Spanish Reading and Listening Comprehension Course: Level 1

So, this course is not a lengthy narrative and its lessons are not similar to children’s stories. It’s also not written in parallel text. So, what exactly is it?

Instead of the aforementioned texts, this course strives to embed effective learning aids directly into the material. You will have audio that you can listen to so you can follow along with the pronunciation.

You will have a Spanish and an English glossary within the stories, so there will be no need for a dictionary to help you with words you do not understand. You can practice your writing by coming up with your own words to sum up your understanding of the story, and then you can compare it with the summary provided after each story.

This course contains a total of 30 short stories that revolve around daily themes. Each reading and listening lesson is short enough to hold your attention (1,500 words in length), but long enough to make you feel a sense of accomplishment and progress after finishing each one.

You will find that the lessons are written using a varied, useful vocabulary and a diverse grammar structure. The combination of dialogue and descriptions are carefully selected to suit beginner to low-intermediate level learners. This will benefit your comprehension for both written and oral communication and will help you in the day-to-day activities, whether you are reading newspapers or trying to understand daily lingo spoken on the street.

The audio have been recorded by a professional. Abel Franco is from Madrid in Spain, so his pronunciation is a standard Spanish voice. He recorded the audio at a slightly slower speed than how Spanish people speak, but at a pace that still sounds natural. Our sound engineer has decreased the frequency to 100 Hz. Doing so ensures that you hear a softer voice, which results in a nicer listening experience for you.

While you can choose your own way of enjoying this course, we have prepared some advice on how you can take full advantage of it and maximize your learning and enjoyment.

1. Don’t try to understand everything the first time around. As a beginner, your Spanish skills will take time to develop. You may not understand everything. That’s OK. Don’t give up or get frustrated just because you are stuck on one word. We have tried to provide as much vocabulary as possible that I believe can instill in your mind the comprehension of the stories. If one word confuses you, just skip it and continue reading.
2. Beware of direct translation. You may have already learned some individual Spanish words separately. Sometimes, though, when these words are put together, the meaning completely changes. Be careful not to translate word for word.
3. Review the words you learned. The vocabulary recap at the end of each chapter allows a review which will help you recall and retain the new vocabulary and expressions you learned in the story.

This course is also available in an e-book format which you may download and save to any of your devices. If you wish to continue learning offline to make use of your time while on your commute or  doing other tasks, you may also use the e-book version of this course. Simply download the PDF or epub version and the free MP3 files in the first lesson labeled Offline Materials.