Just when I've finished editing the episode about the drought in Spain....it starts to rain in Málaga! ☔ I'm VERY happy. It hadn't rained here for many months, and the situation is dramatic, So I hope it continues to rain more days....I think it will give us a break....Although we need 2 months of rain for the reservoirs to return to 50 %, and I think it is very difficult for it to have happened....😟 We are in the most important drought in the Spanish's history. But this situation is not only b...
May 19, 2023•16 min•Season 4Ep. 18
In the last episode of the Podcast I told you about the relationship that Spanish people have with food, and I explained 5 Spanish expressions related to food or cooking. Have you listened to it? If you didn't have time, you can do it HERE . As I was saying, many expressions in Spanish refer to food ... too many for a single episode of the Podcast, so today I am going to tell you about another 5 . I have selected the ones that I think are most used. I hope you like it! Before we start, I want to...
May 03, 2023•13 min•Season 4Ep. 17
As you know, food and everything related to it is very important in Spanish culture. In general, people in Spain cook quite well, although this trend is changing a bit because all the family members work and we have less time. But it still matters a lot. This can also be seen in Spanish. There are a lot of expressions about food in Spanish , in fact, I can't show you all of them because there are so many! So I'm going to dedicate 2 episodes to you in the Podcast, in each one I'll tell you 5 expr...
Apr 20, 2023•15 min•Season 4Ep. 16
Hoy es jueves Santo, y en casi todas las ciudades españolas es un día festivo. Como probablemente ya sabes, en España la Semana Santa es muy importante . En prácticamente todas las ciudades hay procesiones que salen a la calle con imágenes religiosas y bandas de música. Es una tradición muy importante en mi país, pero la sociedad está dividida entre aquellos a los que les gusta muchísimo, y aquellos que odian la Semana Santa. En el episodio de hoy os hablo de eso. ¡Espero que te guste! Y recuerd...
Apr 06, 2023•12 min•Season 4Ep. 15
When I started with Speak & Learn, I never imagined that I would like it so much . I love teaching Spanish and helping my students. But I also love doing the Podcast, the videos, writing the Newsletter every week, organizing my schedule... I love everything! (Ok, except accounting, payments... but my sister helps me with this 😅) In recent months, some students told me that they wanted to start their own project, so we talked a lot about this in class. The truth is that I love talking about ...
Mar 22, 2023•13 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Last Sunday I ran the women's race. It's a 5 kilometers race in some Spanish cities to collecting money for breast cancer. The special feature of this race is that only women and girls can participate. If I'm honest, when I found out I didn't understand it. If we want to earn money for a good cause... Why the ban on men?? The more the better! After listening to the arguments for and against, I still don't have a clear opinion 😅 In the episode today, I tell you all these arguments. Remember that...
Mar 08, 2023•12 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Spain is a bigger country than it seems, with very different regions. Not only geographically (we have sun, beach, desert, mountains...) Each region has its own cultural customs, gastronomy... and some of them even have their own language. In addition, it is one of the countries with the most sites declared World Heritage Sites according to Unesco. I talk about all these things in the today's episode of our Podcast, and also, I break with some myths and beliefs that revolve around Spain. Remembe...
Feb 22, 2023•17 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Next week is Valentine's Day. In Spain it is not very popular . Although it is very common to see stores with many hearts and cupids. But like so many others, it is an inherited celebration. In my case, my husband and I, we do not celebrate it. We prefer to remember other dates, like our wedding anniversary, or the day we met... but not Valentine's Day. But that does not mean that the Spanish are not romantic . We are. And in Spanish you can find many expressions about love and... heartbreak. In...
Feb 08, 2023•15 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Today on the podcast I present to you my sister Beatriz. Besides being my sister, she is one of my best friends. She is very intelligent and has a special sensitivity. She is a historian, flautist and music therapist. In today's episode I do a short interview where we talk about what music therapy is and her experience working with autistic children and teenagers with problems. I hope you like it! I loved having this conversation with her. Remember, if you want to read the transcript of this epi...
Jan 25, 2023•19 min•Season 4Ep. 10
The other day I read an article that said that making New Year's resolutions is not good for our mental health. If you often listen to our Podcast, you know that I love beginnings and always set goals for myself . I love the feeling when I have a new challenge and try to do it, but without stress. As you can imagine, I am a mom in a large family and I need to change my goals every day. There are always surprises and you have to be flexible and know how to improvise. But that doesn't mean I can't...
Jan 11, 2023•16 min•Season 4Ep. 9
You know? I don't like the games of luck . I never play bingo, slot machines or lottery.....Except in Christmas, with the Christmas Lottery. The Christmas Lottery in Spain is a tradition . Even the people like me, who never play anything, we do it on Christmas. Every year on 22th December, thousands of Spaniards participate in the raffle that is popularly called El Gordo. In this episode I tell you the origin of this raffle, how it works and why it is called like this. I hope you like it!...
Dec 22, 2022•14 min•Season 4Ep. 8
I recorded this episode of the Podcast 3 weeks ago....I needed to make it with enough time because the transcription, the edition....it takes me very long. Now, writing the Newsletter I listened to it again, and I realized I need holidays... .up to twice I said we are at the end of 2023..., yes, I was wrong with the year twice. It also turns out that in Andalusia we don't have a long weekend 😂. Yes in the rest of Spain, but not here.... Ok, in any case and in spite of my mistakes, I hope you li...
Dec 08, 2022•11 min•Season 4Ep. 7
This episode in the Podcast is probably the most personal one until now. This week is my son Javier's birthday, the middle one. When I was 5 months pregnant, the doctors told me he had "equinovarus" feet , a genetic deformity in his legs. As you can imagine it was a very hard moment. However I remember it with great affection. Me and my husband were clear about the pregnancy, and no matter what happened, he would be a happy boy. And he is! This week Javi turns 10 years old, and a few weeks ago w...
Nov 23, 2022•14 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Last season, in one of the episodes, we spoke about how important is to find the best way to learn depending on our personality (you can listen to it HERE ) A very useful tool for some of my students (and for me when I study English), is to use music. Songs are a very powerful tool to learn , it helps you to memorise better vocabulary, etc... I recommend that you look for a song that you like in Spanish, print it, analyze the letter and learn it!. You will see how easy it is to remember the lyri...
Nov 09, 2022•14 min•Season 4Ep. 5
In today's episode we talk about violence in language. Do you know that everything we say has an impact, positive or negative, on the person who listens to us? Today I will speak about it and about a rather ugly incident that happened in Spain a few days ago.... Remember that if you want to continue improving your Spanish with us, you can do it with my Online classes. Register on our website (https://speakandlearn.es/registration) if you want more information about it! And also to receive our Ne...
Oct 27, 2022•11 min•Season 4Ep. 4
This summer my grandmother died. The truth is that she was 97 years old and the whole family had been waiting for him for a long time... but that doesn't make it any less sad. The family for Spanish people is very important, and grandmothers have a very important role in families, and also in society. Thanks to her help, many women are able to go to work, and they play an important role in the education of their grandchildren. That's why today I pay my little tribute to her and to all the grandm...
Oct 12, 2022•11 min•Season 4Ep. 3
If you have watched the tv in the last few weeks, or if you have entered the internet, or bought the newspaper..... if you don't live on another planet, you will know that Queen Elizabeth II died a few days ago. It was a historic funeral and it appeared in all mass media. But... Do you know the difference between English Monarchy and Spanish Monarchy? Do you know what Spanish people think about it? And you...What do you think? Monarchy yes or not? I don't have a clear opinion, and I'll tell you ...
Sep 28, 2022•15 min•Season 4Ep. 2
This week and the last one, all the Spanish children have returned to school. To be honest, as a Mother of 3 children....I was looking forward to it!. It doesn't mean that I don't like summer, but...it's a bit long for me. I already wanted to get back to the routine! I love September. I've always liked it...even as a child....Of course summer too, butI think even then it was too long for me. September meant seeing my friends again, getting to know the new students in the school, and using the bo...
Sep 14, 2022•12 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Hoy presentamos la nueva temporada del podcast para aprender español de Speak & Learn. En el capítulo de hoy presentamos el Podcast y os contamos como hemos llegado hasta aquí, y por qué a partir de ahora, nos vamos a centrar un poco más en aquellos que tenéis nivel intermedio. Aunque por supuesto, puedes escucharnos si tienes más nivel, y si tienes menos....recuerda que en nuestra web https://speakandlearn.es/blog encontrarás la transcripción del Podcast y también vocabulario de cada capítu...
Aug 29, 2022•8 min
it seems like a lie what fast has passed this course, don't you think? Today is the last PODCAST of this season , in summer I want to work on the new Podcast's season...So if you have any recommendation, reflection or review....please, write to us, I'm all ears!! (hola@speakandlearn.es) Before starting with this new episode, I remind you that y ou can apply for our INTENSIVE SUMMER COURSES!! If you're interested, register on our website Speakandlearn.es or write us an email to hola@speakandlearn...
Jun 23, 2022•13 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Today we are meeting Laura, she leads a beautiful project called: Strategic English with Laura. She helps native Spanish speakers with her English language, especially for business. As you can imagine, the conversations with her are always very interesting! On the one hand, she tells us about her experience living in England for more than 12 years! On the other hand, she gives us her point of view as a language educator. You can find her here: https://www.strategic-english.com/hola If you want t...
May 25, 2022•11 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Before starting with the new episode of our Podcast, I wanted to tell you that next 16th of May we will start a new edition of our course: First Steps to Learn Spanish. It's an intensive course of 2 weeks for all of those who want to start to learn Spanish. If you listen to this Podcast regularly, your level of Spanish is probably not beginner. But you would make us very happy if you shared this information with those family and friends who always tell you that they want to start to learn Spanis...
Apr 27, 2022•12 min
Spring has finally arrived! I personally love this time of the year. Especially since I'm living in Málaga; all the city smells like Azahar, and I'm in a very good mood! Also this month it's my birthday, so I love March! To celebrate it, I'm going to start with a new section in the PODCAST called "TESTIMONIOS" . I'm very excited about it and I hope you like it! I will do it from time to time. For this section I am going to interview people who do not live in their country of origin . They will t...
Mar 31, 2022•11 min•Season 3Ep. 7
It is likely that at some point in your life you have felt what in Spanish we call "stage fright". It is an uncontrolable scared that a lot of people feel when they have to speak in public, or play an instrument in a stage, or speak in another language.... But w ho has never felt fear? All of us have to make job interviews , or speech in the University or High school, conference....the problem is when you can't control this scared. Many of my students feel anxiety when they have to speak Spanish...
Feb 24, 2022•12 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Studies say that 80% of people abandon their New Year's resolutions before February... I've been like them MANY TIMES! But the truth is that the last two years I have managed to meet my goals!! Last year I did sports every week.!! (Well, except May because my baby was born) But for 11 months, I did! In the new episode of the Podcast I give you 5 tips to achieve your goals in 2022 ...because if one of those goals is to learn Spanish...I will be very happy!! ______________________ Los estudios dic...
Jan 26, 2022•13 min
Before to start with the episode, I want to let you know about our challenge-course "first Steps to Learn Spanish". It will be an intensive course for people that want to start to Learn Spanish, during 10 days we will give you the basic knowledges to learn Spanis. If you want more information register in our website speakandlearn.es and we will send you all information as soon as possible. We will start in 13th January! Okay, in this new episode of the Speak & Learn Podcast, we talk about ho...
Dec 29, 2021•8 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Before starting, I wanted to inform you that we are working on a new project for people that want to learn Spanish but never take the leap. Will be for people with no level (or Beginners) and will be ready in January. If you want to be the first to receive the information, register on our website! (https://speakandlearn.es/registration) And now....welcome to a new episode of our Podcast! Today we speak about the power of conversation in language learning. Since I started with Speak & Learn, ...
Nov 24, 2021•9 min•Season 3Ep. 3
You have probably sometime asked yourself what the people thinks about you. It's normal to try to be liked by others, isn't it? It has happened to me, but ... I had never thought what others think of me as Spanish , inside of a group. And I think it's really interesting. We generalize about the people's personality depending on the country; "Germans are very organized" "The italians shout a lot" and "we Spanish don't like to work".... even inside of our own country "The women from Valladolid are...
Oct 25, 2021•8 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Como cada último jueves del mes, hoy tenemos nuevo episodio del Podcast!! En realidad es oficialmente el episodio número 1, ya que el Podcast de Agosto fue sobre todo una presentación. Hoy entramos en materia con un tema que espero que os resulte interesante, y es "Como aprender un idioma a partir de los 40". Como ya sabéis, nosotros damos clases a adultos. Y nos hemos encontrado con muchos alumnos que piensan que aprender un nuevo idioma, o lo que sea, a partir de una edad, es prácticamente imp...
Sep 15, 2021•9 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Today I'm very happy because I can finally show you the new season in our Podcast! As you know, We use our Podcast as a learning tool so that you can continue to improve your Spanish from home. I think It's useful to train your ear and to get into the habit of listening to speak in another language. I know sometimes it's not easy, and you have different levels, that's why we post the Podcast in our website too (https://speakandlearn.es/) , where you can read the transcription and some vocabulary...
Aug 26, 2021•8 min
