Spanish Listening Practice
There are many benefits to learning Spanish and none more so than exploring Spanish music, television and film. Access to these different media used to depend on where you lived, but with many radio stations streaming their shows live and greater access to foreign television and film, it is now possible to listen to real Spanish from anywhere in the world.
There are also websites that specialize in Spanish listening practice and Spanish listening exercises (links are at the bottom of the page).
It’s worth noting at this point that if you are a beginner it is wise to spend most of your learning time doing a Spanish audio or interactive course and listening to adapted Spanish, practicing your Spanish listening through different exercises. Exposing yourself to music and television is great but you shouldn’t rely on it to improve at an early stage. The more you progress, the more you want to expose yourself to natural Spanish.
Spanish Listening Comprehension – Books
The two following books are excellent for listening practice, using lots of everyday conversations to introduce different Spanish (with explanations), with lots of exercises and a transcript to read what you hear. It comes in two levels:
Comprensión Oral – Beginner
Comprensión Oral – Intermediate
Key ways to listen to Spanish
- Listen to Spanish music or radio.
- Watch television programs and movies.
- Listen to adapted Spanish audio.
Listen to Spanish Music and Radio
Music from Spain and Latin America is varied and rich. There are the more traditional genres of music, with pop, rock and rap also being very popular these days. Listening to rap can be very challenging for even an advanced speaker, while some of the pop songs are quite simple and easy to understand. Choosing the type of music you want to listen to depends on your interests and also your level. If you have iTunes, it’s possible to choose different radio stations from around the Spanish speaking world and stream the music for free. Here are some more options:
Radio Stations – Latin America
Another way to have access to Spanish songs is using video hosting websites, such as Youtube. Many people upload different songs in Spanish and also include the lyrics. A good idea is to listen to the Spanish song without the lyrics first to see what you understand. Then use the lyrics to fill in any gaps that you may have. This post has five different songs and more resources to get you started – Learn Spanish Songs.
Watch Spanish television and movies
If you live in a Spanish speaking country or in the US then you will have access to a lot of Spanish television and film. If you don’t, there are still many options available. The first option is to rent/buy movies online or from your local video store. You then have the option of watching the movie with either English or Spanish subtitles (this depends on you and your level). There are also some free (and legal) options for watching these online, here are some links to get you started (more to come):
Destino España – Follows the lives of immigrants living in Spain.
Españoles en el mundo – Looks at the lives of Spaniards in different cities around the world.
El Intermedio – A very popular Spanish television program.
Spanish Listening Practice and Exercises
Listening to Spanish that is adapted for your level is very important and will help you improve your listening and comprehension, especially if you are a beginner or intermediate student. Real Spanish is spoken at a natural speed with strong accents and is full of idioms, slang and other expressions that make it difficult to understand. Adapted Spanish builds up the ability to listen to Spanish slowly and effectively. Here are some places to listen to adapted Spanish online:
Proficiency Exercises – Different levels and topics.
LangMedia – Different videos of people talking about different topics.
Mi Vida Loca – From the BBC, a mini interactive series, for beginners.
Are you a beginner or intermediate speaker looking to take their Spanish to the next level?
→ Take a look at some audio courses here – Spanish audio lessons.