So, what show should I listen to to tune up my ear?

[EFerrari]

Or, what news show would you recommend? I have to go to my friend's store or talk to my mom to stay in practice and it occurs to me that as I have this tube on while I work, it could be on a Spanish language channel.

Que piensan?

[Lost-in-FL]

1. Suggestions

There is CNN En Español in both XM or Sirius (that if you have Satellite Radio of course). The good thing about CNN in Spanish is that it seems "unbiased" and it is hardly like the actual CNN we listen to locally. Of course, they have news mostly from Latin America.

Also, check the BBC News Web page since it does have a Spanish section and they offer online audio en Español. I see it has like an hour news show entirely in Spanish, I don't know if is daily but i would think it is. You can check this out and the good thing is that you can listen to it whenever you want without having to follow a schedule.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/news/

If you look in the Right, where it says RADIO. Click under "BBC Mundo Hoy" and you can listen to it.

Another suggestion; get iTunes and see if you can get PODCASTS in Spanish. You don't need an iPod to listen to the PODCAsts but you need to subscribe to have access to certain PODCAsts. They have several episodes of DEMOCRACY NOW! en Español!!!

Hope this helps.:hi:

[EFerrari]

2. Great suggestions! I do have an iPod and I take two long walks

every day. That would be a good time to listen.

I never would have thought of the BBC. :)

[msedano]

3. turnabout

i hire workers, many of whom are monolinguals, or so spanish-dominant that they cannot survive an english-language interview. i advise these folks that if they want to advance in this economy / this company, they gotta learn english. yeah, they demur, i know that, but everyone around me speaks spanish so how... i tell them to watch t.v. news iin english then watch the spanish language channel. this way they get the words and aural practice. i keep a supply of bilingual children's books, too. when i work with a parent i lend them a title to take home and share with the kidlets. then i tell them books just like these are in the library and libraries are free.

my colleague at la bloga, gina marysol ruiz, does regular reviews of such titles, so i invite you to check out gina's column on wednesdays at http://labloga.blogspot.com

i like to read a novels in spanish that i've read and enjoyed in english. that's good for honing the ear, too.

[EFerrari]

4. Thank you, msedano. I will check out gina's blog.

My family underwent radical reorganization in late August, so my brain is just starting to pulse again. As much as it ever did, anway. :silly:

When I go to Mexico, I notice it takes me about 24 hours to catch up with the sound of Spanish -- less time, in fact, then it did for me to do the same in London. Never did understand that guy from Manchester.

Reading for me is decoding, not sound. For some people, they seem to go together but I have to make a conscious effort to hear the sound of words, something I worked on a lot when I was writing poetry in English. It's funny because there are a lot of writers and a lot of musicians in my family and every now and again, there's someone who does both as I do. But, we don't seem to have the kind of brain that "hears" language unless we try to on purpose.