On TwitterLearn this week we’ll be visiting a restaurant. Listen to today’s show here:

Download audio file (tls-01-16.mp3)

Today’s words and phrases:

¿tienen…? - “do you have?”
¿tienen una mesa para cuatro? - “do you have a table for four?”
¿tienen una carta en inglés? - “do you have a menu in English?” 

Remember that by following @learnspanish on Twitter, you can learn Spanish in 140-character lessons linked to these audio programmes.

Welcome to Radio Lingua News – in this podcast we’ll be updating listeners on the latest developments from Radio Lingua. Coming up on today’s show:

• Learning languages 140 characters at a time with TwitterLearn
• Introducing our Community Managers
• New features for Radio Lingua premium members
• Announcing our Summer Sale
• Updates on the latest shows

TwitterLearn It seems that in the past few months the entire world has started twittering, helped by the huge number of celebrities using the microblogging service. Some write it off as another banal social media fad, but here at Radio Lingua we’ve been using Twitter for many months to update listeners on the latest podcast episodes and other news from Radio Lingua. This summer, we’ve decided to take our twittering a stage further and we’ve designed a course in French, Italian and Spanish for beginners, delivered in daily tweets of 140 characters, and podcasts of 1 minute 40 seconds. You can join Twitter at  http://twitter.com and follow @learnspanish, @learnfrench or @learnitalian to start your micro language-learning course.

Community Managers This summer we’re joined by three new members of the Radio Lingua team. Ellie, Katie and Marylou are going to be working over the summer on developing our learning communities on the website and they’re also working on the TwitterLearn courses. Initially they’ll be helping to develop the conversations on our Facebook pages. We really hope that Ellie, Katie and Marylou enjoy working with Radio Lingua over the summer months. If you’re a Facebook user, head over to the Facebook pages for Coffee Break Spanish, Coffee Break French, Show Time Spanish and Radio Lingua where the conversations are increasing daily. Make sure you become a ‘fan’ of the shows and tell your friends that you’re learning with us. We’re also looking at the longer term plans for the Discussion Forum on our website. Have your say about how this should develop and contribute to the discussion on our blog.

New developments for members Until now our premium members have been downloading the bonus materials from our members’ pages, but we’ve been working on developing premium feeds for all of our podcasts. You can now use our one-click method to download all of the premium materials through iTunes. Find out more on our members’ pages. Another new development has been the introduction of automatic upgrades. A number of members who have purchased premium memberships have requested upgrades. Until now this has been a manual process, but we’ve just introduced new automatic upgrades for Coffee Break Spanish and Coffee Break French. By simply paying the difference between, for example, the silver and gold memberships, members will be able to upgrade automatically to the higher level. Find out more here.

Summer Sale Until 16 August 2009 we’re offering a 20% discount on all of our premium materials. Now’s the time to purchase our bronze, silver, gold or platinum memberships for Coffee Break Spanish, Coffee Break French, Show Time Spanish or any of our other courses. Simply use coupon code SUMMER2009 at signup, or log into your Control Panel and add the relevant membership to your account.

Podcast update Let’s start with Coffee Break Spanish: episode 30 is due out in the next few days, and this episode concentrates of el fútbol. It was actually originally recorded on the streets of Glasgow on the occasion of the UEFA Cup Final a couple of years ago when hundreds of thousands of Spaniards arrived in the city for the match at Hampden Park. Listen in to hear interviews with fans of Español and Sevilla. Sticking with Spanish, we’ve just launched a special episode of Show Time Spanish recorded as Alba and I made a tortilla española, live in the kitchen. We explained to listeners exactly how to make the tortilla and we’re looking forward to seeing your photos of your tortillas. Episode 29 was Alba’s final episode with us as she’s returned to Barcelona. We’d like to wish her all the very best for the future. Show Time will continue, nonetheless and episode 30, due out in the middle of next week, will be the sixth instalment of our Spanish soap opera Verano Español. To French, now, and Coffee Break French. Episode 60 of our flagship French course will be published in the next couple of days and we’re just about to launch season 2B with episode 61. CBF subscribers should keep their eyes on the podcast feeds for all the information about the show. Our One Minute Languages courses have now finished, and we’re introducing the premium version of the courses gradually. One Minute French, Mandarin, Japanese and Greek are available already in the store, and we’ve just launched the premium version of One Minute Italian. The premium versions include a printable lesson guide, enhanced versions of the podcast with synchronised flashcards which work perfectly on iPods and iPhones, and bonus listening materials in the form of the quick quiz podcast and our popular Take-Off Time, a summary of all the language contained in the course presented in one fifteen to twenty minute show, perfect for packing onto your iPod as you head off on your summer vacation.

This week we’re learning some useful vocabulary for buying drinks in a bar. Today’s show concentrates on the language needed to ask for a drink. Listen to the audio here:

Download audio file (tlf-01-11.mp3)

Today’s words and phrases:

je voudrais… – “I would like…”
je prends… - “I’ll have…” / “I’ll take…” (literally, “I take”)
une eau minérale - “a mineral water”

You can ask for une eau minérale plate for still water, and une eau minérale gazeuse for a sparkling water. Remember that by following @learnfrench on Twitter, you can learn French in 140-character lessons linked to these audio programmes.

In today’s show you’ll learn how to check out at the hotel and ask if you can leave your luggage until you catch your flight. Listen to the audio here:

Download audio file (tls-01-10.mp3)

Today’s words and phrases:

quisiera pagar la cuenta, por favor – “I would like to pay the bill, please”
¿puedo dejar aquí mi equipaje? - “can I leave my luggage here?”

Remember that by following @learnspanish on Twitter, you can learn Spanish in 140-character lessons linked to these audio programmes.

In today’s show you’ll learn how to check out at the hotel and ask if you can leave your luggage until you catch your flight. Listen to the audio here:

Download audio file (tlf-01-10.mp3)

Today’s words and phrases:

je voudrais régler, s’il vous plaît – “I’d like to settle my bill, please”
je peux laisser mes bagages ici? - “Can I leave my luggage here?”

Remember that by following @learnfrench on Twitter, you can learn French in 140-character lessons linked to these audio programmes.

In today’s show you’ll learn how to check out at the hotel and ask if you can leave your luggage until you catch your flight. Listen to today’s show here:

Download audio file (tli-01-10.mp3)

Today’s words and phrases:

vorrei saldare il conto – “I’d like to settle the bill”
posso lasciare i miei bagagli qui? - “can I leave my luggage here?”

Remember that by following @learnitalian on Twitter, you can learn Italian in 140-character lessons linked to these audio programmes.

In today’s show you’ll learn how to say that there’s a problem with your room. Listen to the audio here:

Download audio file (tls-01-09.mp3)

Today’s words and phrases:

hay un problema … – “there is a problem”
con la ducha - “with the shower”
con la televisión- “with the TV”
con el aire acondicionado- “with the air conditioning”

You may also find the following phrases useful. Note that these phrases are not contained in the audio lesson.

hay un problema con la habitación- “there is a problem with the room”
… no funciona – “…doesn’t work”
el aire acondicionado no funciona – “the air conditioning doesn’t work”
la televisión no funciona – “the television doesn’t work”
la caja fuerte no funciona – “the safe doesn’t work”

TwitterLearn introduces you to the basics of the language and we don’t expect to cover every eventuality. However, with the constructions that we introduce to you in the daily tweets and lessons you should be well-equipped to deal with most situations, and you can easily use a dictionary to find the word for whatever doesn’t work in your room, then combine it with the expression hay un problema con… or … no funciona.

Remember that by following @learnspanish on Twitter, you can learn Spanish in 140-character lessons linked to these audio programmes.

In today’s show you’ll learn how to say that there’s a problem with your room. Listen to today’s show here:

Download audio file (tli-01-09.mp3)

Today’s words and phrases:

c’è un problema- “there’s a problem”
con la doccia - “with the shower”
con la televisione - “with the television”
con l’aria condizionata – “with the air conditioning”

TwitterLearn introduces you to the basics of the language and we don’t expect to cover every eventuality. However, with the constructions that we introduce to you in the daily tweets and lessons you should be well-equipped to deal with most situations, and you can easily use a dictionary to find the word for whatever doesn’t work in your room, then combine it with the expression c’è un problema con…

Remember that by following @learnitalian on Twitter, you can learn Italian in 140-character lessons linked to these audio programmes.

In today’s show you’ll learn how to ask when breakfast is served in the hotel and to understand some possible answers. Listen to the audio here:

Download audio file (tli-01-08.mp3)

Today’s words and phrases:

a che ora è la prima colazione? – “at what time is breakfast?”
alle sette - “at seven o’clock”
alle otto - “at eight o’clock”
alle nove – “at nine o’clock”

Remember that by following @learnitalian on Twitter, you can learn Italian in 140-character lessons linked to these audio programmes.

In today’s show you’ll learn how to ask when breakfast is served in the hotel, and to understand some possible answers. Listen to the audio here:

Download audio file (tls-01-08.mp3)

Today’s words and phrases:

¿a qué hora se sirve el desayuno? – “at what time is breakfast served?”
a las siete - “at seven o’clock”
a las ocho – “at eight o’clock”
a las nueve – “at nine o’clock”

Remember that by following @learnspanish on Twitter, you can learn Spanish in 140-character lessons linked to these audio programmes.

In today’s show you’ll learn how to ask when breakfast is served in the hotel and to understand some possible answers. Listen to the audio here:

Download audio file (tlf-01-08.mp3)

Today’s words and phrases:

le petit déjeuner est à quelle heure? – “at what time is breakfast?”
à sept heures - “at seven o’clock”
à huit heures - “at eight o’clock”
à neuf heures – “at nine o’clock”

Remember that by following @learnfrench on Twitter, you can learn French in 140-character lessons linked to these audio programmes.

In today’s show you’ll learn how to ask for a single and double room. Listen to the audio here:

Download audio file (tlf-01-07.mp3)

Today’s words and phrases:

je voudrais une chambre – “I would like a room”
une chambre pour une personne - “a room for one person / a single room”
une chambre pour deux personnes - “a room for two people / a double room”

Remember that by following @learnfrench on Twitter, you can learn French in 140-character lessons linked to these audio programmes.