Even more advanced

[polostar]

I love listening to the spanish and commentary you put on the net with this podcast, but it still seems a little easy to listen too. For the two years I lived in Spain, the hardest time I had listening was when 2 spaniards were talking to each other in a casual setting and were excited. It was extremely challenging to listen to when they forgot that an american was listening and stopped slowing down to make sure I understood. I would love it if you recorded an instance like this. Listening to Marina´s accent is great, but I´m sure it changes a lot when she´s talking to only spaniards.

It would be nice to see more links to other spanish podcasts as well such as hablemos de cine.

P.S. I haven´t been on this site in a few months and I´m excited to see how much it´s grown. I´m going to tell my university about your podcast.

[Edith]

Since you live in the U.S., Spanish DVDs may not be an option for you because of the regional code, but last year I bought an entire TV series, 'Cuéntame cómo pasó', which contains many rapid-fire dialogues. I still need the subtitles en castellano when the protagonists are engaged in a lively discussion, which is most of the time, LOL! Especially when the children are talking.

Watching TVE Canal 24 Horas on your computer might be another option:

http://www.rtve.es/

I have been watching TVE on a regular basis over the past few years and this has really helped me to improve my listening skills without actually living in Spain (of course, this doesn't beat the real thing in any way). Right now I understand news bulletins and documentaries without any problem whatsoever, even though I may miss out on the occasional word. Programs about cookery and health are no problem either. Right now I'm able to catch about 80% of the conversations in a program like 'España en directo' (mainly interviews). Sometimes more, depending on the person who is talking (or less, if it's a dialect speaker). Somehow, people tend to slow down a little bit when they are being interviewed. Movies and sitcoms are my next challenge. I guess it may take many years to get a full grasp of rapid-fire Spanish. :D

[Ben]

Listening to Marina´s accent is great, but I´m sure it changes a lot when she´s talking to only spaniards.

It would be nice to see more links to other spanish podcasts as well such as hablemos de cine.

P.S. I haven´t been on this site in a few months and I´m excited to see how much it´s grown. I´m going to tell my university about your podcast.

As far as I am aware she speaks to me the same as to any Spaniard (and I know her pretty well!) How did you find the podcast with her father about the Seat 600 (http://www.notesinspanish.com/2006/08/29/notes-in-spanish-podcast-advanced-45-el-600/)?

If you want more of a challenge try 'desde el baño (http://desdeelbano.blogspot.com/)' for that lovely Argentine accent (click on the green title links to start the audio).

I'm glad you are excited to see the site growing, hopefully there will be even more to come in the future!

[Edith]

If you want more of a challenge try 'desde el baño (http://desdeelbano.blogspot.com/)' for that lovely Argentine accent (click on the green title links to start the audio).

Nice podcasts, it's great to get the hang of all these different Spanish accents. This lady from Argentina swallows her s-es, like the Canarios do. I never realized the people from el cono sur do this too.

Marina has a very clear voice and she articulates well, which makes it relatively easy to understand what she is saying. I still believe some people speak more clearly than others - that's true for any language. Some people just seem to mumble or rattle away all the time! Our local pharmacist is a disaster, I need subtitles when he is talking to me in Dutch! :D

[Marina]

For the Advanced podcast I speak at a natural speed, the only thing we try to do is speak in turns, but sometimes we even overlap (usually it is my fault!).
The only thing you might find more chanllenging is someone arguing, someone with a difficult accent or listening to a conversation with many people with different accents.

[chicarcas]

I love listening to the spanish and commentary you put on the net with this podcast, but it still seems a little easy to listen too. For the two years I lived in Spain, the hardest time I had listening was when 2 spaniards were talking to each other in a casual setting and were excited. It was extremely challenging to listen to when they forgot that an american was listening and stopped slowing down to make sure I understood. I would love it if you recorded an instance like this. Listening to Marina´s accent is great, but I´m sure it changes a lot when she´s talking to only spaniards.

It would be nice to see more links to other spanish podcasts as well such as hablemos de cine.

P.S. I haven´t been on this site in a few months and I´m excited to see how much it´s grown. I´m going to tell my university about your podcast.

A similar thing happened to me when I started hanging out with some Spanish workmates. When they where talking, they spoke so fast that I found it difficult to follow their conversation. I said to my self: "OK, they're speaking my language, but I can´t understand anything they're saying".
In time I got used to their accent, and now I don't hear the difference. ;D

[Edith]

"OK, they're speaking my language, but I can´t understand anything they're saying".
;D

In one of her Desde el baño podcasts (see Ben's post), Sofía from Argentina tells about having watched the Mexican movie Y tu mama también (with Gael García Bernal). She said she needed subtitles in the beginning! And I thought it was me! ;D Have you seen this movie too? I was a bit surprised because Mexican Spanish is often quite easy to follow. Is it because the protagonists use so much chilango slang? (At least I suppose that's what I do)

[chicarcas]

In one of her Desde el baño podcasts (see Ben's post), Sofía from Argentina tells about having watched the Mexican movie Y tu mama también (with Gael García Bernal). She said she needed subtitles in the beginning! And I thought it was me! ;D Have you seen this movie too? I was a bit surprised because Mexican Spanish is often quite easy to follow. Is it because the protagonists use so much chilango slang? (At least I suppose that's what I do)

Yep, the whole movie is full of slang. That's how us chilangos speak, amongst friends obviously >:D

[Edith]

Yep, the whole movie is full of slang. That's how us chilangos speak, amongst friends obviously >:D

;D

It's almost like a separate language, LOL

[polostar]

As far as I am aware she speaks to me the same as to any Spaniard (and I know her pretty well!) How did you find the podcast with her father about the Seat 600 (http://www.notesinspanish.com/2006/08/29/notes-in-spanish-podcast-advanced-45-el-600/)?



I just finished the Seat 600 podcast and it was great. The accent from the older spaniards was the last accent I picked up. It's still challenging. Where is Marina's father from anyway? It sounds like he's from the north.

[Alan]

I have to agree. I can listen to you two talking and understand 95% of it with no difficulty. BUT when people talk to me on the streets here I have to strain to make out the words...

[ValenciaSon]

For the Advanced podcast I speak at a natural speed, the only thing we try to do is speak in turns, but sometimes we even overlap (usually it is my fault!).
The only thing you might find more chanllenging is someone arguing, someone with a difficult accent or listening to a conversation with many people with different accents.

Marina, you do speak clearly. Do you do a lot of presentations or public speaking?

[Nic]

The only thing you might find more chanllenging is someone arguing, someone with a difficult accent or listening to a conversation with many people with different accents.

Once, in class, we were listening to an extract from something, I can't remember what, but there were lots of different people, all speaking Spanish but all with different accents. There were people from Spain, France, Sweden and England. It was quite difficult because of the different pronunciations of the words. The hardest one to understand was the person from England :blush: