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It’s five years since we launched the first lesson of Coffee Break Spanish, and since then we’ve served up millions of language lessons to learners around the world through our podcasts, our enhanced lessons and our ebooks. We’re delighted today to announce five new courses, and we’ll also be letting you know about a few exciting projects which are due to be launched early in 2012.Spanish¡Empecemos con el español! On the 18th October 2006 we began with Spanish, and we’re doing the same today. Today we’re delighted to launch a brand new Spanish show. When you’re learning a language on your own, or if you don’t have access to a teacher or a native speaker, it’s difficult to get the answers you need to help you make progress. We receive questions almost every day from learners through posts on the website, emails, voicemails, tweets and Facebook, and we decided that the best way to deal with all of these questions would be to launch Q&A Spanish: you ask the questions and we provide the answers. Q&A Spanish will be hosted by teacher and languages expert JP Villanueva and native Spanish speaker Nahyeli Mendivil, so you have the best of both worlds! Each week they’ll help you develop your confidence in Spanish further by providing tips and examples of Spanish vocabulary, usage and grammar. Q&A Spanish starts today, so you can already subscribe to the podcast. Click here to find out more about how you can take part in the show.FrenchWe’re also delighted to be announcing a brand new French video show. In On Location French you can join Sophie who is a UK student currently studying in Paris. She’s there for a year and she’s agreed to be our “correspondent”, bringing us weekly reports on interesting expressions she learns as she interacts with native speakers every day. Sophie will also be providing some cultural input as she gets to know the city, and we’re really looking forward to finding out more about her experiences in Paris in her weekly videoblog. Find out more and watch the episodes at the On Location French page.Dutch, Flemish and ArabicWe’re delighted to be launching three new courses in our ever-popular One Minute Languages series. One of the most requested languages over the past few years has been Dutch, and we’ve decided to produce a Dutch and Flemish version of the course. Both languages are very similar – Flemish is the variety of Dutch spoken in Belgium, and of course Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands and in other countries around the world such as Suriname and Aruba. One Minute Dutch launches on Thursday 20th October and One Minute Flemish will be published on Fridays from 21st October. We’ve also been asked many times to produce an Arabic version of our One Minute Languages course. One Minute Arabic will run for ten weeks from tomorrow, Wednesday 19th October. We’re concentrating on Modern Standard Arabic which will ensure that as a learner you’ll be understood across the Arab world, from Casablanca to Kuwait. With these latest additions to the One Minute Languages series, we now cover 26 languages, from Arabic to Zulu making Radio Lingua your first stop for language-learning on the go, literally from A to Z!What’s coming down the line?There may be some of you who are looking forward to a third season of Coffee Break Spanish. We’re working on this at the moment and by the time the reruns of Show Time Spanish end in January we should be ready to go with Coffee Break Spanish Season 3. French learners will be very pleased to know that Pierre-Benoît has been wandering about in the... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
It’s five years since we launched the first lesson of Coffee Break Spanish, and since then we’ve served up millions of language lessons to learners around the world through our podcasts, our enhanced lessons and our ebooks. We’re delighted today to announce five new courses, and we’ll also be letting you know about a few exciting projects which are due to be launched early in 2012.Spanish¡Empecemos con el español! On the 18th October 2006 we began with Spanish, and we’re doing the same today. Today we’re delighted to launch a brand new Spanish show. When you’re learning a language on your own, or if you don’t have access to a teacher or a native speaker, it’s difficult to get the answers you need to help you make progress. We receive questions almost every day from learners through posts on the website, emails, voicemails, tweets and Facebook, and we decided that the best way to deal with all of these questions would be to launch Q&A Spanish: you ask the questions and we provide the answers. Q&A Spanish will be hosted by teacher and languages expert JP Villanueva and native Spanish speaker Nahyeli Mendivil, so you have the best of both worlds! Each week they’ll help you develop your confidence in Spanish further by providing tips and examples of Spanish vocabulary, usage and grammar. Q&A Spanish starts today, so you can already subscribe to the podcast. Click here to find out more about how you can take part in the show.FrenchWe’re also delighted to be announcing a brand new French video show. In On Location French you can join Sophie who is a UK student currently studying in Paris. She’s there for a year and she’s agreed to be our “correspondent”, bringing us weekly reports on interesting expressions she learns as she interacts with native speakers every day. Sophie will also be providing some cultural input as she gets to know the city, and we’re really looking forward to finding out more about her experiences in Paris in her weekly videoblog. Find out more and watch the episodes at the On Location French page.Dutch, Flemish and ArabicWe’re delighted to be launching three new courses in our ever-popular One Minute Languages series. One of the most requested languages over the past few years has been Dutch, and we’ve decided to produce a Dutch and Flemish version of the course. Both languages are very similar – Flemish is the variety of Dutch spoken in Belgium, and of course Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands and in other countries around the world such as Suriname and Aruba. One Minute Dutch launches on Thursday 20th October and One Minute Flemish will be published on Fridays from 21st October. We’ve also been asked many times to produce an Arabic version of our One Minute Languages course. One Minute Arabic will run for ten weeks from tomorrow, Wednesday 19th October. We’re concentrating on Modern Standard Arabic which will ensure that as a learner you’ll be understood across the Arab world, from Casablanca to Kuwait. With these latest additions to the One Minute Languages series, we now cover 26 languages, from Arabic to Zulu making Radio Lingua your first stop for language-learning on the go, literally from A to Z!What’s coming down the line?There may be some of you who are looking forward to a third season of Coffee Break Spanish. We’re working on this at the moment and by the time the reruns of Show Time Spanish end in January we should be ready to go with Coffee Break Spanish Season 3. French learners will be very pleased to know that Pierre-Benoît has been wandering about in the... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
This lesson was originally released in October, so in lesson 3 of Show Time Spanish, Alba tells Mark about a Halloween party she attended. They discuss the traditions of Halloween. In the intermedio José provides two alternative ways to say that you’re tired. Grammar points include reflexive verbs in different tenses, the subjunctive after quizás. Not the most seasonal of lessons, but lots of interesting Spanish! Please note that lesson 3 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 303 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.This season of Coffee Break Spanish features a total of 40 lessons, all of which will be included in the podcast feed. Just stay subscribed to the podcast to enjoy each episode. If you’d like to benefit from video versions, lesson notes and bonus audio materials, you can access the premium version of Coffee Break Spanish in the Coffee Break Academy.Don’t forget to follow Coffee Break Spanish on Facebook where we post language activities, cultural points and review materials to help you practise your Spanish. Remember - a few minutes a day can help you build your confidence in the language. Access the Coffee Break Spanish Facebook page here.If you’d like to find out what goes on behind the scenes here at Coffee Break Languages, follow @coffeebreaklanguages on Instagram.You can also check out our Coffee Break Spanish Twitter page and the Coffee Break Languages YouTube channel. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The final episode in the series of Show Time Spanish includes episode eight of our soap Verano Español. Just what will Laura say to Ángel and Fiona after discovering them together? And will Ramón finally have the courage to tell Laura how he feels? Find out in the long-awaited final instalment of the telenovela. Members […]
We’re delighted to be joined once more by Alba in this special episode of Show Time Spanish. It’s the last ‘normal’ episode in the series: next week we’ll have the eighth and final instalment of Verano Español, so lesson 39 is the final ‘normal’ episode in the series. We find out what Alba has been […]
In this episode Mark is joined by Sofía from Argentina and Ana Isabel from Ecuador. Language points discussed include the difference between si no and sino, using hace with a time phrase, and voseo, the use of vos in Rioplatense Spanish. Members | Purchase | RSS | iTunes link
This week Mark returns with Loreto for the second of our Chilean episodes of Show Time Spanish. In episode 37 we learn a bit more about Chilean culture and Loreto teaches Mark some Chilean expressions. Members | Purchase | RSS | iTunes link
On 18th October 2006, episode one of a new language-learning podcast called Coffee Break Spanish was released to the world. This show was a bit different from the other Spanish learning shows out there: it was a gradual introduction to basic Spanish presented by teacher Mark, teaching student Kara. At this stage no-one really knew if the idea would work, but Coffee Break Spanish grew to become one of the most popular ways to learn Spanish online. The show quickly climbed the charts on iTunes UK and US, and began to feature in the top podcasts at Podcast Alley and on Libsyn.Three years down the line and the Radio Lingua Network now produces twenty-seven language courses in eighteen languages and this week saw the sixty millionth download of our language lessons! That means – on average – around 55,000 downloads per day, every day for the last three years.It’s time to celebrate!To celebrate this milestone in our company’s development, we’re reducing everything to 60% of the normal prices, ie. 40% off, for one week only, from noon GMT on 18th October through to midnight GMT on 25th October. There has never been a better time to purchase our lesson guides, enhanced podcasts and extra listening materials. Simply use coupon code sixty when you sign up for any of our shows. You can choose between Coffee Break Spanish, Coffee Break French and Show Time Spanish, or indeed one of our shorter One Minute or TwitterLearn courses. By purchasing a membership you can access a range of materials including pdf lesson guides featuring the words and phrases included in each lesson, enhanced podcasts which are perfect for listening on the iPod Touch or iPhone where you can see the flashcards synchronised to the audio, and bonus listening materials to help you improve your language skills even more.Please note that the coupon code can’t be used in conjunction with any other offer and is limited to one purchase per member. Please note too that in order to qualify for the discount, the coupon code must be used at checkout time. We can’t offer retrospective discounts if the coupon code was not used.Announcing a new developmentWe’ve been reading your comments regarding discussion boards and building a community around our lessons. Our previous discussion boards were created before we developed our membership system, so were unfortunately not linked to the system. Today we’re launching our new Community area where listeners can interact with each other, share their language-learning experiences and benefit from collaborative learning with fellow listeners. Accessing the Community is free, but you’ll need to sign up for an account in our system, so we’ll hopefully avoid the spam problems we’ve had in the past.If you’re already a member of our system then you’ll be able to access My Courses in the community, where we’ll lead activities and generate discussions in which you can practise what you’ve learned in each lesson. My Courses is restricted to our premium members, so if you’ve purchased a Season Pass to Coffee Break French Level 2, you’ll see this course in My Courses, allowing you to interact with your fellow learners in the activities and discussions there. And if you’re not yet a premium member, you can join this week at a hugely discounted price! We’re looking forward to interacting with all our... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
¡Estamos de vuelta! It’s been a few weeks since our last episode of Show Time Spanish, and this has been the result of major server problems. We’ve completed a migration of all our content to new servers today, and we’re delighted to be back with a new episode of Show Time Spanish in which Mark […]
In this week’s show we’re returning to our telenovela, Verano Español. It’s the morning after the night before when Ángel arrived drunk at Iona’s party. Needless to say Laura’s dad isn’t very impressed with Ángel! Laura’s friend Fiona arrives from Scotland and the love triangle threatens to become a square! As usual, in Act II, […]
After our recent server problems, we’re back with Show Time Spanish! We’re staying in Mexico in episode 34 of Show Time as Mark and Juan discuss some of the interesting aspects of Mexican Spanish. ¡Todo está padrísimo en este episodio! Language points covered include pedir a alguien que + subjunctive, the expression referirse a, and llevarse […]
In lesson 33 it’s destination Mexico as Mark is joined by Juan from México D.F. Juan introduces Mark to the geography and some of the tourist attractions of Mexico. Language concepts included the use of soler, the difference between amable and amigable, and a reminder of the fact that “another” is otro/otra in Spanish – […]
In lesson 32 we’re still concentrating on Colombian Spanish, and Mark and Carolina discuss the music and literature of Colombia, and typical Colombian expressions including the word paila. In the second act of this episode, Mark discusses impersonal verbs such as apetecer, gustar and faltar. Members | Purchase | RSS | iTunes link
It’s destination Colombia for lesson 31 as Mark is joined by Carolina from Bogotá. Carolina introduces Mark to the geography and traditions of Colombia, and Mark learns a few useful expresiones colombianas. In episodes 31-40 of Show Time Spanish, Mark will be joined by various speakers of Spanish from different parts of Latin America, providing […]
It’s time to return to our telenovela, Verano Español. In this sixth instalment, we’ll find out the latest about what’s happening in the Laura – Ángel – Ramón love triangle, and we’ll also hear if things are still ok between Antonio and Iona after Antonio’s the plumber’s visit! In Act II, Mark will help listeners […]
In this week’s episode, Alba and Mark are en la cocina, making a Spanish tortilla. The episode is slightly different from our usual episodes as the audio was recorded live in the kitchen rather than in the studio. There’s no “Act II” this week as the conversation follows the entire process of making the tortilla. […]
The topic for this week’s episode of Show Time Spanish is food, or tapas in particular. Alba has recently had a bad experience in a tapas restaurant in Scotland, compared with her normal experiences of tapas in Spain. Mark and Alba talk about different tapas and their experience of eating Spanish food in Spain and […]
This week we return to a topic we covered previously – in response to listeners’ requests. It’s time to look at your tricks and tips for language learning. Mark and Alba talk about the suggestion of one of our listeners which involves printing out internet texts and cutting out the words. Listen to the episode […]
This week’s topic is low-cost airlines and the advantages and disadvantages of low-cost travel. Mark and Alba discuss their experiences of flying with low-cost airlines (and indeed with other airlines!) and José introduces two phrases which you can use when you manage to find a real bargain! Language points covered include the use of quedarse, […]
Episode 25 of Show Time Spanish features the fifth instalment of our ‘telenovela’, Verano Español. At the end of the previous episode, Laura discovered that the boy who has been chatting her up on a daily basis in the panadería is none other than Ángel, her next-door neighbour. In episode 5 of the soap, Estela […]
Following our recent musical episodes, listeners have been asking us for some suggestions of Spanish-language singers and groups. In episode 24 we’ve provided some suggestions, talking about Spanish groups Amaral and Ojos de Brujo, and we’ve also mentioned Colombian Juanes and the renowned Panamanian salsa performer Ruben Blades. Language points include more subjunctive talk, the […]
This week Mark and Alba bring you a special musical episode: combining the Eurovision Song Contest with a performance from Mark of Tango by Spanish composer Albéniz. In the intermedio, José introduces the idea of ’embarrassment’ – vergüenza – and gives listeners some examples of how to use this concept in interesting expressions. Language points covered […]
In this week’s lesson, Mark and Alba talk about music. Their discussion includes talk of playing musical instruments and how listening to music is changing because of technology. In the intermedio, José provides a couple of interesting phrases which can be used to say that you find something difficult. Language points covered include comparitives such […]
In this first episode of Season 2, Mark and Alba chat about what they were doing during the vacaciones de Semana Santa. Both Mark and Alba have been travelling, and Mark has some buenas noticias. In the intermedio José provides us with some interesting phrases to talk about things in the past, and language points covered include […]
Episode 20 features the fourth installment of our ‘telenovela’, Verano Español. Find out the latest about the life of Laura and her mother as they spend the summer in Spain en la casa de tía Julia. Will Laura find out a little more about the mystery customer in the panadería? Don’t miss this episode of […]
In this week’s episode, Mark and Alba discuss some useful techniques for learning languages and share their ideas and advice with listeners. In the intermedio Alba talks about the northern Spanish city of Bilbao, and José introduces a construction which involves lo + adjective. Grammar points covered include the construction siempre que and the use of the […]
In episode 18 of Show Time Spanish, Mark and Alba talk about the advantages and disadvantages of buying things online, and share their experiences both positive and negative. In this week’s intermedio, Alba presents the city of Granada in the south of Spain, and José talks about ways to describe someone whose head is always […]
This episode is dedicated to all fans of the imperfect subjunctive… and to those of you who are terrified of it! After listening to Mark and Alba’s discussion about all things hypothetical, you’ll be 100% confident in using the Spanish imperfect subjunctive. In addition, Alba talks about her favourite parts of Madrid, and José introduces […]
Episode 16 features a conversation between Alba and Mark about what they’ve been doing since they last saw each other. Grammar points covered include possessive pronouns, and uses of the subjunctive. This week’s intermedio features a presentation of Barcelona from Alba, and José looks at some more interesting ways of talking about going out for a […]
Episode 15 features the third installment of our ‘telenovela’, Verano Español. Find out the latest about the life of Laura and her mother as they spend the summer in Spain en la casa de tía Julia. How will Laura cope on her first day in her new job at the panadería? Don’t miss this episode of […]
In episode 14, Mark and Alba are joined by David, el novio de Alba. Topics discussed include Galicia, the region of Spain where David is from, St Valentine’s day, romantic Spanish and the imperfect subjunctive. In this week’s intermedio, Alba talks about the film Diarios de Motocicleta, and José introduces some different ways to express […]
We’ve had an extremely busy week this week so we’ve not been able to put a full episode of Show Time Spanish together. We’re recording next week so we hope to have episode 14 with you by Wednesday 11th February. In the meantime, this extra mini-episode of Show Time Spanish is aimed at Facebook users […]
In episode 13 of Show Time Spanish, Mark and Alba discuss social networks including Facebook and Twitter and their value for language-learning. In addition, in this week’s intermedio, José discusses effective ways to say you’ve had enough of something, and Alba talks about the film Habana Blues. Grammar points discussed inlude subjunctive after el hecho […]
In episode 12 of Show Time Spanish, Mark and Alba get all poetic as they celebrate the 250th anniversary of el poeta nacional de Escocia, Robert Burns. Alba learns some Scots and in return she teaches Mark a poem by Spanish poet Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. The intermedio includes a review of the film Secretos del […]
In episode 11, the first episode of 2009, Mark and Alba talk about the holidays and about their New Year’s Resolutions. Alba presents a review of the film La Lengua de las Mariposas in the intermedio, and José’s topic of the week is paying compliments to people. Grammar points covered include the use of sí […]
It’s time for our second installment of the Show Time Spanish telenovela, Verano Español. Laura and her mother have just arrived in Spain to spend the summer in the house they’ve recently inherited from tía Julia. In this episode we’ll meet some of their new neighbours and Laura makes a new friend. Members | Purchase | RSS | iTunes link
In this 10th episode of our intermediate-advanced Spanish course, Mark and Alba discuss Christmas traditions in Spain. José introduces a couple of phrases which you can tell someone not to take something the wrong way in this week’s intermedio. Grammar points covered include al + infinitive, por and para, volver a hacer algo, and expressions […]
In episode 8 of Show Time Spanish, Alba and Mark discuss smoking laws in different countries. Language points covered include the future perfect tense, eg. “I will have stopped smoking”, the use of soler, and the phrase pillar a alguien desprevenido. José’s intermedio covers two phrases which you can use to describe how well you […]
In this week’s episode, Mark and Alba talk about the different seasons of the year and about their own favourite times of year. This episode provides an opportunity for learners to learn to use the Spanish phrase o sea, and the combination of object pronouns is also covered. José’s intermedio introduces two ways to express […]
In episode 6 of Show Time Spanish Mark and Alba discuss their recent visits to Edinburgh and will entertain you with some singing! José introduces two phrases to say that things are in a mess, and language points include the pluperfect tense and using double indirect pronouns, eg. a mi madre le gusta la música. […]
In episode 5 of Show Time Spanish we launch our very own Spanish soap opera, Verano Español, which tells the story of Spanish dad, Antonio, Scottish mum Iona, and bilingual daughter Laura and their adventures one summer in Spain. Each episode will provide you with listening practice, language study and information about the Spanish-speaking world. […]
In this fourth episode of Show Time Spanish, Mark has just returned from a week in London and he discusses the advantages and disadvantages of living in a village, town or city with Alba. We also meet Laura from Verano Español, our forthcoming soap opera. In José’s intermedio he introduces two phrases which use the verb […]
In lesson 3 of Show Time Spanish, Alba tells Mark about a Halloween party she attended. They discuss the traditions of Halloween. In the intermedio José provides two alternative ways to say that you’re tired. Grammar points include reflexive verbs in a different tenses, the subjunctive after quizás. Members | Purchase | RSS | iTunes link
In our second episode of Show Time Spanish, Mark and Alba talk about languages and their own language skills. In the intermedio, José provides two phrases which can be used to tell someone that they are annoying you. Language points include progressive tenses using estar + gerund, and a particular use of the future tense. […]
Welcome to the inaugural episode of Show Time Spanish. In the first episode you will meet presenters Mark and Alba and get to know them a bit better. You will also meet José who will help you take your Spanish to al siguiente nivel in the intermedio. Each episode will provide an opportuntiy for learners […]
Es hora de pasar al siguiente nivel, de los ensayos al espectáculo. Éste es tu momento: ¡que se abre el telón! This promo for Show Time Spanish introduces Alba, Mark’s cohost. Subscribe now for our free lessons. Members | Purchase | RSS | iTunes link
This promo provides some information about Show Time Spanish which launches on Saturday 18th October 2008 and will help you take your Spanish to the next stage. Subscribe for free to our weekly lessons. Members | Purchase | RSS | iTunes link