Coffee Break Spanish Magazine – Video Promo

Each episode of the Coffee Break Spanish Magazine will feature a video episode in which Alba asks her pregunta del día to native speakers of Spanish on the streets of a Spanish town or city. We’re including the preview version of this video here on the main feed for Coffee Break Spanish and on the Coffee Break Spanish Magazine feed. For normal episodes our videos will only be part of the premium materials and as such will not be available on the public feeds. We’ll provide more information next week when we launch the show with our first episode.

How to subscribe to the Coffee Break Spanish Magazine

So far we’re including our Coffee Break Spanish Magazine audio and video content in our main Coffee Break Spanish feed so you may well have downloaded these new shows without realising that they are new. However, we’ll soon be transferring our Magazine content to its own feed, so you’ll have to make sure you’re subscribed to the specific feed for the Magazine. You can do this by clicking on the link below and susbcribing in iTunes.

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On Location Italian – meet our blogger

olit-nicole-introCiao a tutti! It’s Nicole here. I’m 21 and I live in Glasgow, Scotland where I study the slightly unusual yet rewarding combination of law and Italian. I am so glad that I chose Italian because it has led me to the beautiful town of Verona in the Italian region of Veneto where I will be studying law at the city’s University over the next year.

When I am back in Glasgow I like to keep myself busy and spend most of my time out socialising with friends and family. I also love being outdoors and enjoy going for long walks, whether it be around my home city or venturing out to some of Scotland’s amazing countryside. Another of my favourite past times is tasting good food and this is something I will be sure to continue whilst in Verona.

I cannot wait to become completely engrossed in a new culture and surround myself with all things Italian. I plan on being very open to trying new things and having new experiences. I also want to learn Italian from Italian themselves and not simply from a textbook.

I come from a big Scots-Italian family to whom I am very close and so the biggest challenge for me living away from home will be to avoid getting homesick. It is fair to say that I don’t have the best cooking skills (something about which my family love to tease me!) so perhaps not being able to enjoy my nonna’s home cooked meals on a daily basis will be difficult. However, hopefully I will come back from Verona and be able to whip up my own sugo good enough to rival hers.

So here’s to a year of meeting new people, experiencing new things, exploring different places, eating/cooking good food- and all whilst improving my Italian. Non vedo l’ora!! (I cannot wait).  A presto!

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On Location Swedish – meet our blogger

olse-ailie-introHej! My name’s Ailie and I’m from the northeast of Scotland, although I’ve been living in Edinburgh, the capital city, for the past two years where I study Swedish, Italian and EU Studies. My absolute favourite film of all time is Roman Holiday, with Audrey Hepburn – although I do enjoy anything which features The Muppets!

In my free time I enjoy dancing (anytime, anywhere), knitting and reading. This year I’m really excited for meeting lots of new people, experiencing lots of new things, and being able to say that I’ve independently lived abroad before the age of 21. I’ve always really liked learning languages – along with English, Swedish and Italian I also have French, a smattering of Catalan, and a tiny little bit of German… but there’s still many more I’d like to learn! Vi ses snart!

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On Location Spanish – meet our bloggers

You’ll be able to follow our Spanish bloggers over the course of this year as they share their experiences living and studying in Spain. Join Grace and Iain in their weekly blog posts and join them in their language-learning journey.

Meet Iain

oles-iain-intro¡Hola de Salamanca! I’ve travelled from Edinburgh in Scotland to the northern Spanish city of Salamanca for my Erasmus year abroad as part of my Masters in International Business and Spanish. I’ve been studying Spanish since school and, thanks to some incredible teachers along the way, I’m captivated by this truly international language. I’m studying at the larger of the two universities in Salamanca – the Universidad de Salamanca, or USAL – and I’m doing a mixture of Spanish and Business classes.

I’m very much looking forward to exploring Spain and Salamanca, as well as getting to grips with the language – and having some fun along the away! ¡Hasta pronto!

Introducing Grace

oles-grace-intro¡Hola a todos! I’m Grace and over the next year I’m going to be one of your On Location Spanish correspondents! Right now, I’m writing to you from the fast-paced city of Valencia, on Spain’s eastern coast. But before we get into the language stuff, I thought I’d tell you a bit about me.

Having just recently turned 20, I’ve lived in Glasgow for my whole life. When people first move out, it’s usually just down the road, but not me – I had to leave the country! I’m currently studying Law with Spanish, so during my Erasmus year I’ll be studying Law at Valencia University where I’ll be attending lectures entirely in Spanish!

Where I’m a Law student by day, I’m a Sales Assistant by night so I’m quite into Fashion. In my spare time I like to swim, catch the odd movie and listen to music. When it comes to music, I very much like Scottish bands like Three Blind Wolves and Twin Atlantic. As for movies…I’m quite ashamed to admit that my favourite film of all time is Armageddon.

So far as my language interests are concerned, I truly have my mother to thank since she started me on French classes at the tender age of 4. As well as trying to get my head round legal jargon in a second language, this year I’d really like to take some time to get into Spanish literature. So I suppose you could say I’m most excited about getting a bit more cultured, and of course meeting new people.

Now with all that in mind, I hope I haven’t put you off. The only thing left for me to do now is to get out there and start learning. I hope you can join me soon for On Location Spanish. ¡Hasta luego!

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On Location French – meet our bloggers

Each week you’ll be able to join our French bloggers who will be updating you on their language-learning adventure from two very different parts of France: Scott is studying in the southern city of Toulouse, and Rose is teaching English in a secondary school in St-Brieuc, Brittany.

Introducing Rose

olfr-rose-introBonjour, tout le monde! My name is Rose and I’m from Glasgow in Scotland. I study History and French at university, and I’m lucky enough to be spending a year abroad in Brittany in northern France. I enjoy vintage shopping, writing, going to the cinema and I love live music! I’m excited to meet people during my year abroad and to sample some of the local delicacies – so far, I could live off the bread here. I also can’t wait to explore the fishing villages and beaches along the pretty Breton coastlines. I am a bit worried about understanding my pupils at the lycée where I’m teaching English though – or maybe I should be worried about them understanding me! À bientôt, Rose x

Meet Scott

olfr-scott-introBonjour! My name is Scott, I’m 23 years old and I’m from the southwest of Scotland. I study International Business with Modern Languages at the University of Strathclyde and I’m currently on my year abroad, studying on exchange at Toulouse Business School. From an early age I was always interested in languages and now, a little older and wiser, I am just as passionate about actively promoting the benefits of learning about different languages and cultures – I think it is a wonderful way to broaden the mind and learn more about the world we all live in.

In my spare time I also enjoying playing the guitar, playing golf, socialising, listening to music and I’m also a bit of a movie buff – my favourite movie is L.A. Confidential. As well as being excited to see all which my year abroad in Toulouse has to offer and to try out and improve upon my French skills, I am also very much looking forward to sharing my experiences with you through my blog posts. À bientôt!

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On Location German – meet our bloggers

Our German bloggers will be bringing you weekly blog posts from Dülmen and Herford in the northwest of Germany. Meet Holly and Daniel:

Introducing Holly

olde-holly-introMy name is Holly, I’m 19 and I’m a student from Scotland. This year I am working as an English language assistant in a town called Dülmen which is near Münster. I study French, German and Spanish at the University of Glasgow because I absolutely love languages. I also love to dance and meet up with my friends.

This year I really want to improve my German and learn more about the culture. I have already made a few German friends so that will be good for my German. I also really want to do a lot of travelling this year around Germany.

Meet Daniel

olde-daniel-introHallo! My name is Daniel and I’m from the southwest of Scotland. I study French, German and Spanish at the University of St Andrews and was an active member in the university’s German Society, before I left for my year abroad. Since primary school, I have always been fascinated by languages and chose St Andrews because it’s the only Scottish university where I can study all the languages I studied at school until the end of my degree. At university I also study Russian and Arabic at evening classes.

I look forward to improving my knowledge of the German language during my year abroad and to letting you all know about my experiences in the coming weeks! Bis bald!

Like On Location German on Facebook | Learn German with Radio Lingua

Announcing Coffee Break German

Coffee Break GermanBist du fertig? Lass uns anfangen! We’re delighted to introduce to the world a new member of the Coffee Break Languages family: Coffee Break German will launch in January 2013.

Since 2006, Coffee Break Spanish and French lessons have been downloaded over 100 million times and we hope that Coffee Break German will be equally as popular among German learners throughout the world.

The tables are turned on Coffee Break Spanish and French teacher Mark in this series: he becomes the learner and is joined by native speaker Thomas and other experts in the German language, bringing you German language and culture in our 15-minute lessons. The series will be made up of forty lessons and will cover what you would expect from any Coffee Break course:

  • introductions and greetings
  • talking about yourself and your family
  • likes and dislikes
  • talking about your job
  • coping with language problems
  • ordering drinks and food in cafés and restaurants
  • checking into a hotel
  • shopping and services
  • directions and travel
  • illness and emergencies
  • talking about the weather
  • dealing with numbers, days, months
  • and much more!

Of course, the whole series will be delivered in a gradual, structured way and you’ll not simply be learning words and phrases: you’ll come to understand how the German language works and be introduced to the patterns of the language with the help of our Grammar Guru. You’ll also find out more about the culture associated with the German language and we’ll bring you reports from our Cultural Correspondent who’ll share many aspects of German, Austrian and Swiss culture with you.

Coffee Break German launches in January 2013. Until then we’ll be keeping you posted with further developments here on the Radio Lingua website. Bis Januar!

Coffee Break Spanish Magazine – Promo episode

In this promo episode of the Coffee Break Spanish Magazine, Mark outlines what listeners can expect from each episode of the show. The video episode (normally part of the premium materials) is included below to give you a feel for the new style of show:

Subscribe to the CBS Magazine in iTunes | RSS Feed

Spanish WOTD Review, 19 Sep 2012

We’ve been publishing a daily word on Facebook and Twitter and each day we’ve asked our Facebook friends and Twitter followers to post a comment using the word of the day, thereby practising their language skills. This week we’ve been talking about the weather and as usual the Radio Lingua community has come up with some excellent examples of this week’s words: el frío, hace buen tiempo, llueve a cántaros, el viento, and hay niebla.

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French WOTD Review, 19 Sep 2012

We’ve been publishing a daily word on Facebook and Twitter and each day we’ve asked our Facebook friends and Twitter followers to post a comment using the word of the day, thereby practising their language skills. This week we’ve focused on the topic of weather and we’ve shared the following words and phrases with our community: le froid, il fait beau, il pleut des cordes, le vent and il y a du brouillard.

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Coffee Break Spanish Magazine Update

cbsmag-slant-300Last month we announced our forthcoming Coffee Break Spanish Magazine and we’re pleased to bring you confirmation of the exact launch date. The pilot episode will be released on Wednesday 26th September and this first season of the CBS Magazine will run from 3rd October for ten weeks. In each episode you can look forward to lots of engaging language study including interviews with native speakers, spotlight on grammar topics and idiomatic expressions, and weekly answers to listeners’ questions. As we’ve already explained, each episode will feature lots of Spanish, but we’ll help you understand what’s going on with English explanations and some help with translation. You’ll be pleased to know that the series will be presented by some familiar voices!

Premium version

The Coffee Break Spanish Magazine will be an audio show, and as usual there will be full text support in the premium version of the course. However we’re delighted to be introducing a video element to Coffee Break Spanish – we’ve been out with our cameras filming interviews with real native speakers on the streets, so we’ll be bringing you authentic Spanish as it’s spoken around the world. The video elements will also be part of the premium content.

More announcements on 26th September

We’re also very excited to be bringing you more news on 26th September. It’s the European Day of Languages and we’re taking this opportunity to make a few exciting announcements about new Radio Lingua content, including a major new project in a new language! That’s all we can say for the time being, so you’ll have to wait until 26th September to find out more!

Spanish WOTD Review, 9 Sep 2012

We’ve been publishing a daily word on Facebook and Twitter and each day we’ve asked our Facebook friends and Twitter followers to post a comment using the word of the day, thereby practising their language skills. This week we’ve had a culinary theme and the Radio Lingua community has come up with some excellent examples of this week’s words: tapas, jamón serrano, paella, freír, and cocinar.

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French WOTD Review, 9 Sep 2012

We’ve been publishing a daily word on Facebook and Twitter and each day we’ve asked our Facebook friends and Twitter followers to post a comment using the word of the day, thereby practising their language skills. This week we’ve introduced some culinary terms including some well-known French delicacies: le pain au chocolat, les escargots, la ratatouille, flamer and cuisiner.

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French WOTD Review, 2 Sep 2012

We’ve been publishing a daily word on Facebook and Twitter and each day we’ve asked our Facebook friends and Twitter followers to post a comment using the word of the day, thereby practising their language skills. It’s been another great week of responses from our community and we’re bringing you our review of your uses of this week’s words: la mer, plonger, prendre un bain de soleil, voyager, and se détendre.

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Spanish WOTD Review, 2 Sep 2012

We’ve been publishing a daily word on Facebook and Twitter and each day we’ve asked our Facebook friends and Twitter followers to post a comment using the word of the day, thereby practising their language skills. Well done to everyone who has taken part this week, using this week’s words in a sentence: el mar, bucear, tomar el sol, viajar, and relajarse.

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