where you can find episodes about the history and culture of Spanish-speaking countries, more grammar tips and exciting travels.
2. Spanish Pod 101
We continue with another of the first podcast channels that appeared to learn Spanish. It is part of pod101 websites of Innovative Language Learning USA LLC founded in 2005 by Peter Galante, Eran Dekel and Aki Yoshikawa.
This is another extraordinary podcast specially good for beginners and early intermediate students. They repeat the dialogues several times and break down the conversations in a way that is slow and easier to understand.
Another great feature of this podcast is that you are learning from a wide range of native speakers from different parts of Latin America and Spain. Your Spanish can be enriched by this variety of accents and you can get the feeling for how they speak Spanish in each one of these countries.
3. Spanish Obsessed
Lis, from Colombia, and Rob, from England, are the creators of this podcast. And they are truly obsessed with Spanish.
Through their conversations you are going to find yourself immersed in real life situations such as ordering a coffee, buying items in a shop, having lunch in a restaurant…
The podcasts are divided into three levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced, and from time to time they invite some guests from other Spanish-speaking countries, so you can listen and practice several accents.
4. LightSpeed Spanish
Spotify | iTunes | Google Play | Website
And from one couple to another. Those responsible for this podcast are Gordon, from the United Kingdom, and Cynthia, from Spain.
The podcast episodes are organised into four levels:
In the episodes, the hosts talk about grammar, vocabulary, expressions, cultural issues…
The “Absolute Beginners” level episodes are especially good, as they include written grammar explanations that you can download directly from their website.
Although at first many of the explanations are given in English, progressively, as the levels progress, more and more Spanish is used.
5. Notes in Spanish
We finished the first part of the article about the best podcasts to learn Spanish with another couple. This formula seems to work well! In this case, our hosts are Marina, from Madrid, and Ben, from England.
This podcast organises its episodes into five categories:
Marina and Bob have done a fantastic job because according to their website, there have been more than 40 million downloads worldwide of their Spanish audio since 2005!
Their podcast episodes offer natural conversations, interviews relating to Spanish culture, news current affairs and a lot more!
The biggest difference between the podcasts that we have seen previously and the following three is that, from now on, you will discover podcasts exclusively in Spanish.
This is perfect for intermediate and advanced students who will get a total immersion in conversational Spanish by listening to the episodes of these podcasts.
Shall we continue?
6. Españolistos
Believe it or not, we continue with… another couple! In this case, the hosts are Andrea, from Colombia, and Nate from the United States. Andrea and Nate have fun and interesting conversations on topics like online dating, Venezuela’s economic crisis, the 10 best places to go in Argentina or the 7 best Spanish movies to improve your Spanish
During these conversations, Nate makes some mistakes that Spanish native speakers would never make and Andrea, little by little, corrects his grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
This never happens in real conversations with natives! If you speak Spanish with native speakers and they understand you, even if you make mistakes, they will never stop the conversation to correct you. That’s why this podcast is so good for intermediate level students, who know how to express themselves in Spanish, but still make small mistakes.
7. News in Slow Spanish
Many of my students, from different parts of the world, have told me about this podcast. They really enjoy catching up on current events with this podcast, which explains the daily news in a slow and easy to understand way.
You can hear the news with both accents: from Spain and from Latin America.
And as all podcasts on this list, although it treats current affairs, it has an educational side, as the hosts also give notes on grammar and pronunciation as they come up in context.
8. Radio Ambulante
We end our review of the best podcasts to learn Spanish with a podcast that is for advanced learners and that also appears in the lists of the best podcasts in Spanish: not only for listeners who are learning but also for native listeners who love podcasts.
It is hosted by the Peruvian writer Daniel Alarcón. The first three broadcasts were launched in 2012, and since 2016, Radio Ambulante has been distributed weekly by National Public Radio. It was awarded the prestigious Gabriel García Márquez Prize for Innovation in Journalism in 2014.
Daniel and his team definitely do a great job telling the stories of people from all around Latin America talking about their lives, art, struggles and dreams.
Understanding native Spanish speakers when we talk in real life situations and at normal speed, is one of the most challenging parts of learning Spanish.
Listening to podcasts allows you to not only improve your listening skills, but also your pronunciation, vocabulary, fluency, and understanding of grammar thanks to the transcripts and activities that come with these educational podcasts.
One last piece of advice?
Use the resources that the authors have created specifically to work on the content of the podcast. And if you still need to practise with more activities, try our collection of Online Spanish Courses where our native teachers explain in a short video a specific aspect of grammar, vocabulary… and then you can practise on your own with activities at your own pace.
Enjoy your journey learning Spanish!
