I regularly visit Mexico and Central America and try to speak Spanish as much as possible when there. Since I took Spanish many years ago in middle and high school, this podcast is perfect for improving my listening skills, vocabulary acquisition, and general cultural understanding. I love the structure of the podcast: the first round of storytelling is told more slowly with a neutral Mexican accent, while the second round is faster with a neutral Spanish (Spain) accent. The plots are practical for the advanced beginner/low intermediate (e.g. a boy who goes to the library). They’re also incredibly uplifting, such as a girl with long hair who cuts and donates it to a hospital for children with cancer. I look forward to each new adventure!

Joel is a fantastic teacher. All of his podcasts are so thoughtfully crafted! He speaks very slowly and clearly so learners can keep up. Each podcast is a little different — but for each one, the focus is on supporting new Spanish speakers. Thank you Joel!!!

I have listened to two lessons so far. I love that there is one story spoken slowly and one at normal speed and both by a native speaker.

I’m at the point where I need to start learning and understanding Spanish when spoken versus reading. This podcast has been extremely helpful and I highly recommend.

This along with Joel’s other podcasts hit a sweet spot in Spanish learning where you know enough Spanish to understand simple sentences but not enough to follow along to actual normal Spanish conversations. It’s perfect to help improve listening skills!!

It’s a great way to build your comprehension & listening skills. I’m learning Latin Spanish, specifically in Mexico, and it’s hard to find good resources for Latin Spanish. Spain Spanish dominates the industry. These are east, short stories to listen to. It appears the stories get longer which I welcome as a small challenge while i learn

For spanish speakers not people learning the language. All the stories are influenced Spanish and if you don't speak Spanish fluently you'll be forever lost there are NO english translations in this podcast.

I came across this podcast recently. I’m always looking for ways to improve my Spanish so I tried this podcast. I’m very happy with it. The stories are interesting and I am able to understand them. I like the slow version and then the fast version. I like the authentic accent of the speakers. Gracias para este podcast. Estoy muy emocionada para practicar escuchando Español. Colleen

The stories are entertaining, and the narrators speak clearly and slowly. It’s perfect for those of us who know some Spanish but can’t follow the pace of conversations in normal settings.

I speak some Spanish but I was wanting to get better at translating for people. This is a great way to help you do that because the initial slower story is just slow enough for me to translate it. I’m also still learning lots of words so I can figure them out via context or I can google them and still listen simultaneously. Great podcast.

My husband and I have been studying Spanish with Duolingo for over 3 years. I love adding this podcast to my study week because it is helping me listen to the language in larger doses than a typical lesson on the app allows. I feel like it’s really helping me with comprehension. I am SO grateful for this resource! Thanks for all the work that goes into it. It is apporeciated!

So well done, interesting, and with themes and sentences that encourage learning by exposure rather than memorizing.

This has been a huge help and is always fun. Gracias a Joel por su contento!!

Stories are so helpful for learning and entertaining!

I find the vocabulary to be at just the right level for where I am currently at. It's enough to where I don't get discouraged because I do not understand enough, but still provides me with new words and phrases to add to my vocabulary. Muchísimo gracias!

I have been trying different podcasts in español to improve my listening comprehension. The speed is perfect for me and I really like the gradual increase. Muchas gracias por ayudarnos!

It does help me better with my Spanish skills but it does not really do anything interesting

Joel’s resources for learning Spanish are so valuable and the comprehensible input is very thoughtfully introduced at a gradient!

This is my first ever podcast and it has truly helped me to improve my Spanish. I appreciate both the slow and fast reading of each story. I highly recommend this podcast to anyone who is interested in learning Spanish.

I’m really noticing my Spanish improve by listening to these podcasts. I’m living in Spain, so I love having the stories read in both a Mexican and Spanish accent, and at different speeds. Here’s my learning process with these; I’ve been taking one episode to listen to each week. I listen to it about 4-5 times. Then I read along with the transcription while listening. I then work on translating into English from the transcriptions as best I can, and if I get stuck or am unsure of the translation I use a translation app to understand the grammar and/or new vocabulary. After all this I listening to the podcast even more, maybe 4-5x more. Then I read directly from the transcript a number of times and I record myself reading so I can listen to what I sound like. I feel like I’m improving faster doing this than I had been prior to listening to this podcast. There are definitely other podcasts that I’ve tried listening to, but they were harder to go through this process with. Anyway, thank you for the great learning tool. My goal is to keep up with this process for the next 3 months, taking on one or two podcasts per week and evaluating my level of learning at that point. I imagine I’ll have made a lot of progress, and I’ll let you know how it goes!

I just love these little stories. They are sweet and fun, and just the right length to get in a listen without a huge commitment of time. Best of all is the dual speed narration, which has really helped me get better at listening.

I’m loving this podcast! I took Spanish 2 several years ago and have since lost any skills I had. Now I’m preparing for a trip to Mexico and wanted to be able to use Spanish on the trip. I listen to this podcast, read along the transcripts and look up words I don’t know, and practice reading the story myself out loud to work on my pronunciation. Love the multiple accents and speeds. I feel my skills coming back. Thanks so much!!!

I have been learning Spanish for a little over a year. While my textbook knowledge is probably around intermediate, I struggle with listening to real life conversations. These mini stories with transcript are perfect for me to learn new vocabulary, practice listening to the sound of each word, each group of words, and sentences in context. Thank you so much for such high quality materials and for providing them for free! I also love your other podcasts.

Me and my children have been practicing our Spanish for a year almost, and we are continuing to seek ways to advance. This is an excellent podcast for us!

I love listening to these, then going back and reading the transcripts to make sure I jot down the new vocabulary. It’s really effective for me and I appreciate the creativity & (free!!!) transcripts for each episode. Thank you!

This podcast is excellent. Mr. Zárate’s multi degrees in Language Teaching serve him well as this is an excellent, highly professional educational tool for learning Spanish. The same can be said of his other podcasts, “Conversations In Spanish” and “Vocabulary In Spanish and Other Languages.” If you are looking to improve your level of speaking Spanish, turn to Señor Zárate’s impeccable teaching credentials and methods of communication.

I spent 2 months traveling the Baja coastline and literally had the bare minimum of Spanish. I felt lost and unprepared the entire trip. I set a goal when I returned to learn Spanish and started Duolingo. It works, but I needed more. When I found your podcast it was a game changer! I love how you speak slowly then repeat the story faster. Such a great way to learn! ¡Hasta Luego y muchas gracias!

I’ve never written a review for anything before but this podcast deserves it. All four of my grandparents spoke Spanish and my maternal grandfather, who was born and raised in Mexico, was far more comfortable speaking Spanish than he was speaking English. Thanks mostly to him and his wife (my grandmother) my Spanish vocabulary has always been above average but I’ve never been fluent. I’ve always wanted to be but I’ve never been very good with languages. I took Spanish classes in both elementary and high school but I never got the hang of tenses though my vocabulary was always greater than my classmates. I’ve tried different workbooks and learning programs but those always started out assuming I knew nothing and I would quickly grow either bored or frustrated. I’ve tried to keep up with what little I have always known but since the death of my last grandparent I have had little excuse to practice in my day to day for even though both my parents and all their siblings speak Spanish they speak English far more often. As a result I’ve ‘lost’ much of what I use to know. I stumbled across this podcast accidentally and it has help me regain so much of the language. I hear words I once knew and have come to know them again. I’ve even come to recognize a few new words. As someone who’s spent most of their life trying and failing to learn Spanish this is a great help. I’m not yet fluent, far from, but maybe someday…someday… Sorry for the length of this comment.

They do these stories in two speeds. First slow, then fast. I found t to be a great help in comprehension. Also it starts at Advanced Beginner which is what I rate my self. Not just a beginner. Great podcast.

I have been looking for some time for short simple stories. The narrators speak clearly and I can catch words that I know. There are other words I don’t know, so it’s great practice. At just the right level to challenge me, but I understand enough to not get too frustrated. This is very well made. Thank you!

I’m really grateful for this podcast! It’s the perfect level for me where I can understand the general idea of what is going on, but I am still putting everything together. It’s so nice to have a level between beginner and intermediate. Listening to these stories is helping my Spanish comprehension a lot. I definitely recommending listening!

Love hearing both the slower and faster story versions. Having the transcripts available is a huge learning tool for my Spanish language acquisition journey. Thanks for providing all!

Thanks for this short and very helpful podcast! Providing transcripts is amazing. As a visual learner, I really rely on that additional part. Thanks so much. Good luck.

These podcasts are absolutely wonderful. My listening comprehension has greatly improved. I use a number of YouTube channels to improve my ability to understand spoken Spanish. For me, this is the best.

I LOVE this podcast. It is excellent practice for a beginner/intermediate to intermediate level. I am beginner/intermediate so I love that the stories are told first like a teacher reading to children at school and then like how parents would talk at home. I don’t understand every word but the slower “teacher” pace does make it easier for me to get the general idea of what is happening. Hearing the faster “parent” pace right after is helpful because you kind of know what is coming and you can hear how it sounds different at a more normal speed. I genuinely feel like I will get better at listening with this podcast than any other “immersive” content out there. Very well done! I’m so glad I found this podcast.

I’m at level B1 in Spanish and these stories are perfect for me! I’ve listened to many other Spanish story podcasts, and Joel’s are by far my favorite. I love how the story is read slowly the first time, then faster. That really helps. I also love that these are present day stories using authentic current language, as opposed to fairy tales or more complex literature. I think an advanced beginner, level A2, could handle these easily if they had the printout of the text that Joel also provides. I think the verb tenses would start to sound comfortable and familiar. Thank you VERY much, Joel, for giving us the best Spanish stories out there! Please keep them coming!

I love how they do the stories twice. The slower one first helps me understand a lot easier and the transcripts are great too. Thank you for making these!

I love the structure of these podcasts. I hope in the future they would do an English translation in the end or in the middle like: 1. Mexican Spanish 2. English translation 3. Quicker Spanish from Spain

Me encanto mucho este podcast. Estoy un principiante y a veces es difícil encontrar cosas que puedo entender fácilmente. Y me gusta mucho que después de escuchando lentamente, puedo entender mas el siguiente historia aunque es más rápido. Gracias por el podcast! Espero que estes bien!

I could spend a whole year listening to these episodes. Listen, listen again, write down what you’re hearing, and then check the transcription. Super useful for improving comprehension.

I am so grateful for this podcast. It’s not too long, and is exactly where I’m at with my Spanish skills. I feel like reading and writing is straightforward, but listening and understanding conversational Spanish is so hard. This is just what I need to improve my listening skills

Please keep the content coming this is such a great resource. Your efforts are deeply appreciated ;)

There's not much for high beginner/low intermediate- this is a great one, the format of a story told 2x with different speeds and accents is excellent for learning.

I love this podcast! My one suggestion is to add in a short vocabulary list of new or unusual words at the beginning so we can listen and comprehend better without having to rack our brain to figure out a specific new word while also trying to continue listening to the story. Thank you for the hard work, this is a great way to enhance my learning.

I love the hearing the story two times at Teo different speeds and with the different accents. This this super helpful!

I have used different means to learn words in Spanish and can read it better than understand it as spoken. This is a huge help in changing that, thank you!

Very helpful!

The length, content and two speeds and accents are just right. Thank you!

The slow short stories make the pod cast idea for those wanting to learn Spanish by listening to native speakers. The stories are interesting and include relative topics. I’m so happy I found this podcast. I have Mexican heritage but never learned to be fluent in Spanish so this was a God send. Thank you sir for your efforts to teach us English speakers how to understand and speak Spanish.

I’ve taken years of Spanish, but it’s been awhile since I have practiced. These stories helped reengage my previous knowledge to give me confidence to listen to the Spanish language. Well chosen vocabulary, paced in a progressively advanced manner. As a prior high school English teacher who taught many native Spanish speakers/English language learners, I give it five stars!