Spanish teachers are always on the hunt for authentic materials, and when they are free and easily accessible, well then that’s an added bonus! Podcasts are the best of both worlds! Plus, they help your students develop their listening skills in a fun way! With such a variety of podcasts out there for Spanish language learners, I narrowed it down to my top 5 best podcasts for high school students in Spanish class!
You can find all of these podcasts for high school students on any podcast app, such as Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. Just a quick search of the title of the podcast will get you to the episodes. From there, scan the list of episodes and find out which one interests you, your students, or fits your current lessons.
Then, when you’re ready to try out any of these 5 podcasts in your Spanish class, use my 7 suggestions for teaching podcasts in the world language classroom. Remember that podcasts do not have any visuals and can be overwhelming for language students. My 7 tips make podcasts comprehensible and easy to use in your classroom.
5 Podcasts for Spanish Students
Tres Cuentos
Storytelling in the second language is one of my favorite things. Tres Cuentos is a bilingual podcast (with one episode in English and another in Spanish for the same story). Authentic stories from Latin America are told with a great storyteller guiding you through the story! Folktales, myths, legends, and more can be found from all countries and all time periods! For example, classics spooky tales such as La Llorona will catch the attention of your students.
The Tres Cuentos website also offers access to the podcasts in addition to a free transcript of each episode. Find out why using transcripts are so important when teaching podcasts for high school students with my 7 tips for using podcasts in Spanish class here.
Notes in Spanish (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Gold)
This podcast is one of my favorites! Notes in Spanish episodes are based on Spanish culture and customs, while also teaching language and communication skills. Ben and Marina live in Madrid and host 3 levels of podcasts for language learners. I have learned a lot about life in Spain from their podcasts.
The beginner podcast not only teaches content, but they also take pauses in their conversation to recap the language they have used, such as explaining transition words like “pues, depende, or bueno.” The intermediate, advanced, and gold level podcasts are conversations 100% in the target language. The conversations are always engaging and authentic, sharing their experiences from Spain. The podcasts are free, but if you want the transcripts, you will have to subscribe to their website.
Duolingo Intermediate Bilingual Podcasts
Most of us know Duolingo to be a language learning app, but did you know they also produce a podcast? There are SO many great topics on the Duolingo podcast that will fit into any theme you are teaching in your intermediate levels. Check out my lesson for episode 66 about Romeo, an endangered Sehuencas water frog that needed to find his Julieta before his species became extinct! Students listen to the podcast episode, complete comprehension activities, then research another animal in danger of extinction and make a Match profile for the animal, helping them find their perfect match, just like Romeo y Julieta! I also created a lesson for episode 31 about The Boiling River in Peru, an Inca legend.
Duolingo also has posted YouTube videos of some of their podcast episodes, complete with the transcript and accompanying images. These would be a great starting point with high school students.
The most recent season of Duolingo podcasts has been a Serial style podcast telling the story of Argentina’s biggest heist – El gran robo! If you were a fan of Netflix’s Casa de Papel, and are waiting for the final season, this will fill your void!
Radio Ambulante
Radio Ambulante podcasts are narrative podcasts from NPR that tell the unique stories of Latin Americans. Some of these podcasts may be advanced for your students, so definitely listen prior to using it to assess its level. When you find an episode to use, check out their teacher and education page! There are already ideas for incorporating the podcast into the language classroom.
Hoy Hablamos
Each day, Hoy Hablamos hosts a podcast episode on a different topic, (grammar, expressions, culture, news, etc.), so it is great for all types of students. I personally find the Noticias podcasts most interesting and engaging. The news episodes are more engaging that typical news podcasts because each episode covers 3 unique news stories that you might not hear about otherwise! They are news stories that aren’t always main headlines. If you’re trying to find a way to incorporate current events for students, start here! They will find these stories super interesting.
Keep a lookout in the coming weeks for my next blog post “How to Help Your Students Understand Podcasts in Spanish!” Then try out these 5 podcasts for Spanish class with the tips I suggest.
Are there other podcasts for high school students that you recommend for your Spanish students? Share your favorites below!
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