We all know that these days, “video is king”, and this is great news for language learners, as more and more people are creating amazing content to boost your learning. There is so much great stuff out there for learning more about the Spanish-speaking world, and the video format is a brilliant aid for your comprehension thanks to all that colourful and movement!
All levels:
Dreaming Spanish
Dreaming Spanish was created by Pablo Román and it is EXCELLENT. I have used Pablo’s Youtube videos with my students for years and years, and have even made many resources to accompany his videos for levels beginner (little year 7s!) to upper-intermediate (my A Level students).
All of Pablo’s free content is on the Dreaming Spanish Youtube channel and you can access premium content on the Dreaming Spanish website, which allows you to filter by level, dialect/accent, “guide” (the presenter in the video), topic and free/premium content.
Learn anything from why the Spanish include a pooping shepherd in their nativity scenes (beginner), How Frida became the cultural icon that she is (beginner), to what you didn’t know about Shakira’s new song TDG (intermediate).
Use your Spanish
Use your Spanish was created by a Colombian guy named Salo. It’s a brilliant channel, where each video has three parts: 1) You’ll listen to (and be able to read) a short story at a slow speed, then you’ll be presented with some comprehension questions on the piece 2) Salo will then explain key expressions featured in the text 3) Finally you’ll hear the text again, but at a normal speed.
The only criticism I do have is that the title does not feature the story topic, which I think would help learners to find topics that they know interest them. However, more recently, Use your Spanish has joined Spotify, where you can indeed see each episode’s topic!
Learn about Murphy’s law (la ley de Murphy) in Spanish in the video below:
A1-A2 learners:
Happy Learning Español
This is a channel designed for children, which makes it great for learners. Since these videos are informative, they’re not likely to bore you (like I find children’s stories do!). You can use the playlist area of their Youtube channel to select videos under a certain topic, from history, to geography, to the economy and more. Check out Marie Curie’s biography in 1 minute 20 seconds below:
B1-B2 level:
BBC News Mundo
BBC Mundo is a great resource for levels intermediate and above as you can really control the level you’re working at. I’d recommend that intermediate learners use the original subtitles and pick videos on topics you already know about to get you started, whereas once you reach upper-intermediate to advanced, turn those subtitles off and pick something you know nothing about!
Watch this video on the enigma that is Euskera, the Basque language, which is the oldest European language, is the only language in the Iberian peninsula that doesn’t come from Latin and has no links with any other living language.
C1 level:
Fred Lammie (Casi Creativo)
This is a great introduction to Spanish (or perhaps Catalan) humour. Fred Lammie is an animator from Barcelona, who creates short, comical videos on a range of topics.
Check out the video below to find out what your dreams might mean:
Final thoughts
For levels beginner to intermediate, make sure to put Spanish subtitles on in Spanish; you’ll be surprised how quickly you get used to these videos and to understanding lots of the content thanks to all the great visual accompaniments!
I’d love to know what you think of these resources; do you know any of them already? Which do you like and why? Comment below!
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