mags & videos

[landlady]

For those at intermediate level, that may find a book a bit too difficult to tackle just now, why not try some online Spanish magazines? I used to enjoy Marie Claire when in the UK as they have some interesting articles. I have recently printed out the latest Spanish article on the Spanish Marie Claire site, and although difficult to read (not because of the Spanish but because of the heart rendering content about children in Nepal) I managed to read it all with the help of my new electronic dictionary Here is the link:
http://www.marie-claire.es/marieclai...1_439_esp_1__5 If you want to print it out, I found it better to copy and paste into a document rather than printing it directly from the site.

Another link for those not so advanced in Spanish might enjoy using, is this childrens story, read very slowly and clearly, with sub titles to follow too.
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?...0102&q=spanish

As I mentioned in another post, I am also using the DVD's of Desperate Housewives series viewing in Spanish, with Spanish sub titles. Unfortunately, I am so hooked on it now, I just want to watch the complete 1st series in English first to enjoy the storyline, but I will go back to it in Spanish once I've finished the 6 cd's

[Rizzo La Rata]

yes, i also found out that sometimes original spanish articles are way to complicated for me. therefore i like magazines that are dedicated to learning a foreign language.

here in germany there is one called "ecos de españa y latinoamérica", which is published in spanish and covers topics of spain and latin-america, social, cultural, scientific, everything. the articles have three levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced). for difficult words and phrases translations are given in the articles. every second month they deliver a vocabulary-trainer to learn and train words from the last two issues.
the explanations are given only in german, but i do not know if there are similar magazines for people with english as mother-tongue??

one movie that i found surprisingly easy to understand is "el crimen del padre amaro" by the mexican director carlos carrera

[Edith]

Originally Posted by Rizzo La Rata

one movie that i found surprisingly easy to understand is "el crimen del padre amaro" by the mexican director carlos carrera

True, a lot easier than Y Tu Madre También, for instance.

[Marina]

I also use the TV series to improve my English.

I saw all the Sex in the City DVDs in English and by the end of it I could perfectly imitate the American accent. I've also seen most of Desperate Housewives series up until now, which are very good to relax because they speak very clearly... however when I saw Alias I had to ask Ben to explain things all the time and it is very annoying not understanding when the plot moves so fast.

[Jules]

Originally Posted by Rizzo La Rata

here in germany there is one called "ecos de españa y latinoamérica", which is published in spanish and covers topics of spain and latin-america, social, cultural, scientific, everything. the articles have three levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced). for difficult words and phrases translations are given in the articles. every second month they deliver a vocabulary-trainer to learn and train words from the last two issues.
the explanations are given only in german, but i do not know if there are similar magazines for people with english as mother-tongue??

Last year in Granada I was fortunate enough to stay with a Spanish teacher who used this or something very like it to teach us. She asked us to select an article, read & understand it in our own time & then give her a short spoken account in our own words the following day. It was demanding but very profitable. However it needed the discipline of lessons to be able to carry this through effectively.

I was very impressed with the magazine & am grateful now to have an electronic link to it. At the time I remember thinking that I would very much like to find a UK equivalent to this because the training explanations, as you say, are in German only. Que pena!

[Jules]

Originally Posted by landlady

For those at intermediate level,

I have recently printed out the latest Spanish article on the Spanish Marie Claire site

Landlady, thanks for this link which I found to be at just the right level. It is very clearly and graphically written as well as being heart-rending. I shall have to explore the rest of this publication...

[Rizzo La Rata]

Originally Posted by Jules

[ ... ] because the training explanations, as you say, are in German only. Que pena!

its just another reason to learn german!!

[Rizzo La Rata]

Originally Posted by Jules

[...] At the time I remember thinking that I would very much like to find a UK equivalent to this [...]

Recently someone posted the following link : wordchamp.com

It's not ECOS, but maybe this can help you??

[Brian]

Originally Posted by Marina

I saw all the Sex in the City DVDs in English and by the end of it I could perfectly imitate the American accent.

Americans have an accent?

[ValenciaSon]

Originally Posted by Marina

I also use the TV series to improve my English.

I saw all the Sex in the City DVDs in English and by the end of it I could perfectly imitate the American accent. I've also seen most of Desperate Housewives series up until now, which are very good to relax because they speak very clearly... however when I saw Alias I had to ask Ben to explain things all the time and it is very annoying not understanding when the plot moves so fast.

Marina, can you imitate the American accent on a podcast? I would love to hear it, I'm sure others would too.

[tad]

Originally Posted by Jules

I was very impressed with the magazine & am grateful now to have an electronic link to it. At the time I remember thinking that I would very much like to find a UK equivalent to this because the training explanations, as you say, are in German only. Que pena!

An equivilent magazine may be one called Puerta del Sol
http://www.champs-elysees.com/produc...h/default.aspx

I say may because I havn't checked it out as it seemed a bit pricey.

[tad]

Originally Posted by landlady

Another link for those not so advanced in Spanish might enjoy using, is this childrens story, read very slowly and clearly, with sub titles to follow too.
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?...0102&q=spanish

Thanks for the link landlady ...at last something I can understand.

[ValenciaSon]

Originally Posted by Marina

I also use the TV series to improve my English.

I saw all the Sex in the City DVDs in English and by the end of it I could perfectly imitate the American accent. I've also seen most of Desperate Housewives series up until now, which are very good to relax because they speak very clearly... however when I saw Alias I had to ask Ben to explain things all the time and it is very annoying not understanding when the plot moves so fast.

Marina, I hope you saw the movie The Matrix like so many others have because then I think you will really enjoy this:

[lifeinperu]

Thanks for the link to Marie Claire! I had never heard of it, but seems really interesting.

Gracias!

[Jules]

Originally Posted by tad

An equivilent magazine may be one called Puerta del Sol
http://www.champs-elysees.com/produc...h/default.aspx

I say may because I havn't checked it out as it seemed a bit pricey.

Thanks Tad. Ive already checked them out and bought a few back-copies via ebay. Its a sort of audio magazine with interviews, news items, music etc on CD/cassette. The magazine contains a transcript and supporting notes. Its of very good quality but still just a bit too advanced for me.

[alanmalarkey]

I enjoyed the link to the chlidren's story - next time I go to central america I will go to the library every day to read the newspaper and children's books. el diario in Guatemala was very easy to read with pictograms and photos explaining the different news events in graphic detail.

Here is another film with spanish subtitles - quite interesting!

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?...7001&q=spanish

[ProfeDeEspEnWisc]

Thanks for the recommendation.

[landlady]

Glad you liked my links. If I stumble upon anything else which is a little easier for us at intermediate (or below) level I will post it here. I have just finished the last of the Desperate Housewives Cd's (in English) so will go back to the beginning and start watching it in Spanish now I also bought my first proper novel in Spanish. Although I had been looking out for recommended authors on this and other sites, I didn't find any of them in the shop, so finally chose one where the subject matter sounded really interesting to read, (to me in any case) It wasn't originally written in Spanish, so I hope the translation is good, but it doesn't seem too difficult for me to read without stopping at every second word, so I am hoping to be able to actually get to the end of it and hopefully should pick up quite a few new words and phrases that I remember on the way.

Its called Sultana by Jean Sasson and is the true story about the life of an Arabian princess. Has anyone read it?

[alanmalarkey]

This makes good - a bit technical but good diction and repetition makes for a good intermediate listen.

http://video.google.es/videoplay?doc...prende+espanol

[alanmalarkey]

The link seems a bit temperamental but if you click on the first thumbnail at the side it starts the sequence

http://video.google.es/videoplay?doc...prende+espanol