SpanishPod101.com Blog

What they really want for the Holidays. Looking for the perfect gift for your friend or loved one who is living in an Spanish-speaking country, or interested in the Spanish language, and culture? Give them the perfect present—the Gift of Gab in Spanish. Your friend or loved one will thank you repeatedly throughout the year as they rapidly learn to speak Spanish. Why SpanishPod101.com? A subscription to SpanishPod101.com is the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Spanish. This gift is so good that it just might be the present that lasts a lifetime. The quick progress they make will motivate them to learn more. Before you know it, your friend or loved one will be immersed in Spanish and they'll have one person to thank. This... Show more

Starting Monday, November 10th all lessons three weeks or older will be moved to the Basic subscription section of the site. The first three lessons of every season and every level will remain free forever on the site. What does this mean for you? If you’re an active Basic or Premium member, you will be unaffected. Absolutely nothing will change. Furthermore, long-time listeners enjoying the most recent episodes, you are also unaffected. Lessons less than three weeks old will remain absolutely free on the site and on the feed. In addition, the first three lessons of all levels and all season will still be free on the site for you to study from, so continue to enjoy SpanishPod101.com lessons. Listeners and users focusing on older... Show more

We have just added the AddThis button to our blog. Now you can share your favorite blogs posts with your friends and colleagues via social bookmarking sites or by email. You can find the "Share" button at the bottom of each post. We hope that you enjoy this convenient way to share our content and encourage you to do so.

After weeks of development, we're happy to announce the launch of the much anticipated My Feed. This fully customizable RSS feed lets Premium members decide exactly what lesson content they want on their Premium feed. Setting up My Feed is a a simple 3 step process. Choose the lesson types you want (e.g. Beginner, Newbie, Audio Blog, etc.) Choose the type of content you want (e.g. Main Audio, Dialog Clip, Review Clip, PDF, Video Vocab, etc.) Add My Feed to iTunes or other iTunes compatible feed readers like Juice, and just watch the content you want come rolling in. To learn more about My Feed check out the video below or if you're a Premium member, click here to get started now. Thank you all for your continued... Show more

I came across a great "documental" (documentary) called Develop: Mayan Territory (https://blip.tv/file/386835). It takes you on a journey through areas populated by the Maya in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. You get a look at two sides of these communities, the poverty as well as the ingenuity, creativity and communal spirit that unites them. An underlying theme in the documentary is that of using what is on hand, what you already have around you, to better your surroundings. It is not necessary to look "más allá" (beyond) that. However, by combining forces with people from all over the world, we have the ability to create a closer-knit global community that works for common solutions. The film is about "el poder de la ideas" (the... Show more

My son has been terribly sick… again. So I decided to take this opportunity to talk about practical health concerns in Mexico. Americans are known for being very, shall we say, particular about what we eat, where we sleep and the risks we are willing to take. In the School for Foreign Students here in Xalapa, Americans are often a cause for frustration. Sometimes they refuse to put the toilet paper in the wastebasket instead of the toilet. Sometimes they demand immediate medical attention for bug bites. For Mexicans, this is understandably exasperating as these are all things that are part of daily life down here. For Americans, it just takes someone who knows the ropes to get them out of the beginner’s crisis. I love to do exactly... Show more

Before coming to Mexico, I learned that it is not polite to look at babies and children without touching them. As an American accustomed to the large amounts of personal space we need, I always preferred to comment on how lovely the baby is but not to touch her. Here I learned that if I complimented a baby without touching her, it could lead to the baby receiving “mal de ojo,” or evil eye. I needed to touch the baby on the head or the arm. This contact assured that she wouldn’t suffer any negative effects due to one’s admiration. The idea is that if someone admires something so much that she wishes it were hers or feels envy, this negative energy is transferred to the baby, however well intended it may be. In every market in Veracruz,... Show more

Since we’re talking about “susto,” I’d like to share a personal experience. When my son was only few months old, he fell. As new parents, we were sick with worry and fear, even though Diego showed no sign of injury. He didn’t seem in the least bit affected by his bump. My immediate reaction was to let out a cry and swoop him up in my arms, examining him and running my hand over his little body. Letting out a cry, it seems, is a surefire way of bringing about a case of “susto.” Shortly after that, he always had cold, sweaty feet. When I say sweaty, I mean drops of sweat ran from his toes down to his heels. He began to wake up in the night crying, something he’d never done before, and any loud noise or unwelcome stranger would make him... Show more

When traveling in Mexico, you should be aware of “los malos aires.” Literally translated as “the bad winds,” this phrase can refer to a cool breeze or even negative vibes. This is the reason mothers bundle their children up beneath three layers of flannel blankets, two layers of pants, a couple shirts, socks and good tennis shoes. I remember when I went to the US Embassy in Mexico City. Mexican mothers carried their babies beneath layers of clothing and cloth while American mothers held their babies in nothing but shorts and t-shirts. They obviously hadn’t heard of “los malos aires.” This is also the reason one should never run around barefoot. Here in Xalapa, you should always wear shoes, even if it’s hot. Since I grew up barefoot,... Show more

I have to interrupt this segment on “malestares” in Mexico to share with you our TelMex adventure. If you’ve already spent a significant amount of time in Mexico, you’ve heard of TelMex. Not only that, you’ve also helped strengthen the TelMex Empire. If you’re not familiar with Carlos Slim and the TelMex monopoly, check out these this post to get a little background: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/27/opinion/27mon4.html Once you’re familiar with size and strength of the Empire and the incredible “tranzas” that helped build it, you’ll understand my frustration with the following “anécdota” (anecdote). We rent a small cabin to a friend. She has been living there for almost two years. Sometimes the phone bill arrives, but usually it... Show more