Lesson 24 introduces a new tense: the perfect tense. This tense is used to talk about what you ‘have done’ and is very simple to use. Please note that lesson 24 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 224 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
New One Minute Languages coming soon
Our One Minute Language series is growing! We added Zulu to our list of languages earlier this year, and starting on Monday 18th October we’re launching One Minute Swedish, Ukrainian, Spanish and Latin American Spanish. Each course will cover the same content, including greetings, introductions, saying that you’re learning the language, counting 1-10 and other common phrases. The courses will run for ten weeks and will be available for free on our website and on iTunes. There will also be premium materials available from the launch date including lesson guides and enhanced podcasts. Stay tuned for details on the schedule for each language.
Season 2 – Lesson 23 – Coffee Break Spanish
Over lessons 21-23 we’ve been looking at por and para. In lesson 23 it’s time to look at the various uses of por, including a number of situations when por doesn’t mean “for”. Please note that lesson 23 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 223 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
Season 2 – Lesson 22 – Coffee Break Spanish
In lesson 22 we’re continuing to discuss por and para: this time we’re focusing on the use of para when expressing purpose, e.g. “this gift is for you” – este regalo es para ti. We’ll also learn the verb regalar, and talk briefly about the personal a. Please note that lesson 22 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 222 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
News Time Spanish Update
Thanks to everyone who responded to our request for feedback on News Time Spanish: it’s always really useful to get feedback on our courses and since News Time Spanish was a bit of an experiment we’re delighted that our listeners have enjoyed the shows.
We’re very pleased to announce that News Time Spanish will be returning this autumn with our regular schedule of news updates from around the world. We’ll be announcing our schedule soon.
In the meantime we’re making the archive of season 1 available for half price – if you’re still interested in accessing some excellent listening materials with full transcripts and exercises then you can purchase the full archive from season 1 (May – July 2010) for just £8.50 GBP. You may also want to check out our Back to School sale to reduce that price even further!
Season 2 – Lesson 21 – Coffee Break Spanish
Lessons 21-23 will look at the thorny issue of por and para: by the end of these three lessons you’ll be confident in knowing exactly when to use which word! In lesson 61 we’ll introduce both words and consider various situations when the words can both be translated as “for”. Please note that lesson 21 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 221 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
Season 2 – Lesson 20 – Coffee Break Spanish
In this week’s episode we reach episode 20 and Mark will be testing Kara on everything she’s learned so far about verbs and adjectives in the past few lessons of the course. Please note that lesson 20 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 220 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
Season 2 – Lesson 19 – Coffee Break Spanish
This week we’re continuing to look at the imperfect tense. We’ll go through the conjugation of -ar, -er and -ir verbs and talk about how the imperfect tense is used to describe things in the past. Please note that lesson 19 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 219 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
Season 2 – Lesson 18 – Coffee Break Spanish
In this week’s lesson we introduce the imperfect tense and consider in what situations this tense is used. We’ll also learn the conjugation of -ar verbs in the imperfect tense. Please note that lesson 18 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 218 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
Season 2 – Lesson 17 – Coffee Break Spanish
It’s time to put into practice what you’ve been learning about the preterite tense. In this week’s episode Mark challenges Kara to an identity quiz using lots of preterite tenses to describe the lives of the mystery personalities. Please note that lesson 17 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 217 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
News Time Spanish – 19 July 2010
This week’s News Time Spanish is the final episode in our pilot series. Featured this week:
- Argentina legalises same-sex marriage
- Jellyfish invasion in Spanish beaches
- Ingrid Betancourt demands compensation from the Colombian Ministry of Defence
- Singer Enrique Iglesias and his promise following the Spanish World Cup win
Use the player below to listen to the episode. You can also subscribe in iTunes to get all future shows delivered automatically as soon as they become available. The entire season of News Time Spanish is available in a premium format which provides lesson notes, vocabulary and exercises for each episode. Our pilot season finishes this week but all ten episodes are still available. If you would like to benefit further from these materials, you can purchase a season pass for this season of News Time Spanish: 10 weekly episodes beginning 17 May 2010. More information can be found on the News Time Spanish product page.
Purchase Season Pass | iTunes | RSS
Members’ links
[amprotect=111]Premium members of News Time Spanish Season 1 can access the full transcript of the episode and key vocabulary using the links below. Our lesson guide also contains exercises and we provide answers and suggested translations in the Answer Key. If you found the normal speed version of the audio content a bit too fast, try listening to the slow version which has been electronically reduced to 80% speed.
Transcript and exercises | Answer key | Slow version
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News Time Spanish – 13 July 2010
Coming up in this week’s edition of News Time Spanish:
- Spain win the Football World Cup
- a Spanish heatwave causes problems across the country
- a report from the San Fermín bull-running festival in Pamplona
- important events in the policital history of Cuba involving Guillermo Fariñas
- news from India about a new health drink
Use the player below to listen to the episode. You can also subscribe in iTunes to get all future shows delivered automatically as soon as they become available. If you would like to benefit further from these materials, you can purchase a season pass for this season of News Time Spanish: 10 weekly episodes beginning 17 May 2010. Premium materials include transcripts, vocabulary guides, exercises and a slow version of the audio. More information can be found on the News Time Spanish product page.
Purchase Season Pass | iTunes | RSS
Members’ links
[amprotect=111]Premium members of News Time Spanish Season 1 can access the full transcript of the episode and key vocabulary using the links below. Our lesson guide also contains exercises and we provide answers and suggested translations in the Answer Key. If you found the normal speed version of the audio content a bit too fast, try listening to the slow version which has been electronically reduced to 80% speed.
Transcript and exercises | Answer key | Slow version
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Season 2 – Lesson 16 – Coffee Break Spanish
More preterite tenses this week: it’s now time to look at reflexive verbs and verbs which have spelling changes (‘radical-changing verbs’) in the preterite tense. Please note that lesson 16 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 216 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
Lesson 10 – One Minute Zulu
Lesson 10 provides the Zulu version of some common phrases which all learners like to know including “good luck” and “I love you” in the language.
Lesson 09 – One Minute Zulu
By the end of lesson 9 you’ll learn to ask “how are you” and give suitable answers in Zulu.
News Time Spanish – 5 July 2010
Coming up in this week’s edition of News Time Spanish:
- problems with the Constitution of Catalunya
- arrests following an FBI investigation into suspected espionage activities
- a triumphant weekend for Spanish sport
- the assassination of a Mexican politician
- a new daily news broadcast for deaf people
Use the player below to listen to the episode. You can also subscribe in iTunes to get all future shows delivered automatically as soon as they become available. If you would like to benefit further from these materials, you can purchase a season pass for this season of News Time Spanish: 10 weekly episodes beginning 17 May 2010. Premium materials include transcripts, vocabulary guides, exercises and a slow version of the audio. More information can be found on the News Time Spanish product page.
Purchase Season Pass | iTunes | RSS
Members’ links
[amprotect=111]Premium members of News Time Spanish Season 1 can access the full transcript of the episode and key vocabulary using the links below. Our lesson guide also contains exercises and we provide answers and suggested translations in the Answer Key. If you found the normal speed version of the audio content a bit too fast, try listening to the slow version which has been electronically reduced to 80% speed.
Transcript and exercises | Answer key | Slow version
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Lesson 08 – One Minute Zulu
By the end of lesson 8 you’ll learn to count from one to ten in Zulu.
Season 2 – Lesson 15 – Coffee Break Spanish
We’ll be continuing our study of the preterite tense in this week’s lesson and it’s time to take a look at some irregular verbs: hacer, ir, ver and dar in the preterite, so that you can talk about what you did, where you went, what you saw and more in the past. Please note that lesson 15 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 215 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
Lesson 07 – One Minute Zulu
By the end of lesson 7 you’ll learn to say it’s nice to meet someone in Zulu.
Season 2 – Lesson 14 – Coffee Break Spanish
This week’s episode of Coffee Break Spanish looks further at the preterite tense which is used to relate events in the past. Listeners should be aware that this episode was originally released in February 2008 and therefore mentions Valentine’s Day. We hope this doesn’t spoil your enjoyment of the episode! Please note that lesson 14 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 214 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
