Good Resources for Learning Spanish

These are resources that I recommend for learning Spanish. This is a tiny sample of what is available. I have only included things I’ve used and really like. Many are free. You can learn so much without spending a cent. But, if you like something, you can consider purchasing bonus materials, pro memberships, etc. as a way to say "thank you for the great resource" as well as to get even more out of the resource.

Audio Lessons

Language Transfer

Wonderful free audio course for beginners and beyond. I wish I'd discovered this earlier in my Spanish studies, but I've learned much going through it as an intermediate learner. It is an innovative and entertaining learning method. Highly recommended and worth repeating several times. Here's a link to the Complete Spanish Course.

Pimsleur

The Pimsleur audio lessons are excellent for practicing speaking and listening and learning vocabulary and grammar. They have both Latin American Spanish and Spain-Castilian Spanish. Each with something like 5 levels, each with thirty 30-minute lessons. You can now get a monthly subscription via pimsleur.com. When I first started using Pimsleur they were available through my local library for free. I eventually worked through all the levels, then went through the upper levels again and again. Repeat lessons are great to do while cleaning house or taking a walk. They are not tedious and boring like other audio lessons I've used. Here is the User's Guide which explains how the lessons work. Since I am mostly a visual learner, for me it was best to use Pimsleur along with other Spanish-learning resources.

Online Spanish Lessons and Practice

Duolingo

I think it works best to use Duolingo together with other sources for learning Spanish, but it's a great supplement. If you already know some Spanish you can (sort of) test out of the beginning levels. Duolingo is free. There are no ads on the web version. You can become a Plus member to remove ads from the phone app version.

StudySpanish.com

Good lessons explaining grammar, etc., and some good practice exercises. You don't have to login to study or do the exercises.

SpanishDict.com: Spanish Grammar

Lessons and practice exercises, organized by topic. If something is causing you grief (por vs. para!) you'll probably find help here. No login required.

Listening Practice

The biggest challenge for me is to understand Spanish spoken at a normal speed by native speakers. The following resources have given me enjoyable practice. I like to listen to them repeatedly, over time, and understand them better each time. (They are great to listen to at night to fall asleep by or while walking.) The items listed below are most appropriate for advanced beginners or intermediate students. For most of these the audio is free and, if you wish, you can pay for additional materials such as transcripts, worksheets, etc. As mentioned above, it's great to buy these materials if you can for what they offer as well as a way to say thanks. But the free stuff alone is amazing.

Notes in Spanish

Delightful Ben and Marina hold natural conversations about various topics and for all levels. The free recordings are available on their website and also as a podcast. Ben and Marina also have some great videos on YouTube.

Unlimited Spanish

Oscar has free audio recordings available as a podcast or on his website. Oscar speaks so clearly and his topics are interesting and educational. Perfect for intermediate level learners like me. As Oscar explains (in very clear Spanish), the way we learned our native language was by listening to it many many hours. We pick up the grammar and vocabulary and patterns of the language this way. Oscar gives us many hours of enjoyable listening. He's still adding new podcasts every week.

Español Automatico

Their podcasts and videos are great free listening practice. Their 7 leyes para hablar español como un nativo is especially interesting.

Doorway to Mexico

Audio recordings of scripted conversations are available free on the website or as a podcast.

Spanish 360 with Fabiana

Lively Spanish teacher Fabiana and two of her students have conversations in Spanish, often about confusing aspects of the Spanish language. Many of the recordings are free and available via podcast through iTunes, etc. They are not too hard to understand. Especially her students who have delightful southern accents.

Spanish Listening

Free site (doesn't even require an account) where you can listen to Spanish speakers from around the world at your chosen level. Includes a transcript.

En Rumbo: Intermediate Spanish, The Open University

Here are 14 short tracks where you get a chance to listen to many native Spanish speakers from all over the world. These are also available as a podcast.

PodClub - Alicia: A Mi Aire

Alicia talks in Spanish about various topics. Her recordings are available for free on her website or as a podcast.

Spanish Proficiency Exercises

Great practice listening to native speakers.

Extra en Español

Amusing YouTube videos for advanced beginners. Watch the episodes in order for a light-hearted Spanish soap opera.

Books

Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish

This was written a few decades ago. You might not like that the exercises talk about sending telegrams instead of texts, but it teaches Spanish well and I don't think the basics have changed.

Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Spanish

This is a workbook. Lots of exercises with answers. Best if used together with another book that explains the grammar more fully.

Practice Makes Perfect: Complete Spanish Grammar

Another good workbook. Best for after you have the basics down.

Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish

Probably best for advanced intermediate learners. Enjoyable and enlightening.

Correct Your Spanish Blunders

Helpful to read through once and then review from time to time.

Music Fun

Lyrics Training

Learn Spanish and practice listening while singing along and memorizing lyrics. A video is displayed with lyrics below. You fill in lyrics you understand or hit the tab key to continue past lyrics you don't understand. You don't have to set up an account if you don't want to. Just click Maybe Later when they suggest you create one. You can choose a language (Spanish!) and try some of their suggestions or search for singers or songs you know. Here are some I like:

La Canción Mas Hermosa Del Mundo, by Joaquín Sabina

Me Llamas, by José Luis Perales (learn the verb estrenar!)

Me Voy, by Julieta Venegas (learn the verb endulzar!)

Bailando, by Enrique Iglesias