Best audio books for learning Spanish?

[FrugalSaver]

I have a decent commute every morning and am on a mission to become fluent in spanish. 

Any good audio books you'd suggest for helping?

I also use duolingo amongst other things (watching telemundo and univision but not for the beautiful ladies :))

[myhotrs]

I really like Pimsleur (spelling?). They are all audio and were great for building conversation skills fast and the more intricate stuff later. Sadly, I switched back to audio books after a few weeks, but I still remember many words and phrases.

[Metric Mouse]

I really like Pimsleur (spelling?). They are all audio and were great for building conversation skills fast and the more intricate stuff later. Sadly, I switched back to audio books after a few weeks, but I still remember many words and phrases.

+1 for Pimsluer.

[sisto]

Not an audio book, but I like an app for your phone called Duolingo. You can practice daily in like 10 minutes, might be good to combine with the audio book suggestions already given.

[Bracken_Joy]

I like listening to/reading things I already know, like Harry Potter. Depends on your level though!

[Metric Mouse]

I like listening to/reading things I already know, like Harry Potter. Depends on your level though!

This is a great idea. I love watching movies in other languages that i know. It can be especially fun with native speakers who sometimes can feel pressured to watch everything in English. I did this quite a bit overseas.

[arebelspy]

The question is a bit vague--are you looking for a "Learn Spanish" audio course type thing, or a an "audio book" in Spanish, to assist you in learning Spanish?  :)

[Metric Mouse]

My SIL used Rosetta Stone and it helped her, although she stopped using it after awhile. Rosetta Stone is expensive but you might be able to find used kits.

I'm bilingual (Spanish) so if you need some simple help you can  PM me.

This was my issue with Rosetta Stone. (Price). My local library has access to PimSleur, so that made it pretty easy for me.

[myhotrs]

It would be wrong and immoral to share these files. For instance, it would be very wrong for someone to PM me with an easy method to transfer some files that may or may not be both programs discussed here in Spanish. These files would need to be a few gigs easy.

I would be outraged were such offers made...

[Sunflower]

I'm on the same mission! I've been using Duolingo at home in the evenings and listening to the podcast "Coffee Break Spanish" on my ~30 min commute. I'm a beginner and have started with the first of their podcasts (started 8 years ago and seem to have several years of material). Most episodes are 20 min and it goes at a very slow pace which is great for me because I don't miss anything if I need to concentrate on changing lanes.

Buena Suerte!

[neophyte]

My suggestion is the Radio Ambulante podcast. It's probably too advanced for a beginning learner, but it's great if you already know the basics. It has a very npr feel to it and they mostly tell interesting stories about people.

[GreenSheep]

My suggestion is the Radio Ambulante podcast. It's probably too advanced for a beginning learner, but it's great if you already know the basics. It has a very npr feel to it and they mostly tell interesting stories about people.

Ooh, I'm going to try that! Thanks! I just started listening to Coffee Break Spanish (actually Showtime Spanish, which seems to have been merged with CTS in season 3). Still trying to figure out the right level to jump in on. I'm beyond beginner but certainly not super advanced yet.

This is obviously not something you can do while driving a car but for anyone who might be interested... I've also found that, despite the fact that I would never in million years watch an American soap opera, Spanish-language soap operas are helpful because all the dramatic facial expressions, etc. help you figure out what's being said. I recently finished "Betty la Fea" and am currently watching its spinoff, "Ecomoda." I'm not a tv watcher, but the story line is interesting enough to keep me wanting to "study" each day, and I've found that when I do run into Spanish speakers at work, it's getting easier to understand them.

[Goldielocks]

Not an audio book, but I like an app for your phone called Duolingo. You can practice daily in like 10 minutes, might be good to combine with the audio book suggestions already given.

+1

I took a spanish audio course (at least, I got through the first three cd's), but found that the ap, like duolingo was a lot better -- it was the practice and game features, and I would play on bus, waiting for the dentist, etc.   Frequent exposure to vocabulary was great.

[zhelud]

I really like the podcasts at "spanishpodcast.org"
They are free, and the transcripts are also free.

[jamaicaspanish]

Michele Thomas has a great introductory course in oral Spanish. Be patient and be sure to repeat things aloud, not just in your head.

[Cookie78]

I've enjoyed Pimsleur a lot, but I am also interested in finding stories or tv series to practice with, or maybe cartoons to start with.

[Palindrome]

I really like Pimsleur (spelling?). They are all audio and were great for building conversation skills fast and the more intricate stuff later. Sadly, I switched back to audio books after a few weeks, but I still remember many words and phrases.

+1 for Pimsluer.

Another Pimsleur fan here (In the past, I mistakenly added an extra "p" to his name- it took me ages to realize that he's actually named Pimsleur and not Pimpsleur). The only good thing about my non-Mustachian 45 min (each way) commute is that I think my Spanish improved 10-15% in the last 6 months, and it continues to improve. Pimsleur really works if you use the CDs regularly. The only thing that sucks is when the next CD in the series isn't available at the library. I'm planning to find a job within biking distance next year, and hopefully by then I'll have learned enough Spanish to maintain it with more ease than I have been able to in the past.

[GreenSheep]

I've enjoyed Pimsleur a lot, but I am also interested in finding stories or tv series to practice with, or maybe cartoons to start with.

"Salsa" is a cartoon that's pretty basic. Think "Sesame Street."

Extr@ is a show that's sort of like "Friends" but in Spanish. It's written for Spanish learners. An English speaking guy comes to live with a group of friends in Spain, so there's a little bit of English spoken, and you get to "learn along" as they teach him better Spanish.

"Destinos" is a show that I remember my friends talking about in high school when they were taking Spanish. They watched it in class occasionally. It's also made for English learners and has a lot of repetition and a few little "let's take a break and go over some vocabulary" sections. Very '90s and not the most interesting plot, but it's sure better than flashcards or verb drills.

As I mentioned above, "Betty la Fea" and its spinoff "Ecomoda" are good when you're beyond the above stuff and just want to get into a show, even though you might not understand every word. Since it's a telenovela, there's a lot of body language and dramatic tone used, so I found it easier to follow than, say, a news story. These were the first shows I actually looked forward to watching not just for the Spanish learning but because I wanted to find out what was going to happen. "Betty la Fea" was/is one of the world's most popular tv shows, and it's been redone in a zillion languages (including "Ugly Betty" here in the US with America Ferrera).

(Side note on Ecomoda: The guy who plays Kenneth Johnson, the businessman from the US, is actually a native Spanish speaker, but his broken Spanish with an American accent is so good that most fans of the show didn't believe he wasn't American. He's good to watch for "what not to do" stuff.)

I'm going to try "En Terapia" next. I've heard it's a little harder because there's not much action, just two people talking to each other, but we'll see. I think maybe it's time to give myself that challenge.

All of these are available on YouTube. I didn't bother with subtitles because they were pretty terrible (and I find that they keep me from listening as well as I should).

Also, this guy Andrew has picked apart some music videos, and if you can get the Spanish version stuck in your head, that might help you remember some new words/phrases. On the other hand, just like in English, not everything that's "normal" in a song is really something you'd say in conversation. He also has some good articles on how not to sound like a gringo, etc.

http://howlearnspanish.com/2010/11/learning-spanish-from-music-videos-shakiras-la-tortura/

[dlz628]

MMM would tell you to shorten that commute! Alas, I too have a "decent" commute and am also practicing Spanish. I'm not a newbie, but trying to brush up after a long period of inactivity. Audiobooks have been awesome for this. This would be a good place for you to start:
Best free Spanish audiobooks for beginners: http://www.language-pro.info/best-free-audiobooks-spanish-beginners/

[VolcanicArts]

I'm old school, I use grammar hard copy books at Starbucks for an hour and a half every day. Duolingo is excellent for memorizing the words, and sounds, but not very good at the grammar. I also talk with other Spanish speakers as much as possible and I've noticed my proficiency has gone up a lot. As far as the audio I've used Pimsleur before for Russian and it seemed decent. I'll be heading to Costa Rica in Oct. so I'm practicing a lot until then. I estimate a high level of proficiency in the next two years at the rate I'm going. Good luck!

[Nathaniel]

Check out Glossika, Pimsleur on steroids.

[FrugalSaver]

How about the same for learning Portuguese? 

[Trifle]

@Bracken_Joy beat me to it, but if what you want is an actual audiobook, I would second getting an audiobook of a book you know well in English.  We got the Harry Potter series for our daughter when she was learning Spanish.  Don't worry about picking up every word -- just let it wash over you.  Listen multiple times. 

 

[elliha]

Great suggestions, I also try to revive my Spanish from back when I was in school. I speak some German too but I have much better reading skills in German so I can practice that by reading books so I am not as dependent on the spoken word for that. My Spanish is too poor for me to read anything longer than an A4 page and that would take at least an hour unless it is for like 5 year olds.

[Cashonda]

I don't find Spanish language lesson audiobooks very helpful but I really like YouTube for interesting spanish language lessons. Some of them do not require watching, only listening, so maybe you could listen on your commute. I forget the name exactly but one is a Brit named I think Gordon and his Spanish wife and I find it really nice to listen to them. Sometimes they have guests like their brother in law from the Canary Islands and the accents are quite interesting. (they may have a podcast too) There are so many great channels, if that appeals to you do some searching around to find ones you like!

As far as actual "books" audiobooks I suggest, as others did, to find a story you already know or a topic that really interests you and listen to that in Spanish. Also teen level books are better for learning - depending on your level of course.

Another suggestion, if you can set the speed of the recording it can be helpful to slow it to 75%  if the accent is one you dont know or if the person speaks quickly.

[sui generis]

Depending on your level, another vote for podcasts here.  I'm way past beginner and don't find any "learning" software or books helpful anymore, but I also tried listening to The Wizard of Oz in Spanish a month ago and was embarrassed that I had to slow it down to .80 speed and still had a hard time with it.  I'm in this really narrow band where listening to anything intended for native speakers (i.e. audiobooks) is hard, but anything intended for Spanish learners is probably too basic.  So for other intermediate learners out there, here are some good podcasts to subscribe to.  I now have one popping up almost daily in my feed!

-News in Slow Spanish and News in Slow Spanish Latino.  You can pay to subscribe for a full version, but I just do the free version for now, which are about 6 minutes each.
-Unlimited Spanish - 15-25 minutes each and on the low end of intermediate but always excellent practice and good for a new vocab word or two every time.
-Duolingo has a cool podcast now, although it's on hiatus from its first season
-Espanolistos - this is a funny one.  An American and his wife from Colombia.  They are super young and don't always do great research on their weekly topics.  I was outraged when they did an episode on how American government works and they said the three branches were the Executive, the House and the Senate (among other inaccuracies) and his accent is atrocious!  But, it's soooo valuable to hear them interacting and talking to each other, and she sometimes corrects his grammar like when and when not to use the subjunctive, so I persist in listening to this one.  It's that valuable.
-El Oso Latino Habla Espanol - this guy is a Peruano living in Quebec and it's a great one for variety within each episode. He interviews someone in Spanish, he has a friend who does a Tales from a Gringo segment that's helpful from the perspective of a non-native speaker, and his kids do a "chistes" segment of kids' jokes.  And they say when you can understand jokes in another language, you are really getting somewhere!

I've downloaded others (Spanish Grammar Review, Coffee Break Spanish) that seem to be discontinued, but if you just search "Spanish" on your podcast app, you'll be able to find a lot of back episodes of things that could work. 

And even though I don't feel comfortable with novels yet, I am still doing audiobooks - but more like "Goodnight Moon" level.  It's hard because these are so far below the level and speed at which my podcast people talk, but I found the novels to be just too much.  I can highly recommend "Tu Mama es una llama?" which I listened to 5 or 6 times before it expired from my library.

[TVRodriguez]

Another vote for Harry Potter in Spanish.  I speak Spanish but hadn't read in Spanish in a loooonng time, and I picked up the Harry Potter books in Spanish at the library for some fun reading.  Not the audiobooks, just paper.  If you are learning, it's also good to read out loud in the other language to practice.  That's how my DH learned English.  A note, though--most of the Harry Potter Spanish translations I've seen have been for Spain Spanish, not Latin American Spanish, so just be aware of that.  Lots of "vosotros" and other small differences.  Totally understandable, but sort of the difference between BBC and US tv.

Betty La Fea was a favorite telenovela in our house when it was on tv back in the day (and I loved Ugly Betty, too).  I might have to look that up on YouTube to relive it!  Pedro El Escamoso was a fun one, too.  Silvana Sin Lana is another one, set in Miami, which is kind of fun for us South Floridians.

Sometimes I listen to or watch the news in Spanish--it's (not surprisingly) more international than English-language network news.