Spanish Short Stories for Intermediate Level: Volume 1

Unique Way to Learn Spanish

Where does Spanish Short Stories for Intermediate Level: Volume 1 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Where does it rank? For me personally, it would be in my top ten. I mean with its unique teaching method, it is a very pleasant way to learn. So perhaps I should say it would be in the top five.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The, most interesting/unique feature in this format, is that the female voice spent two chapters reading clips of the story and the dissecting it. After which the male voice would take up the course of one chapter, to read the same story straight through without the dissecting interpretations. Thus help us learn Spanish easier.

Have you listened to any of Jessica Del Cid and Federico Wulff ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wouldn't recommend it, for comprehension sake.

Any additional comments?

Want to learn Spanish? I have always wanted to ever since I started watching children programs on my local PBS station. However, when I finally took Spanish in high school, I got the barely passing grade of D. I couldn’t roll my R's and basically, the only thing I really learned (or retained) was “No hablo Engalles, y hablo Español?” That, of course, would not do. If I was going to really speak Spanish, I needed to learn the language. But How?The other day I came across an audiobook series, that taught Spanish (Español) as well as a number of other languages in a unique way. The concept has a reader reading short stories so that we as a listener, or should I say, student, can hear the language in its natural context. The, most unique feature in this format, is that the female voice spent two chapters reading clips of the story and the dissecting it. After which the male voice would take up the course of one chapter, to read the same story straight through without the dissecting interpretations. As I listened (to Spanish Short Stories for Intermediate Level: Volume 1), I heard one of two readers reading the story to us, they would then stop and break it down repeating Spanish words they had read and then tell us what they meant in English. I quickly listened to all thirty-three (33) chapters.

24 of 24 people found this review helpful

Fun by learning

Very good pronunciation and diction, I really enjoy listening although it was a little bit difficult and fast for my level. But I could listen almost each word and understood the meaning of the stories.
The topics of the stories and appropriate vocabulary are useful for every day communication (especially I liked “sarcástico”, I think it is very helpful as “aqua” or “pan” for example)))). I also liked that there were the translations of some words and phrases. But maybe it would be better to put them before the stories, so that you could a first to write them out and after trying to listen in text.
And that I also really liked that it was Spanish from Latin America (I suppose that storyteller is somewhere from Latin America, cause the pronunciation of some letters are different compared with Spanish from Spain) because I personally prefer it better than “Spain version”.
So I think that I would use it for further learning.

19 of 19 people found this review helpful

An awesome book to read in your downtime

The book itself seems long because of how many stories there are but it flows pretty fast. The sound quality is amazing and the pronouncations were flawless. I'm still a beginner with the Spanish language and I understood most of it. The stories are cute and worth listening to so I would recommend this book to anyone who can follow it

16 of 16 people found this review helpful

Great way to review your Spanish!

I have an intermediate level of Spanish and really enjoyed listening to these short stories! The narrators were very clear in their pronunciation and the vocabulary used was a great review for me. I especially liked that the narrators were Latin American because that is where I learned most of my Spanish. One of the best features was that I could control the speed of the narration from my desktop. I also appreciated that the stories were short enough that they did not lose my attention, and that there were both male and female narrators to keep things from being monotonous.

14 of 14 people found this review helpful

Fun way to improve Spanish

I was interested in this title due to having a few Spanish speaking in laws that I would like to better converse with. I found the way this audiobook was setup to be extremely helpful and easy to follow. The alternating readers kept my interest and helped me keep focused on the reading as I have found other programs using one reader monotonous. The repetition of the words in English and Spanish before each story helped me to understand what I was listening to as the story was read. I did find the stories to be a little rapid for my ability level, but I was able to catch enough of them the first listen to understand what was happening in the story. Additionally, using the stories as a way to learn is much more entertaining and fun than the typical read and repeat methods I have encountered in the past. It left me feeling as if I could follow a conversation and understand the vocabulary in context.

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

Great Spanish Refresher

As someone who took three years of Spanish in high school and was interested in brushing up on the language again, I found this audio book to be quite helpful in bringing back phrases although it was difficult for me to follow at times, mostly due to my lack of knowledge.

I enjoyed the sections of audio where the Spanish word was followed by the English translation. This really helped me solidify the connection between the two words, and even helped me remember other older words.

The pronunciation was very clear, and made it easy for me to understand what words were being pronounced. It was also nice to have both female and male voices so that more than one tonality and speaking style was presented.

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

Very easy and fun to use

This audio book has been actually extremely helpful with my progressive learning of the Spanish language. There were many things that sparked my interest about this audio-book. First of all, in this day and age, we are all so busy in our lives but this product, in itself being an audio book made it more accessible and easier for me to practice my Spanish by listening to it while simultaneously doing other tasks. The way in which the translators narrated the story was conducive to my listening experience. Their tone and pitch was very fluid and easy to follow along with. I liked how they alternated the male and female narrators so that the listener would not get bored. I also liked the concept of how they emphasized on translating phrases in the story versus just individual words. I am still slowly learning my way around the Spanish language but listening to these Spanish stories audio-book has helped immensely! I would even consider it fun.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Easy and convenient learning

This audio book is super easy to get and have right on your phone/tablet for convenient listening. Voices are easy to listen to and understand. Chapters are short enough to listen/learn while on the go. The English to Spanish word glossary translation is very helpful for recapping key words and great for comprehension. Recommend, but must already have a good understanding of the Spanish language.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Usefull tool to learn

It was easy to understand, the content was interesting and the story was catchy. The narrator had a beautiful voice and the audio adequate. I consider this a useful to learn.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Great book for improving Spanish skills

This is a great book for someone who has a foundation in Spanish ALREADY. Pay close attention to the title, it says intermediate level. If you do, in fact, have that foundation you will enjoy learning new vocabulary and phrases.
You will find yourself going back and forth trying to connect phrases in the story to the glossary. While it was difficult at first, I got used to it and was able to keep up as I went through the book. I recommended writing down some of the more complicated vocabulary.
In conclusion this is a great audio book, that when used properly, will help your Spanish speaking skills. I know it help improve mine!

8 of 8 people found this review helpful