I just stumbled onto this pod cast and was pleasantly surprised with the content, comprehension speed and clear easy to understand Spanish. One of
The best podcasts!
Thank you so much, looking forward to more episodes :) preed
I’m so glad I found this podcast! At first I was thrilled when I could pick out words here and there but before long I was able to follow along and get the gist of the story. Shortly after that I was able to use context to figure out words I’d never heard before.
I really enjoy when I’m able to understand enough where I can laugh with the story.
Thank you so much for doing this podcast, it’s helped me so much.
As a beginner, this is so helpful. I will definitely supplement with more exposure to native speakers over time, but this is SO HELPFUL as I am getting started. Thank you for your efforts in teaching!!!!
Interesting stories and language that will be challenging for A2 learners, and maybe easier for B2 learners. As an A2 learner, I find it very useful, understandable if I work a bit, and pretty fun.
As a first gen Mexican-American, I sadly CANNOT recommend this podcast. Could not bare to listen to a full episode as the narrator’s pronunciation is terrible.
I feel like it’s supposed to make it easier to understand but the over emotional and American accent makes it harder. Here for it if I gets better tho <3 always looking for help learning
This pod cast is amazing my teacher Mrs. Quin and I am so glad she did because this is much better than memorizing Spanish cause here you get to her a person say it and you can learn it in a sentence.
-Giuliana in Massachusetts
I couldn’t get through one episode because the hosts accent is so bad that it’s hard to understand what she’s saying. Not sure how this is supposed to help you learn.
I’ve listened to this podcast for about a year now. My Spanish has gotten better since I started, and I understand the stories very well. A lot of reviewers comment on her accent. I believe she’s just trying her best to pronounce each word to keep it simple and easy to understand. I would recommend this to anyone wanting some easy Spanish to review and hear new words in a sentence.
Oh my goodness this is a particularly strong American accent for a product meant to help learn how to listen in Spanish. It may be helpful for extreme beginners but it won’t do much good for anyone who wants to actually converse with Spanish speakers.
I’ve listened to a couple of episodes of this podcast. I like that she provides a free transcript so that you can read along while listening. The stories are very interesting and engaging and it’s very understandable. I think this podcast is great if you’re at an a2/b1 level which is where i’m at right now. The only con of this podcast is the pronunciation and accent. Obviously she does not have to sound like a native spanish speaker and I would never hold her to that standard, however her pronunciation of the vowels and spanish words in general is not good. It’s very harsh and sounds too much like english pronunciation, so if that is something that really bothers you, I would recommend that you find a podcast from a native speaker.
As others have already mentioned, her American accent is qwhite strong. Her mispronunciations, and word usage make this podcast a poor choice for Spanish learners.
This woman is not from a Spanish speaking country and obviously learned Spanish as a second language. Not the greatest for learning Spanish if you want to sound like a Spanish speaker.
I’ve been lazily learning Spanish on my own for a bit over three years. I use apps and recently added a weekly session with a native speaker. Simple Stories in Spanish is one of the resources that has most helped me improve my Spanish listening skill. Beyond that, the stories are fun and highly relatable. I recommend this podcast for any native English speaker who’s trying to learn Spanish.
This podcast has been a godsend for listening practice. I typically listen at least once before transcribing, and then a couple more times during my transcribing exercise. I’ve been studying independently for the last year, so it’s not easy to chart my progress. SSiS has been a valuable gauge. I still remember how much I struggled to understand her stories when I first started. Months later, I can tell my understanding and comprehension has improved dramatically. Speaking of drama, I find her at-times overly dramatic reading a distraction. That’s just a personal thing. For the most part, her expressiveness and reading pace are much appreciated. As to pronunciation, I find it accurate enough for a beginner. I would be much more concerned if her grammar and vocabulary were suspect. Of course, one should make a practice of listening to native speakers. Even Ms. Given would advise this!
Terrible pronunciation. The speaker’s pronouncing Spanish words as if they were American. Will probably bring more harm than good to anyone trying to learn with this one.
I can talk Spanish with my friends now for hours and I never took a single Spanish class. I listened and read all of the stories from this podcast and wrote the new words in my notebook. I even bought the book Sunzuncito, which I highly recommend. Her podcasts get better all the time and I appreciate the work. Her voice is very soothing and I like the pace of reading. This podcast gave me big motivation to study more Spanish because after a short time I was already able to understand stories. New words I was able to understand from the context. One thing I notice is that she keeps introducing new words in every new story, so I keep learning while refreshing my current vocabulary.
The pace is good and her voice is pleasant and youthful. But as others have said, the pronunciation is distracting. It is very American. I wouldn’t mind to hear her voice for an English audiobook. I don’t think people are trashing her character. These are reviews and people give their opinions.
This podcast is wonderful for native English speakers learning Spanish. It is easier to initially comprehend the vocabulary and the stories are engaging. The speaker enunciates well and has an American accent that helps bridge comprehension gaps where I had some difficulties with native speakers. This is a great supplement for listening practice.
I cannot believe the amount of people tearing this woman down! The people who are trashing her were privileged to have pronunciation training in a language lab. Some teachers didn’t get that training but are still understandable. There is a lot of content out there by Spanish speakers but even the children’s programs can be difficult for language learners. Not all native Spanish speakers know how to do story listening in a comprehensible way like the author here does.
The author tells the stories in an interesting way and takes the time to share the transcripts. She gives examples and rephrases and this is so helpful to language acquisition. I teach Spanish and I will be incorporating these in all levels. But just review them before playing or recommending them (El Silbón was a little graphic for me but my coworker had no problems). She delivers stories in an entertaining way and her use of vocabulary is rich and expansive. They are also pretty interesting stories and they are delivered with passion. She does a great job of elaborating on unknown words and using just one tense for the most part. Does she have an accent? She sure does. Is that ok and allows her to communicate? Yup! If you comprehend all of this podcast, move on to native podcaster and leave this for the many people that will use it as a bridge to build vocabulary.
The pace of the speaking is nice for new Spanish language learners. This show is good for comprehension, and vocabulary building. But for pronunciation native speakers are always best.
I have caught up on my other Spanish podcasts and found this one to add to those I listen to. I like the simple stories from the very beginning of the series. I laugh out loud as I listen while walking my dog. I also enjoyed her later story describing her visit to Machu Picchu, so much so, that I’d love to see it some day. It is the joyful and animated voice telling the stories that takes these lesson from - the what I studied but never learned in school - to a happy and comfortable place to learn something new. I bet your students learn and retain more because of your stories. Thank you for this!
For those who fault this podcast for her American accent, don’t listen, or continue to listen to later offerings. I grew up on the border between Texas and Mexico. I have a good ear and no accent according to native speakers. A perfect accent does not make a perfect teacher. A person that shares their enthusiasm and is innovative and creative is definitely worth spending time with. Camilla makes transcripts available that you can print and read out loud yourself in any accent you might have. This is a good teacher.
I have studied Spanish for some years now with my Guatemalan teachers and was excited to find a podcast with simple stories to practice my understanding of the language. I was extremely disappointed to find how TERRIBLY this lady’s pronunciation is. Couldn’t even make it through five minutes without cringing. It’s like listening to a first year American Spanish student who hasn’t learned the alphabet yet. Was hoping for something a bit better than that…
Great learning tool for beginners. The host has a warm personality and speaks slowly enough for beginners to understand. The stories are pretty entertaining as well. Much appreciated.
I'm enjoying listening as a way to quiz my comprehension. Regretting that I didn't pursue more language after high school, this is a fun way to get a structured exposure.
Great for beginners like myself! I almost never leave reviews, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this! I was looking and looking for a podcast that was clear and all words enunciated so that I wouldn’t feel overwhelmed while learning a new language. It’s awesome to hear these stories read at a pace that I can follow and it’s exciting to see how much I understand from my personal studies. Thank you for taking time out of your busy life to share your stories, patience in teaching, and appreciation for the language! 💜
This podcast is great. She has great stories and the speed helps me to understand the whole story without having to stop and look up words. Amazing thank you for all your hard work!
I spent a lot of time looking to improve my listening skills via different podcasts but the speakers are always speaking too fast and using words I do not know. The accents can also be difficult to understand.
This podcast provides fun stories with slow pacing that are perfect for amateur speakers. I like how she mentions key words at the beginning to give us a heads up on possibly new vocabulary. Her accent is also easy to understand for non-native speakers.
Thanks for helping all of us get in much needed practice.
Good for those who don’t know any Spanish and don’t care to learn the true pronunciation of words with accents. They don’t even roll r’s or pronounce vowels correctly.
This podcast is a gem. It’s been so great to have some thing to practice my Spanish listening skills. The stories are short and easy to follow and I always learn a few more words. It’s become a staple in my daily Spanish practice.
As someone who is learning the basics of Spanish and doesn’t want stare at a book all day. These stories have allowed me have better word to ear association. despuce ecouché de la historia yo digo mi novia sobre lo. Para practicar
I just love this podcast. She speaks at the perfect speed in spanish. Listening comprehension is my weakness so I love listening to each story 2x to really soak it all on. ¡Muchas gracias Camilla!
I happily stumbled across this podcast and I find it very helpful. I think learning through story works best for me. The narrator is passionate in her reading and it gives good understanding to the emotions being conveyed in any given scene. Thumbs up!
I listened to your podcast for the first time today. I was looking for something to help refresh all the Spanish I knew in high-school. This is exactly what I needed!
I LOVED this podcast and was hoping to continue improving my Spanish and listen with my kids but unfortunately, the author chose to incorporate a homosexual relationship in one of her stories which does not line up with the biblical world-view we are trying to teach our children. I’m so disappointed.
This is incredible. The use of repetition, interesting, easy to understand stories, you pick up words based on context. What a fun way to learn—thank you so much!!!!
I’m trying to understand why this podcast is highly rated when it is bad. Pardon me for the harsh review but my first language was Spanish and I am in the process of relearning it. I was excited to learn about this podcast but quickly lost interest. One of the first things you learn in Spanish is how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet which this “teacher” needs extra practice in. I couldn’t make it through an entire episode because of the bad pronunciations. For instance, “D”s aren’t pronounced like “D” in dog but like the “th” in there.some words were mispronounced completely. The purpose of listening to podcasts or the radio in Spanish and watching tv in Spanish is to pick up word patterns and learn the proper pronunciations.
This is exactly what I have been looking for. The stories are easy to follow with a beginner understanding of Spanish while told in a way that helps you learn new words, phrases, and conjugations through the context. It helps me to hear the words spoken slowly and clearly as well. Gracias!
I love the slow tempo of the delivery for those struggling to learn, but the pronunciation is distracting and can teach new learners incorrect vowels and consonants - specifically the incorrect use of diphthongs and the r consonant.
As a parent who’s watched his daughter learn Spanish, it’s been increasingly challenging for me to find new ways to help her engage with the language. Until I found Simple Stories in Spanish! Camilla does an incredible job curating stories and her passion for teaching shines through in each episode. Highly recommend listening and subscribing!
Do not use this podcast to work on your Spanish. Garbage in, garbage out. Your brain learns from what it hears so you will start sounding like this white woman, who speaks with a very strong America accent. In a connected world where content from native speakers is easily accessible, choose a different podcast or platform. I couldn’t believe someone actually recommended that to me to work on my Spanish. I’ve been learning slowly for a few years and I could immediately tell her accent was so off.
These stories are perfect for comprehension practice for a beginning Spanish speaker. Has an associated website (mentioned in the podcast) with transcripts that are very helpful, too. As some have mentioned, the pronunciation might not be as accurate as a native speaker. I can work on my pronunciation through other resources so that’s not a big concern in my mind. There’s way too much good material that is available as a free resource for me to complain.
I’ve been learning Spanish for a few years now and when I started listening to this podcast, I felt that the pronunciation of the words was far from actual and very Americanized. Would have preferred the accent to be more original.
