Comments (9)

I confess I had been a linear listener: every evening, a new podcast -- (Not quite) live!!! from Shanghai!! -- and very little looking back.  (A tad compulsive perhaps, but in this I was not alone: remember how we pressed our noses against the cyberwindow of the elementary lesson, Hold it, waiting for our fix?)

And then... and then... this technophobe got an ipod!  Suddenly I was revisiting the now hundreds of podcasts, arranging them in playlists, listening to marathon sessions of Del Taco al Tango (¡cien por ciento en español!) or all the episodes thus far of Asalto a mano armada or all the advanced lessons or all the medical lessons -- well you get the idea --  and I realized what an extraordinary body of work you have created here!  This is the place to tune up your Spanish ear, linguistically and culturally, and build your (collocational!) vocabulary.  

You stand alone, you really do.  There are some good podcasts out there but no one else has your combination of charm, humor, and smarts that not only sustains interest through a first hearing of each lesson, but permits repeated study; and that keeps us anxious for the latest emisión from our friends in Shanghai.  

And yet there are limitations inherent to the podcast form.  My learning experience here has been receptive, passive and largely silent.   In the brick-and-mortar classroom, in contrast, even when the teacher is not ideal, students get to practice their language aloud and in real time -- with each other, with the teacher, and, in the best of circumstances, with native speakers.

For some listeners, those who have regular contact with Spanish-speaking colleagues, friends, or family, this limitation is not a big deal but many of us are not so fortunate.  Some people are trying their luck with the Skype conversation group.  Some have chosen the Spanishpod private tutor option. (I don't know about you, but for me ten minutes, the allotted lesson time, hardly allows me to clear my throat and exchange polite greetings, let alone get into a conversational rhythm.) And of course several of us try to post here regularly in Spanish, but writing and speaking are very different skills.

You are all -- Spanishpod team and listeners both -- so creative and bright.  I think this is the next pedagogical challenge -- how to get the community of language learners talking!