Coffee Break Spanish

Welcome to this first episode of Coffee Break Spanish Season 3! In this first episode of the series you’ll get to know our two main presenters, Mark and Alba, and you’ll also be meeting José who will help you to take your Spanish al siguiente nivel , “to the next level”. Please note that lesson 1 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 301 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons...

It’s the end of an era: the final episode of Coffee Break Spanish Season 2. It’s time for las despedidas , the goodbyes. Andrew will be returning to England and bidding farewell to María-José, and Mark and Kara will also be saying hasta luego to the listeners of Coffee Break Spanish. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this final episode of our show. Please note that lesson 40 of Season 2 was origi...

It’s the penultimate episode of this season of Coffee Break Spanish and we continue to follow the adventures of María-José and Andrew as they come to the end of their time together in Spain. This week Andrew is signing up for his course in the ayuntamiento and needs to ask for some directions. We’ll here more examples of the subjunctive in use. Please note that lesson 39 of Season 2 was originally...

This week María-José and Andrew discuss their plans for the following week when Andrew’s friend arrives in Spain and María-José will be attending a conference in Madrid. In this episode we introduce the concept of the subjunctive, something which often confuses language learners. You’ll learn how to use the subjunctive with cuando when it refers to the future, eg. “when I get back from Madrid…” –...

In this episode María-José tells Andrew about her visits to the Canary Islands. She uses lots of examples of the imperfect tense to describe what she used to do when she went there several times when she was younger. Please note that lesson 37 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 237 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more si...

We’re returning to another episode featuring María-José and Andrew this week in which María-José will ask the question ¿Qué estás haciendo? , 'What are you doing?'. We’re focusing on the present continuous tense. Please note that lesson 36 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 236 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple...

We’re continuing our soap opera featuring María-José and Andrew and in this week’s episode Andrew needs some help with an assignment for his Spanish class. We’ll also be looking at the imperative – the command form – in this lesson. Please note that lesson 35 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 235 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to mak...

In lesson 34 we’re continuing our ‘soap opera’. This week María-José is taking her friend to a restaurant, so we’ll be revisiting the language we learned previously in the course. We’ll also take the opportunity to look at the conditional tense or ‘mood’. Please note that lesson 34 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 234 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season...

In lesson 33 we continue to follow the story of Andrew and his Spanish friend María-José. In this episode we’ll be introducing the future tense and looking at how verbs are conjugated in the future. Once again, you’ll develop your knowledge and listening skills by listening to this conversation where language is used in context. Please note that lesson 33 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson...

Lesson 32 continues the story of Andrew and María-José and their blossoming friendship! María-José has been on vacation in France. The main topic of discussion in this lesson is the weather, using a variety of tenses. Once again, you’ll develop your knowledge and listening skills by listening to this conversation where language is used in context. Please note that lesson 32 of Season 2 was origina...

Welcome back to our Coffee Break Spanish listeners!. In lessons 31-40 you’ll be following a mini soap-opera featuring English student Andrew who is learning Spanish in Spain, and his new friend María-José, who’ll be getting to know him and helping him with his Spanish. This lesson will help you get to grips with hearing real Spanish in context. Please note that lesson 31 of Season 2 was originally...

In lesson 30 of Coffee Break Spanish we’re dealing with one of the trickiest things to do in a foreign language: make telephone calls. When you can’t see the person to whom you are speaking, it makes things that bit more difficult! In this episode you’ll learn the standard phrases used when making phone calls and get some practice by listening to Mark and Kara. Again, this lesson uses previously l...

In the long-awaited 29th lesson of Coffee Break Spanish we look at tips to help you pronounce double -r- in Spanish and we build more language in the context of hiring cars in a Spanish-speaking country. Please note that lesson 29 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 229 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for...

In lesson 28 we’ll be continuing to create phrases in the language based on the knowledge of grammar we’ve acquired in recent lessons. This week we’re focusing on the context of taking a taxi in a Spanish-speaking country. Please note that lesson 28 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 228 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things m...

Over the past few months we’ve been focusing on learning the patterns of the language. In lessons 27-30 we’re going to be constructing phrases within various contexts, using the rules we’ve learned in previous lessons. Lesson 27 focuses on using public transport and you’ll learn to create the phrases you need in these situations. Please note that lesson 27 of Season 2 was originally known as lesso...

One of the best ways to make progress in a language is to use the language with native speakers and to check your understanding by asking them for feedback. In lesson 26 you’ll put what you’ve been learning recently into practice by asking ¿Lo he dicho bien? and other phrases using the perfect tense. Please note that lesson 26 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 226 of Coffee Break Spanish....

In lesson 25 of Coffee Break Spanish Season 2 we’re continuing to look at the perfect tense. In this lesson you’ll learn about particular uses of the perfect tense, and about certain words or expressions which act as triggers for the tense. You’ll also learn some verbs which have irregular past participles. Please note that lesson 25 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 225 of Coffee Break S...

Lesson 24 introduces a new tense: the perfect tense. This tense is used to talk about what you 'have done' and is very simple to use. Please note that lesson 24 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 224 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners. This season of Coffee Break Spanish features a total of 40...

Over lessons 21-23 we’ve been looking at  por and para . In lesson 23 it’s time to look at the various uses of por , including a number of situations when por doesn’t mean “for”. Please note that lesson 23 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 223 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners. This seas...

In lesson 22 we’re continuing to discuss por and para : this time we’re focusing on the use of para when expressing purpose, e.g. "this gift is for you” – este regalo es para ti . We’ll also learn the verb regalar , and talk briefly about the personal a . Please note that lesson 22 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 222 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season...

Lessons 21-23 will look at the thorny issue of por and para : by the end of these three lessons you’ll be confident in knowing exactly when to use which word! In lesson 61 we’ll introduce both words and consider various situations when the words can both be translated as 'for'. Please note that lesson 21 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 221 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the...

In this week’s episode we reach episode 20 and Mark will be testing Kara on everything she’s learned so far about verbs and adjectives in the past few lessons of the course. Please note that lesson 20 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 220 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners. This season of Coff...

This week we’re continuing to look at the imperfect tense. We’ll go through the conjugation of -ar, -er and -ir verbs and talk about how the imperfect tense is used to describe things in the past. Please note that lesson 19 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 219 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listene...

In this week’s lesson we introduce the imperfect tense and consider in what situations this tense is used. We’ll also learn the conjugation of -ar verbs in the imperfect tense. Please note that lesson 18 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 218 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners. This season of C...

It’s time to put into practice what you’ve been learning about the preterite tense. In this week’s episode Mark challenges Kara to an identity quiz using lots of preterite tenses to describe the lives of the mystery personalities. Please note that lesson 17 of Season 2 was originally known as lesson 217 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make...