Great podcasts for beginners

I run a Spanish conversation group and every Saturday I get asked the same question, what should I do to help me learn Spanish? 

To answer that question, I can't help but flash back to how I learned a significant percentage of my Spanish - through podcasts.  I consider podcasts a fantastic way to learn Spanish, for a variety of reasons.   My first thought was to put together a list of podcasts for the group members, but then I thought why not share it with the world? 


These are in no particular order, so with out further delay, let's get to it.

Learn Spanish with the independent (Cactus Language Learning)

Cactus Language Learning offers lessons at the Elementary, Beginner and Beginners Plus levels.  They also have podcasts for all levels, so even if you're not a beginner you should still take a look. 

Q&A Spanish

This is a unique podcast that answers questions of all levels submitted by listeners.  You can access the episodes through iTunes.

Spanish from Scratch, from Spanish Obsessed

This site is run by a wonderful couple, Rob and Liz, and they produce podcasts for all levels, but this particular series is designed for someone with little to no background in Spanish.  They also offer a beginner level.  Be sure to take a look at the entire site and take advantage of everything they have to offer.

Liz hails from Colombia, and they provide great insight into the culture and Spanish of Colombia.

LightSpeed Spanish

Another great site run by a beautiful couple named Gordon and Cynthia that offers beginner lessons and more.  They tend to focus Cynthia is from Spain, so if you have a particular interest in the Spanish of Spain, you'll really enjoy this site.

123 Dialogs

This site is packed with video lessons that allow you to see and hear what you're learning at the same time.  With a 100 dialogues to watch, you'll be busy for quite a while.

SpanishPod101

This site has an amazing archive with hundreds podcasts for all levels, including Survival Spanish, Introduction, Beginner and Absolute Beginner.  Every week they offer free beginner lessons, all you need to do is sign up for a free account to get your free lessons.  But if you want access to the complete archives, then you'll have to buy at least a basic subscription.

Notes in Spanish

Another site that has some great lessons for beginners and zeroes in on Spanish from Spain.   Also run by a couple, Ben and Maria. 

Yabla Spanish

As a beginner you have two big challenges, one is be able to use complete sentences, the other is being able to understand what people say to you.  Yabla Spanish can help you with the latter.   Improve your listening skills through entertaining videos that leverage subtitles and an integrated dictionary.  It's a pretty amazing site and with a price of only $10 a month, it's worth a look.

Easy Spanish

This site offers videos on various topics in Spanish, with both Spanish and English subtitles.  Videos like these are very hard to find but really go a long way in helping you approve your listening abilities.

That's it for now.  I'll continue to update this page as I discover more useful podcast resources.

Know any good podcast or video sites that are good for beginners? Post it in the comments and I'll add it to the list, or you can share it on the Helping You Learn Spanish Facebook page.

¡Hasta la próxima!