Every now and again I am sent a story by a listener. Today’s fascinating, true story comes from Sharon. The Florida Everglades is facing a big problem. Many of its native species are being killed off by Burmese pythons. However, a dog named Greg is helping to clear to Everglades of this stealthy predator, hunting down snakes invisible to the naked eye. This story is in the third person and the present and past tenses. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “piton” (python),“pantano” (swamp)...
Mar 10, 2025•15 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast One of my favorite activities is to create stories with my students. Today’s was created by my Spanish 1 college class. You can see illustrations of our class story on my website through the link in the show notes. Dave is a fun-loving, active young woman. She does a different activity every day of the week. Her activities take her all over the world. This story is in the third person and the present tense with a little bit of past and conditional tenses. Please suspend all logic as the point of...
Feb 19, 2025•17 min•Ep 17•Transcript available on Metacast Today celebrates 5 years of Simple Stories in Spanish! In honor of its 5th anniversary, I have decided to retell one of my favorite stories from season 1. This story was inspired by the capuchin monkeys that I saw all over Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica. Who doesn’t enjoy a day at the beach? Ramona certainly does. She goes to the beach every day and watches all the tourists. But Ramona isn’t just anybody, she is a capuchin monkey and is very famous for her thieving ways. This story i...
Feb 02, 2025•14 min•Ep 16•Transcript available on Metacast Juan lives a boring life in a boring house, driving a boring car to a boring job. When he turns 40, he decides that it is time to do something exciting, so he turns to the world of extreme sports. This story is in the third person and the present tense with a sprinkling of past and future. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “aburrida” (boring),“deportes” (sports), “paracaidismo” (skydiving), “espeleología” (spelunking), and “buceo” (scuba diving). No matter where you are in your languag...
Jan 27, 2025•21 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast Isabel wishes she were home for Christmas instead of all alone in a big city. She knows that other people in her apartment building are also alone, so when the electricity goes out, she decides to spread light and joy through candles and song. This story is in the third person and the present tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “siente” (feels),“vecinos” (neighbors), “velas” (candles),“caja” (box), “Navidad” (Christmas), “Nochebuena” (Christmas Eve, and “villancicos” (carols). No ...
Jan 27, 2025•20 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast Pablo Pavo is a lazy turkey. He lives in the woods and just wants to eat all day. The other woodland animals are worried about Pablo. They know hunting season is coming and Pablo needs to learn how to avoid humans. Each animal gives Pablo advice on how to stay safe. But, will Pablo listen? This story is in the third person and the present tense with multiple instances of the present subjunctive tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “pavo” (turkey), “consejo” (advice),“evitar” (to av...
Nov 25, 2024•20 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast Catalina, Gustavo, and Benjamín are trapped. Their only way out is to build a robot for the man who took them: Javier. But, Catalina and Gustavo have a different plan - one that will allow them to escape with their robot son and take down Javier in the process. Will they be able to pull it off? This story is in the third person and the present tense with some past, future, perfect, and subjunctive tenses as well. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “cerebro” (brain), “piel” (skin), “sali...
Nov 05, 2024•18 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Catalina and Gustavo worked hard to bring their child Benjamín to life. After the neighbors discovered their secret, they were taken away to a secret location. Now, their son is being held hostage in a way to make them create more robots like him. Will Catalina and Gustavo find a way out? This story is in the third person and the present tense with some future, conditional, subjunctive, and perfect tense use as well. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “taller” (workshop), “cerebro” (bra...
Oct 27, 2024•18 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Benjamín is not like other children. He goes to school and enjoys playing, but he is not a normal child: he is a robot child. He had an accident in front of his friend Elian. Now, Elian and other kids are whispering about him and calling him a monster. Catalina and Gustavo are willing to do anything to protect their little family, but will it be enough? This story is in the third person and the present tense with some future tense and subjunctive as well. Important vocabulary in the story includ...
Sep 24, 2024•19 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Catalina and Gustavo built a robot child. Now that child wants to go to school like other children. There are so many things that could go wrong, but they take the risk. Will it work? Will they be able to convince everyone that Benjamín is a normal 10-year-old child? This story is in the third person and the present tense with some future tense as well. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “ajustes” (adjustments), “vuelven” (return), “cuerpo” (body), and “seguro” (safe). No matter where y...
Sep 11, 2024•20 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Catalina and Gustavo want a child so badly that they build a robot together. They are so happy when everything works. They love spending time with their robot son, but he feels like something is missing. This story is in the third person and the present tense with some future tense as well. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “reemplazar” (replace), “jardín trasero” (backyard), “vecinos” (neighbors), “rostro” (face), and “herida” (wound). No matter where you are in your language journey,...
Aug 28, 2024•18 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast Catalina and Gustavo are very happy together, but something, or someone, is missing. When they learn they can’t have children, Catalina decides they should build a child, not a monster like Frankenstein, but a robot child. This story is in the third person and the present tense with some future tense as well. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “funciona” (works/functions), “crear” (create), “piel” (skin), “cerebro” (brain), and “á” and “emos” at the end of a verb (will). No matter where...
Aug 13, 2024•18 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Arturo the monster lives alone in the mountains. He is tired of being alone in his cave and decides to go to the city to make some animal friends. Some animals look down on him because of his size, looks, and smell, but one animal steals his heart. This story is in the third person and the past tense with some present tense dialogue. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “apestaba” (stank/smelt bad),“lastimado” (hurt), “mono” (monkey), and “cerdo” (pig). No matter where you are in your lan...
Jul 30, 2024•15 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Laura almost died. She was bit by an enormous viper, but thankfully Mauricio arrived with an antidote just in time. Mauricio is confused. One minute he was battling in a competition of knights, drinking water offered by the princess and the next minute he finds out he has been married to her for a year. Fausto is a snake. He was never able to get to the potion that would turn him back into a person. How will this story end? This story is in the third person and the past tense. It also includes c...
Jul 03, 2024•20 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Mauricio is a great knight who only wants one thing: to make his queen happy. But he doesn’t know how to do that because she is dying of a snake bite. The queen needs a doctor, not a silly knight. Perhaps the answer is in the books Laura is always reading. This story is in the third person and the past tense. It also includes complex grammar in the form of the conditional and past subjunctive and past perfect tenses. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “caballero” (knight),“víbora” (vipe...
Jun 16, 2024•18 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast Fausto wants to be king so he is causing problems that only he can solve. First birds, then rats terrorized the town before he came in and led them away with his magic. The kingdom is impressed, but will they be impressed enough to overthrow Queen Laura and make him their king? This story is in the third person and the past tense. It also includes complex grammar in the form of the conditional and past subjunctive tenses. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “culebra” (snake), “morder” (t...
Jun 05, 2024•19 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast Part 2 of "La princesa Laura" Fausto is not happy that his plan to become king was ruined when Mauricio drank a potion intended for Laura. Now Laura is queen and Mauricio is everyone’s hero. If only Fausto could become more important to the people than Laura and Mauricio. Maybe if he causes problems that only he can solve with his magic, the people will see that they need him as their king. This story is in the third person and the past tense. It also includes complex grammar in the fo...
May 21, 2024•17 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Hector is the king of a distant kingdom. He has one daughter who he wants to see married to a strong knight before he dies. Laura, his daughter, has no interest in marrying. She just wants to read and study to become a novelist. Hector turns to Fausto the wizard to enchant his daughter into marrying a valiant knight. This story is in the third person and the past tense. It also includes complex grammar in the form of the conditional and past subjunctive tenses. Important vocabulary in the story ...
May 07, 2024•17 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Many kings and queens are given nicknames along with their titles. Juana was the third child of Isabel and Fernando “the Catholics”. Her nickname, “la loca”, or “the crazy one” came from her dramatic outbursts, often related to her husband, Felipe “the Handsome”. The question remains, was Juana really loca? Or was she the victim of circumstances and manipulations well out of her control? This story is told in the third person and the past tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “hered...
Apr 15, 2024•17 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast “Inca” or “Sapa Inca” is the title given to the kings of the Incan Empire. The incas did not have a written language, rather they had a rich oral tradition. Due to the lack of records, it is hard to know when exactly the Incan state, Tahuantinsuyo began. However, oral tradition tells of the Sun God, Inti, and his desire for a civilized people in the Andes mountains. He sent his son, Manco Capac, to make that dream a reality. Thus Manco Capac became the first Inca. This story is told in the third...
Mar 12, 2024•20 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Sign Language is a beautiful form of communication. For many years, the Deaf community was denied education, in large part because of Aristotle. Thankfully, many people recognized the ability of deaf people to communicate using signs. Sign Language became documented and standardized. However, due to dictatorship and revolution, in 1980s Nicaragua, sign language didn’t really exist. So, a group of deaf students created their own language from nothing. This story is told in the third person and th...
Feb 27, 2024•18 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast In their attempts to convert the native peoples of the Americas to Christianity, Catholic missionaries destroyed many elements of preHispanic cultures, including their books. The mayan culture in particular had hundreds, if not thousands, of books and documents concerning mythology, astronomy, history and religion. Thankfully, one person thought to record this information and hid it. That book, El Popol Vuh, was found and preserved by a sympathetic friar. Today you can even read it online. This ...
Feb 14, 2024•16 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Puerto Rico is an anomaly. After being visited by Christopher Columbus in 1493, it fell under Spanish rule. England, Portugal, and France attempted invasions, but Puerto Rico did not break free from Spain until 1898 when the Treaty of Paris ended the Spanish-American war and gave Puerto Rico to the United States. Today it remains an unincorporated territory of the US, but that could change in the near future. This story is told in the third person and the present and past tense. Important vocabu...
Jan 30, 2024•17 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Diego Maradona is one of the greatest footballers, or soccer players, of all time. He started playing professionally just before his 16th birthday. He was already a popular player when he arrived at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. However, it would be his performance here, especially in the quarterfinal game against England, that would cement his name in history. This story is told in the third person and the past tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “ganó” (won/beat), “partido” (gam...
Jan 16, 2024•18 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast When the Old Christians Rugby Club chartered a flight from Uruguay to Chile, they were excited at the prospect of their upcoming match. The 45 passengers included the team and some family and friends. The plane hit turbulence over the Andes mountains resulting in a crash that would prove fatal for many on board. The remaining survivors were trapped on a snowy mountain, not knowing their fate. This story does discuss death and other disturbing images, so listener discretion is advised. This story...
Dec 29, 2023•19 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast The Panama Canal plays a critical role in today’s global commerce, but it almost didn’t happen. A group of French engineers led by Charles De Lesseps spent nine years in Panama excavating earth to no avail. Later, Theodore Roosevelt took up the canal dream. Another 10 years of hard labor resulted in the engineering feat that is the Panama Canal. This story is told in the third person and the past tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “obreros” (workers), “esclusa” (canal lock), “tra...
Dec 06, 2023•20 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast In 1808 Napoleon Bonaparte placed his older brother Joseph on the Spanish throne. This act led to multiple uprisings. After a short reign of only 5 years, Joseph left Spain and King Ferdinand VII reclaimed the throne. Those 5 tumultuous years led to many changes in Spain and its colonies. This story is told in the third person and the past tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “rey” (king), “poder” (power), and the verb “mandar” (to send or order). No matter where you are in your la...
Nov 20, 2023•17 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast Moctezuma II is largely considered to be the last true Aztec emperor. He died shortly after inviting the Spanish, led by Hernán Cortés, into the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán. Moctezuma was a priest and a great general before becoming a respected leader. But public opinion of him changed drastically when he was imprisoned by the very Spaniards he invited into his town. His people became so angry that they threw rocks at him, and killed him. Or did they? This story is told in the third person and t...
Nov 06, 2023•18 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast I have been thinking a lot lately about mental health. I usually feel like I have a good grasp of my own mental health, but there are days I want to ignore the world and all my responsibilities in it. I have many activities that help boost my mental health and today I would like to share a few. Please note, I am not a mental health professional and what works for me may not work for everyone. This story is told in the first person using mostly the present tense. Important vocabulary in the story...
Oct 10, 2023•18 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast Thirty years ago, Lisa took a pottery class. She learned the basics of throwing, forming, and firing clay. Now she is an expert potter, creating pieces for stores, events, and individuals. This story is told in the third person using the present and past tenses. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “la cerámica” (ceramics/pottery), “arcilla” (clay), “barbotina” (slip: water-clay mixture), “tornear” (to throw clay on a wheel), “torno” (pottery wheel), “esmaltar” (to glaze), and “asas” (han...
Sep 15, 2023•19 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast 
