Learn Spanish with these 10 free podcasts

Podcasts are a great, easy way to strengthen your Spanish skills. You can pop one in and learn passively when you’re in the car, walking the dog, or catching the bus and learn at your own pace. 

We’ve put together 10 of our favorite podcasts for language levels starting with beginner, all the way through to advanced. Try a few and see which one takes your fancy — it won’t feel like studying at all.

Beginners

Simple Stories in Spanish

With a new episode every couple of weeks, this is the podcast for beginners who prefer short stories to lessons. The story is read exclusively in Spanish, apart from the handy vocabulary introduction at the start of the episode. The narrator speaks slowly to ensure you can catch most of the words, and the stories cover everything from building the Panama Canal to personal travel stories.

Spring Spanish

This fun podcast has short episodes that offer helpful Spanish phrases and sayings to boost your vocabulary and get you sounding more like a native speaker. Regardless of how much Spanish you know, you’re guaranteed to learn a few handy ‘chunks’ as they call them by listening to Spring Spanish.

Immersive Spanish

Follow an English-speaking presenter as he uses a mix of slow Spanish with English in real-world situations such as hiking in Montserrat, ordering a meal in a restaurant, and chatting in a park. Immersive Spanish sound design puts you in the story, helping cement your memory, and asks the listener to respond to prompts to practice. New episodes are added weekly and transcripts are available for subscribers of their Patreon page.

Intermediate

Españolistos

An American/Colombian couple produces this conversational podcast so you get to hear Spanish spoken in a Colombian accent and an American accent. The language is relatively simple and slow but is entirely spoken in Spanish, so Españolistos is best for intermediate students. They cover topics such as active listening exercises, goal setting, expressions, and cultural topics like Christmas in Colombia.

Coffee Break Spanish

This series starts from the absolute beginning with introductions and greetings. Follow along as a Spanish teacher and a Scottish student make progress through the lessons. Coffee Break Spanish episodes are normally around 30 minutes and always have a mix of Spanish and English. With hundreds of episodes in this podcast, it gets progressively harder, covering tenses, por vs para, and plenty of other Spanish grammar topics. It’s always presented simply and the explanations are very helpful.

Charlas Hispanas

Learn about the culture and history of Latin America alongside the language in this educational podcast. With a range of accents and ‘real language’ Charlas Hispanas is a good one for intermediate learners who want to boost their listening skills and pick up some more authentic phrases.

Advanced

Hoy Hablamos

Hosted by a Spaniard, Hoy Hablamos is an authentic podcast with thousands of episodes covering grammar, vocabulary, tips, or news topics, making it a great pick if you want to hear Spanish from Spain. The host does speak quite quickly, and only in Spanish, so it’s best for advanced speakers.

El Gran Apagón

Dive into El Gran Apagón, a thrilling story about a worldwide blackout. The production values are high with a cast and a soundtrack, and the story is so gripping, you won’t want to stop listening. With three seasons and around 10 episodes each, there’s plenty of content to keep you going for weeks. It’s aimed at native Spanish speakers, as opposed to a learning tool, so it’s best suited to advanced learners with decent Spanish vocabulary.

Radio Ambulante

Radio Ambulante is part narrative, part investigative journalism, sharing stories from Latin America. You’ll hear a range of accents and learn colloquial language from all over Latin America as they interview different guests in each episode. This is certainly one for advanced learners. You can download the paid app to get the transcripts and read while you listen. 

¿Quieres Ser Mi Amigo?

When two guys met at a party in Spain a couple of years ago, they hit it off. So much so, they decided to record a podcast so listeners could follow their budding friendship grow live on air. Now two years later and almost 100 episodes later they have become the best of friends, and still record light-hearted, banter-filled conversations about everything from sports to family. Great for advanced students who want to improve their listening and comprehension of the Spanish accent from Spain.