Listening to Spanish

Today we are going to talk about La Desescalada – literally, the De-escalation.    Today, April 30 th , this is what everyone in Spain is talking about; the lifting of the lockdown. La desescalada means the process by which life will slowly return to what Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish Prime Minister calls, “la nueva normalidad” – the new normal. Today, we have the pleasure of listening to a native Spanish speaker reading our news story, so thanks to Nuria for reading about La Desescalada. Let’s look at the story in two parts. Here is some vocabulary you will meet in part one. Una fase – a phase Afrontar – to face up to, confront Una etapa – a stage Enfatizar – to emphasize La clave – the key El siguiente – the next one Monotorizar – to monitor La población de riesgo – the vulnerable population We will listen to the introduction to the news story about La Desescalada, and also the first point in a four point plan to reopen Spain. The second, th...

In this episode we are going to talk about El día de Sant Jordi, which occurs this week, on the 23 rd of April.      This day is very linked to the history and culture of Catalonia – in Spanish, Cataluña – which is the north-eastern region in Spain that contains Barcelona and which in recent times has been the location of a strong independence movement. Sant Jordi is actually the name, in Catalan, of Saint George, or in Spanish San Jorge, and he is the patron saint of England and Portugal and in Spain of Catalonia and Aragon. Patron saint is “patrón” or “santo patrón”. He is the saint that is said to have killed a dragon and it is his cross that is on the flag of England. We are going to hear a short explanation about San Jordi and about what traditionally happens on this day. First, as always, some vocabulary. (You can practice vocab from this podcast here. ) Fiesta – here, a celebration, a festivity Engalanarse – to be decorated with, adorned ...

Episode 6: ¿Cómo se numeran las calles? Today we´re going to listen to an explanation of how streets are numbered in various parts of the world – how it is decided which buildings have which numbers, as it varies from place to place. We  will start off in Spain. Some vocabulary for the first part… La mayoría – the majority  Partir – to start from, begin, Por contra – por otro lado, Una ciudad costera – a coastal city La acera – the footpath, the sidewalk Los números pares – the even numbers Los números impares – the odd numbers Question Part 1: How are coastal cities different to inland cities? Some vocabulary for the second part…. Las viviendas particulares – the homes, houses Particular – falso amigo - private Los comercios – the businesses La altura de la calle – the part of the street (lit. the height) Ha sido…. – has been….. Do the Quizlet to practice the vocabulary.  Question Part 2: How are the street numbe...

Today we will look at the life of the sea and will talk specifically about  La Ballena - The whale....          Some other vocab..... El cangrejo                                                       La langosta La gamba We also have  a pesar de - despite tamaño - the size alimentarse de…. - to feed on Un alimento - food La superficie - the surface Listen the first time Question: What is plankton? More vocab: alcanzar - to reach tragar - to swallow Listen to episode 5.... Listen again:  Questions.... How big can whales get? How exactly do whales eat plankton? Transcript.... LAS BALLENAS Las ballenas son unos enormes animales que pueden alcanzar los veinte metros de largo. A pesar de su tamaño, se alimentan de pla...

This week we are going to talk about television in Spanish.... Part 1 Vocab una media de – an average of….        El televisor – the TV set La television – the programmes on the TV La pequeña pantalla – the small screen Telespectadores – viewers Acontecimiento - evento, a happening Mostrar un apego a – to show an attachment to Part 1  What programme or broadcast set the record for TV viewers in Spain? Part 2 Vocab Propenso – likely to, have a tendency to Un síntoma No cabe ninguna  duda – there can be no doubt that…. sedentarismo - related to being sedentary Part 2  Question: What statistic is given about teenagers? Parts 1 and 2 1 .     How much time on average do Spanish people spend watching TV? 2.     What is the second conclusion that the writer comes to? 3.     What explanation is given at the ...

Today, we are finally going to talk a little about el coronavirus – the coronavirus. In English speaking countries we seem to be moving more towards using Covid-19, but in Spanish it is still referred to as el coronavirus. This news story is about a little known country in Asia called Turkmenistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, and its reaction to the virus. Before you listen to part one, let’s look at some vocabulary…. Plantar cara – to face up to something/ to fight or deal with Detener – to arrest – detiene…. Negar – to deny – niega Una fuente – a source Part 1. Question: How has Turkmenistan approached the coronavirus epidemic? Part 2. Vocab; Turcomano – Turkmen – language in Turkmenistan Turkmenbashi – the capital city Contagiados – infected Contagiar – to infect/ contagiarse – to get infected Diagnosticar – to diagnose Infecci ón viral respiratoria – respiratory infection Folletos – leaflets Pandemia – the pandemic Question: Ho...

Today's podcast is about Siesta and Go, a company in Madrid that is looking to monetize siestas.  Some vocabulary you will hear in the first part of the news story.... rentabilizar – to monetize, to make a business out of adelantarse – to get ahead of, to overtake pretender una litera – una cama, a bunk ponerse cómodo = acomodarse para que…… PART 1 Question; What service does the company Siesta and Go offer? PART 2 Vocab: la media – the average extrañarse – to find something strange me extraña que no tomes desayuno acudir – to show up, to attend Question:  Do more men or women use the service? PARTS 1 AND 2 Questions... 1.      Name the three nationalities mentioned that have overtaken the Spanish in the business of the siesta. 2.      What does the company offer to help people become more comfortable? 3.      What other services does Siesta and Go offer? ...