What springs to mind when you think of the city of Málaga? Until recently, it may have been the great weather and the beaches. But nowadays, the city has shaken off the dated image of sol y playa, and is establishing itself as one of Spain’s main cultural hubs. In this episode, through a series
In this 7th episode of En Marcha, Mark and the team head eastwards along the Costa Tropical, to the village of Frigiliana, officially one of the most beautiful villages in Spain. After spending the day finding out about the village through both its residents and its visitors, it’s time to return to Málaga, but not before
Just when you think you’re starting to get the hang of Spanish, you discover that there are many different varieties spoken all around the world, for example Spain Spanish vs Mexican Spanish. Cue a brief sense of despair at the thought of having to learn every different form of the language, followed by relief when
How many times have you thought about catching a flight to a Spanish-speaking country to learn Spanish? In this episode, Mark catches up with an old friend, talks to the owner of a language school, and asks some students about their experiences at the school. You might have guessed that this episode focuses on a
It’s time for another day trip to a beautiful city in the region of Málaga and, this time, the team are in Ronda, lovingly nicknamed the ‘city of dreams’. As the home of modern bullfighting in Spain, Ronda presents the perfect opportunity for the team to ask some people about their opinions on this controversial
Where better to soak up the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of a culture than in el mercado, and in this episode you can join the Coffee Break team in the Mercado Atarazanas in central Málaga. Whether it’s fresh Mediterranean seafood, jamón ibérico, or goat’s cheese from the hills around the city, you can find
In this episode Marina asks the interviews about their families using the question ¿tienes hijos? (do you have children?) or ¿tienes hermanos? (do you have brothers or sisters?). Here are the words and phrases you’ll need: Do you have children? – ¿Tienes hijos? (informal) Do you have children? – ¿Tiene usted hijos? (formal) Do you have brothers
In this episode Marina’s question is ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? – “When is your birthday”. Using the answers you’ll learn to say when your birthday is in Spanish. Here are the words and phrases you’ll need: When is your birthday? – ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? (informal) When is your birthday? – ¿Cuándo es su cumpleaños? (formal) My birthday
What’s it like to live and work in Málaga? In this episode of En Marcha, Mark talks to Sara who works in the Tourism department of the Ayuntamiento de Málaga. They discuss the town, how it has changed over the years, and tourism in the surrounding area. There are also interviews with other Malagueños, and
In this first episode of the new series, Mark and the Coffee Break team arrive in Málaga, the beautiful city in the south of Spain. This episode sets the scene for the series and you’ll be eavesdropping on Mark’s conversations in Spanish with native speakers, while experiencing the sounds of the city. For the full
In Spanish when you talk about ages you don’t say “I am 21 years old”: instead you say “I have 21 years”. Equally, when you ask the question “how old are you?” or “what age are you”, you actually ask “how many years do you have”. Here are the phrases you’ll need: I’m (21) years
To say “I live in…” in Spanish you say vivo en…. In this episode of Coffee Break Spanish To Go, Marina asks the question, ¿Dónde vives? (informal) or ¿Dónde vive usted? (formal). You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to say where you’re from in Spanish. In the first part
We’re excited to announce that the Coffee Break Spanish Masterclass will open its doors once again on 1st October 2018, ready to begin the new 6-month course which runs until 31 March 2019. The Masterclass is aimed at intermediate students of Spanish who would like to move forward with the language, increase their vocabulary and
To say “I am from…” in Spanish you say soy de…. In this episode of Coffee Break Spanish To Go, Marina asks the question, ¿De dónde eres? (informal) or ¿De dónde es usted? (formal). You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to say where you’re from in Spanish. In the
To ask “how are you?” in Spanish you can say ¿cómo estás?, or in a more formal situation, ¿cómo está usted? In this episode of Coffee Break Spanish To Go, Marina asks this question to passers-by in the streets of Málaga. You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to introduce
To say “my name is…” in Spanish you say me llamo… In this episode of Coffee Break Spanish To Go, Marina asks the question, ¿Cómo te llamas? (informal) or ¿Cómo se llama usted? (formal). You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to introduce yourself in Spanish. In the first part of the video,
Have you ever learned a new word in a different language and wondered how on earth you would translate it into English? Have you then started to doubt your translation skills, thinking that you no longer even know your language very well? Well… fear not! There are a lot of untranslatable words in Spanish. Often,
If you have ever heard expressions like ‘it’s not my cup of tea’ and ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’ in the United Kingdom, you know what idioms are. But have you ever thought about Spanish idioms? It’s said that in order to find out more about the culture of a country, one need look no
In this final episode of the season, María is putting the final touches to her plans for travelling to Argentina with Rory as they start on the next chapter in their life. This episode looks at the sequence of tenses with pedir que + subjunctive among other topics. As usual Mark and Carmen are on
It’s time for the penultimate episode in our series and this week we’re joining Rory as he returns to Scotland ahead of his departure for Argentina with María. Once again the episode is rich in complex language and features a number of interesting idiomatic expressions including hacerse el duro, and much more.
Coffee Break Languages is a product of Radio Lingua Ltd.
