Hi Molly,
Thank you for this awesome podcast! I find it very informative. It covers some of the most difficult and confusing grammar that any learner of Spanish will inevitably encounter. I only wish I had found it earlier! I was especially intrigued by the lessons on the imperfect subjunctive and the use of the double object pronoun. I still haven't mastered the "se", but you got me close I think. I plan to listen over and over until this makes sense.
!Gracias de nuevo!
Great! I love learning Spanish grammar from your podcasts. One suggestion on learning subjunctive and its practical use. When you study the verb in the subjunctive,reading a grammar book, always precede by que, saying it every time.
Ex. que yo tenga, que tu tengas, que el tenga...This way, it's easier to retrieve the correct verb mode when you speak, because most subjunctives ARE used after QUE.
These podcasts have *REALLY* helped me become more conversational with Spanish. I have studied for years and traveled in Latin America, but could not really use complete sentences or follow typical conversation. These lessons address very practical topics. I like that she 'narrates' mostly in Spanish. I'm now following native speakers much better and my Spanish Conversation has improved. Thanks,Dr. Molly, for helping me get to the next level!!
I love this podcast. It is one of the best available on ITunes. Perfect length for an educational podcast, diverse topics and the presenter's voice is pleasant.
Dr. Martin has one of the (if not the) most organized Spanish podcasts. Some of the recent casts (2009) target real problem areas I have with Spanish (the subjunctive). It's great to have an additional source on these topics. You can tell she puts alot of time into them, and I appreciate her effort. So...Thank you Dr. Martin! And, please keep up the valuable work.
This is an excelent podcast. I've subscribed to many other spanish speaking podcasts in the past and unlike the other ones I have, this one actually gives text for you to read in the free version (which is the only version I'll ever use in a podcast) and that helps me learn the words more. The words are a bit difficult though, since I'm still in Spanish 1, and plan to take Spanish 2 in two years, and that's why I'm giving this for stars rather than five.
The problem with even the best Spanish audio help is that they get you to about an intermediate to low-advanced stage and stop. The last lessons usually just barely touch upon the subjunctive and conditional and just abandon you to the wilderness. They expect that you now know enough to just sort of pick everything up by reading or listening to the radio or whatever. The truth is, though, even at this stage, there are still a myriad of dizzying topics left to cover and it's still quite hard to even modest conversations and get everything that people are saying. Explanation of advanced grammar rules is still best done in English, say I! Why do people insist on Spanish-only at this level? You could explain to me the nuance in English and I'll get it in 30 seconds or you could try to explain an intricate topic in Spanish-only for 10 minutes! Why does English become taboo? Anyway, I listened to one of these podcasts and thought, okay, it's kind of silly and kitschy but it was still kind of fun. The production value wasn't the greatest and Ms. Martin obviously grew up eating peanut butter and jelly, but I downloaded the batch of them anyway thinking that it couldn't hurt to give them all a listen through. Well it turns out that they are surprisingly helpful. Seriously! Heck, I often find learning from non-natives easier because they have more of a feel for what might give us trouble, and to the extent that English is a problem in the podcast it's that Ms. Martin is sometimes unwilling to drop out of Spanish to provide more thorough insight in English.There are topics covered here that are hard to find in audio format anywhere else. Sure Ms. Martin couldn't be described as a professional voice-actress, but she's getting better and the content rocks!
Wow, this is great! The subjunctive tense was never my strong point, but I plug in my ipod and listen to the three sets of subjunctive episodes each night. It really makes a difference. Gracias para la ayuda Molly Martin!
extranjeros. Don't worry your pronunciation will get better with time. And, your pdocast is a very practical learning tool. BTW, your pronunciation 'critic' forgot how to spell 'okay'.
I have enjoyed the few that I've listened to so far and I look forward to hearing the rest of them. I'm so glad someone took the time to do this. It is perfect for reviewing the trickier aspects of Spanish grammar that even the most advanced "gringas" have trouble with, and it's great that the more basic tenets of grammar are explained in short and sweet episodes.
It's true my accent is not perfect. This podcasts is free and my only goal is to improve my Spanish and help others improve along with me. The goal of the podcast is to create useful grammar excercises for intermediate to advanced learners that one can practice while walking. Hope you enjoy.
I like your podcasts. I think they are great for people learning the language. I really like the fact that they are easy to follow and if there is somthing that I didn't understand I could just hit the center button to see what you were saying. Please keep them coming!!!!!!!