Spanish Lessons in Aurora

Learn Vocabulary Watching Soccer

Learning Spanish is much simpler and more motivational when you use materials about topics that really interest you. Some of the most famous soccer teams in the world, like Barcelona or Real Madrid, are from Spain and the Spanish are huge fans of the sport as a result. So, if you are looking to connect with Spanish speakers, what could be better than talking to them about football? Gather together with Spanish speakers and watch some matches on TV networks, like Univision, and soon you’ll soon start to pick up important soccer vocabulary, like how the referee is called árbitro or that a forward (like Messi) is called delantero. Learn more about Spanish teams here!

Use Ligas to learn Spanish

If you ever go to Spain, you’ll see that the most popular sport in the country is soccer. Every weekend, fans put on their teams’ shirts and sit in front of the TV or attend the local stadium to watch football matches of La Liga, la Liga de Campeones o la Liga del Rey. Watching soccer matches is the perfect way not only to learn some new vocabulary (polivalente, for example, is a player that can take different positions in the field) but also to engage in interesting discussions with your Spanish friends. All of them will have heard about Messi or Suárez, so ask them their opinions on the players with your Spanish skills. Click here to know when the Liga starts!

Watch the World Cup in Spanish

The soccer World Cup is one of the most prestigious sporting tournaments in the world. It takes place every 4 years and attracts millions of attending fans and excited TV viewers, ready to cheer on their nation’s team. But did you know that, for decades, the World Cup has been transmitted inboth English and Spanish in the USA? This is a great chance for Spanish learners to enjoy a world-class sports event while increasing their Spanish vocabulary. Plus, you’ll have an exciting topic to discuss with your Latin American or Spanish friends! Learn more about the World Cup here.

Fisher-Price Videos

Are your kids learning Spanish? Do you find it difficult to have them sit down and do the homework? Then Fisher-Price videos for toddlers and children of early school age can help! The site has a huge selection of videos that range from teaching the names of animals and colors to everyday vocabulary related to school and other environments and scenarios. Each new word is displayed on screen, so these videos are great resources to teach children spelling. They’re super fun too, so you can be sure your child will be thoroughly entertained while practicing their Spanish! Click here to start playing with your kids!

Spanish Kid Stuff

Textbooks and flashcards are highly recommended to learn and retain vocabulary, especially when it comes to children, as using visual reinforcement is a great way to commit terms to memory (and avoid boredom). And while these elements are certainly expensive, you can also find great resources online for free, such as at Spanish Kid Stuff. The website promotes language learning by offering hundreds of resources for children to learn Spanish. You’ll find all the materials conveniently divided into categories, like “Animals,” “Clothing,” “Time,” and so on, so it will be easy for you to find the materials you want your child to practice! Click here to start playing with your kids!

Pandora

Do you remember the songs your family used to sing to you when you were a baby? Lullabies are one of the most natural and memorable ways to learn a language. So, if your child is learning Spanish, it’s a great idea to enter Pandora and listen to some lullabies (canciones de cuna) together. You’ll find a lot of options on the site, like “Estrellita donde estás.” In most cases, you can find an English counterpart (like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”), which is even better because your child will already be familiar with the soothing tune. Listen to these songs here!

Univision

Univision is an American Spanish-language television network where you can watch the daily news, telenovelas (Spanish-speaking soap operas), and more. It also has a free-access website where you can read articles written in Spanish about Mexico, Latin America in general, and American politics. This is the country's largest provider of Spanish-language content, so you’ll find a lot of diverse information about Mexican celebrities, news and politics which impact the Spanish-speaking community, and updates about your favorite Spanish shows, for example. The website is recommended for intermediate to advanced students as the language can be quite complex. Get started with news in Spanish here!

Estrella TV

Estrella TV is an American television network that broadcasts programs and news in European Spanish. You can tune into one of their shows and learn more about local and international news, current reality shows, and sports. The vocabulary they use is a bit formal, which will come in handy if you plan to use your Spanish skills at work or to apply for a new job. Also, you can visit Estrella TV’s website to read the news instead of just listening. The articles are very short and use simple words and sentences, which is perfect for beginner-level students who want to start reading in Spanish. Get started with news in Spanish here!

Telemundo

Telemundo is the second-largest provider of Spanish content in the USA and is owned by Comcast. This television network broadcasts programs (telenovelas, sports, reality shows, etc.) and news either imported or Spanish dubbed. And if you want to improve your reading skills while learning more about what’s going on in Latin America, you can access Telemundo Digital Media’s website, where you can find articles about celebrities, politics, the economy, and sports. They are usually quite short and written using simple language, so beginner and intermediate-level students can read these real-life materials and take their Spanish to the next level. Get started with news in Spanish here!

Memrise

Are you looking to increase your Spanish vocabulary outside your lessons? Then, you should consider Memrise, an app with a wide variety of lessons and resources that will help you learn new words in meaningful ways. For example, you can find videos featuring native speakers uttering phrases and words so you to learn how to pronounce them. Then, you can complete different exercises to help you remember those terms and understand their context of usage. Download Memrise and you can choose what to learn and decide when and where you want to practice, all while staying entertained and motivated. You can check out the app here!

Tuenti

This is a mobile operator based in Spain that offers messaging and social media services too. Created in 2006, between 2009 and 2015 it was known as the “Spanish Facebook,” with over 15 million active users. Today, Tuenti offers mobile telephone services within Spain and Latin America as well. Its plans are affordable and easy to use, and they offer instant messaging through the app. If Spain is on your bucket list, you might want to download the Tuenti app to your phone to stay connected with old friends back home and new friends while you are traveling. Download the app here!

Arbor

Arbor is a new app in the fintech field that helps people save and optimize their expenses. It has several tools, with its expenses planner being the most useful of them. You can upload invoices to keep track of all your expenses and divide them into categories (like taxes, transportation, food, leisure, and so on) to understand where you spend your money. You can even set financial goals per week or month, and you’ll receive congratulations once you attain them. All you need is a mobile phone and some reading knowledge of Spanish. Click here to find out more about the app.

El Chavo del 8

Who ever said that learning a new language is boring? One of the biggest mistakes that students make is to just use textbooks to learn. Of course, flashcards and books are very useful but watching comedy in Spanish is a great method to improve your vocabulary and grammar while having a laugh. For instance, El Chavo del 8 is a Mexican show that follows the adventures of a poor orphan boy called el Chavo and other low-income characters who live in the same housing complex (la vecindad). Put away the books and turn on the TV to pick up some Mexican slang! Click here to learn more about this Mexican series!

La Casa de las Flores

Watching movies and series is a great strategy to improve your Spanish. Even if you are just starting with your course, try not to watch dubbed series but the original Spanish and use English subtitles instead. This will help develop your ear for the language, and once you become more proficient, you can use Spanish subtitles or none at all! If you like comedy, we recommend trying The House of Flowers. This is a very popular black-Mexican comedy television series you can watch on Netflix. You’ll develop a greater awareness of contemporary Mexican society and culture while having some fun and improving your Spanish. Click here to learn more about this series.

Allí Abajo

Allí Abajo is a comedy that playfully depicts the cultural differences between one of the northernmost regions in Spain, el País Vasco, and Andalucía in the south. It follows Iñaki, a man from the north, who falls in love with Carmen, a nurse from the south. This is a great series that can help you understand the cultural differences between Spanish regions and will serve to increase your awareness and understanding of dialects in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. This series is great for any level of proficiency and will help you to pick up some slang and expressions from Andalucía and País Vasco! Wanna know more about the movie? Click here.