The passive voice in Spanish is one of those strange grammatical expressions that strikes fear into the best of us. The truth of the matter is that one of the challenges of learning a language, be it Spanish or any other, is actually understanding your own grammar.

We have found over the years that around 80% of our beginner students are confused about verbs, nouns and adjectives. Imagine what happens once they begin to stumble across the imperfect subjunctive, the pluperfect and the conditional! ¡Flipan en colores!

The ironic thing is that we all use these tenses every day of our lives without thinking twice about it. All that we are really missing is to recognise what we are saying and to put a name to it.

The Passive Voice is one of these ways of speaking that is VERY English and although Spanish speakers do use it, it rarely appears in spoken speech.

Listen in to this podcast to firstly find out what the passive voice in Spanish is and then to discover how to avoid using it. As this is probably one of the most common mistakes made by English speaking students, it’s “imprescindible” that you get to grips with how it works and the tricks that exist to get around it.

With every podcast we offer additional information and guidance in the comprehensive Spanish help-sheets that have been designed to give you a deeper understanding of the subjects we discuss. You can download a free sample to see if they are value for money. You won’t be disappointed.

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The post Advanced Intermediate Spanish Podcast 11 – The Passive Voice in Spanish appeared first on Lightspeed Spanish.

Have you ever visited a small, sleepy Spanish village? Despite the fact that Spain is fast becoming a modern country, it is still possible to find many small villages throughout the whole of Spain that are pretty much what you might expect from the typical “aldea española”.

In this free Spanish podcast we discuss the typical delights that can often be found in a traditional Spanish village. Certainly, if you want to find people to talk to in Spanish, this is the place to go particularly if you go in the late evening when everyone is outside, sitting in their doorways enjoying the cool of the night.

In this episode Cynthia and Gordon discuss the village close to the family’s “chalet” in the mountains of Guadalajara in Spain. Just like every Spanish village, it has two typical things. Can you guess what they might be? Listen in as we talk about what they are as well as many of the other interesting features of life in a Spanish village.

Each free Spanish podcast is transcribed and translated and all this additional information and guidance can be found in the comprehensive help-sheets that have been developed specifically with our students in mind. We hope you enjoy them!

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The post Advanced Intermediate Free Spanish Podcast 10 – Spanish Villages appeared first on Lightspeed Spanish.

In this free Spanish lesson online, we have a chat about driving in Spain.

Every country has its style of driving, and none more so than Spain. Certainly in the area around the capital, Madrid, drivers tend to be quite aggressive, although not all of them.

Peeping the horn is a great past-time for them especially if you are waiting at a set of traffic lights that have just turned green and you haven’t managed to get the car into gear fast enough.

In this podcast Cynthia and Gordon share differing opinions on what it’s like to drive in Spain. No es un “domestic” pero casi. jeje. Just like all couples, they don’t always share identical opinions on things.

Maybe you’ve already had experience already of driving through Spain. What was your impression of when the Spanish get behind the wheel? As you listen to our two differing opinions why not see which one you agree with or if you think neither of us have it right.

This free Spanish lesson uses a lot of vocabulary that might be new to you and so, all the additional information and guidance can be found in the comprehensive Spanish help-sheets that have been designed to allow you to take the maximum benefit from these bite-size podcasts. Esperamos que os gusten.

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The post Advanced Intermediate Spanish Podcast 9 – Driving in Spain appeared first on Lightspeed Spanish.

The eight of our advanced intermediate Spanish lessons is all about impersonal verbs.

As a conversation piece, these verbs are a real must for any serious student of the Spanish language.

Why?

Because, firstly, in conversation it’s so important to be able to express your opinions in a clear and concise way. Secondly, and in our opinion, far more important, it’s vital that you are able to solicit the opinion of the person you are talking with.

In any language, a good conversation is never one way. People love to be able to express their opinions and like to be asked what they think of certain issues or concepts. These Impersonal verbs are the perfect tool for you to do this eloquently.

When we start to learn Spanish, we invariably come to the part in the course when we are shown that “me gusta” means “I like it” and from then on we’re confused. “Where’s the ‘it’?” we ask ourselves. With no decent answer forthcoming, we often resort to slipping the odd “lo” into the mix, making everything even more messy!

You needn’t worry, however. We are here to help! Come and join our Podcast and learn to take your spoken Spanish beyond the usual and often incorrectly structured “Me gusta” as you hear us using a wide range of impersonal verbs that will make your conversation exquisitely scintillating!

Additional information and guidance for all of our intermediate Spanish lessons can be found in the comprehensive help-sheets. We have worked to offer you a deep insight into these verbs as well as giving you exercises to try out your new knowledge. Check them out!

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The post Advanced Intermediate Spanish Podcast 8 – Impersonal Verbs appeared first on Lightspeed Spanish.

This intermediate Spanish lesson is all about “mascotas”, or, in English, pets. We all love our pets and none more so than the Spanish. Because many Spanish people live in “pisos” or what we call apartments or flats, they tend to limit themselves to small dogs and so, at any time of the day you can see many Spanish people “paseando a su perrito en la calle”.

En los “chalets” (villas) however, in the countryside, it’s much more common to have large dogs that have the responsibility of guarding the house from “los ladrones”.

In this podcast, we talk about a range of pets that we’ve had in the past. Although Gordon hasn’t had a great deal of pets in the past, it’s vital that you listen into the incredible list of animals that have shared a house with Cynthia. Come and join us as she gives some surprising insights into the range of pets that she has taken in. ¡Su madre tiene que ser una santa!

All the additional information and guidance can be found, as it always can be, in the comprehensive help-sheets that have been designed to give you the listener a deeper learning in terms of vocabulary and grammar.

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The post Advanced Intermediate Spanish Lesson 7 – Mascotas appeared first on Lightspeed Spanish.

This intermediate Spanish lesson is all about “mascotas”, or, in English, pets. We all love our pets and none more so than the Spanish. Because many Spanish people live in “pisos” or what we call apartments or flats, they tend to limit themselves to small dogs and so, at any... Read more »

Listening practice in Spanish is a key part of learning the language. Listening to children talk in Spanish is no easy feat. What is interesting, however, is the way Ulises, (el hijo del primo del padre de Cynthia jeje) talks us through his daily routines in a very matter of fact way.

In this interview with Ulises, you get a chance to hear the kind of subjects that he enjoys, and the ones he doesn’t like, too. He guides us through his favourite foods, hobbies and some of his action heroes that even caused Cynthia problems to decipher.

We also get an insight into his meals, particularly what he has for his “merienda” the typical snack that children have once they come out of school in the mid afternoon.

Listen in and see if you can identify all of the subjects he studies. ¡Es tu desafío!

When he made this podcast, Ulises was a charming 8 year old boy. Now he’s just as charming but a few years older.

For those interested in learning at a deeper level, you can find all the additional information and guidance in the comprehensive Spanish help-sheets along with the full transcription and translation of the entire podcast. ¡Buena suerte!.

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The post Advanced Intermediate Spanish Podcast 6 – Listening Practice in Spanish appeared first on Lightspeed Spanish.

Listening practice in Spanish is a key part of learning the language. Listening to children talk in Spanish is no easy feat. What is interesting, however, is the way Ulises, (el hijo del primo del padre de Cynthia jeje) talks us through his daily routines in a very matter of... Read more »

Commands in Spanish — otherwise known as the imperative tense — are one of the most important aspects of the Spanish language. No matter where you are you will be faced with someone telling you what they want you to do in Spanish.

Don’t be shocked! They mean no offence. ☺

The truth is that the imperative is used constantly amongst Spanish speakers as they order each other around in a maelstrom of commands like: Listen! Eat up! Come here! Shut up! Sit! Go away! Look!, along with so many more other ways they have of telling people what to do.

Whatever happens in your learning journey, you absolutely must be able to use this tense correctly as well as understand all the nuances that it carries with it.

Listen in to us as we talk you through how to use commands in Spanish conversation. The truth is, if you want to sound like a true Spanish speaker, you must use them!

Así que…

¡Escucha y aprende!

For clear, concise additional information and guidance, take a look at our comprehensive Spanish help-sheets. You can find a free sample of them on our website. They’ve been specifically designed around the podcasts to provide you with a wealth of additional information and learning.

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The post Advanced Intermediate Spanish Podcast 5 – Commands in Spanish appeared first on Lightspeed Spanish.

Commands in Spanish — otherwise known as the imperative tense — are one of the most important aspects of the Spanish language. No matter where you are you will be faced with someone telling you what they want you to do in Spanish. Don’t be shocked! They mean no offence.... Read more »