Learn Spanish With News: 4 Tips For Beginner Learners To Learn With Spanish News Articles
Hello, dear ones!
Today, your Spring Spanish teacher Paulísima will talk about how to learn Spanish with news. Because… that’s a thing, too!
And we will explain everything you need to know about this approach.
Are you ready?
Let’s begin!
1. Where to watch Spanish news?
In Mexico, some of the most popular news channels are
- Televisa,
- TV Azteca, and
- Milenio Televisión.
These media outlets broadcast news on television, YouTube, and their websites. So, you can access the news in different formats.
Let’s take a look.
Our dear Maura lives in Madrid. Let’s ask her what the most popular news sources in Spain are:
- Televisión Española (TVE) – National public television network
- El País – Leading daily newspaper and digital news platform
- Cadena SER – Popular radio network
- Movistar+ – Major streaming service
- eldiario.es – Influential online news portal
Obviously, Mexican newscasts focus more on Mexican news. And Spanish newscasts focus more on Spanish news. Although of course, they also have a good international news section.
2. More resources to learn Spanish with news articles
If you’re from the United States and want to see more U.S. news, but in Spanish, you can watch Univision or Telemundo newscasts.
CNN en español has good coverage of international news in Spanish.
Bloomberg en español presents news focused on the financial world, translated directly from its English version. This can be very useful, too.
DW, a German media outlet, has good coverage of Latin American news, with a European perspective.
3. Authentic Spanish news chunks for beginner language learners
There are chunks, commonly used “ready-made” phrases that Spanish speakers always use. Newscasts also include these types of phrases when giving the news.
If you want to learn the most useful chunks in Spanish, download our Essential Spanish Chunking Kit. It’s in the link below.
✔️ Cheat Sheet with 54 essential Spanish Chunks you’ll hear and use yourself in ANY Spanish conversation (and example sentences). Taken from our YouTube Teacher’s most popular videos!
✔️ 2 Bonus Cheat Sheets with Travel Chunks and Dating/Relationship Chunks
✔️ A Spanish Chunking Tutorial showing you the 1 technique that’ll help you make 100% of the Spanish from our videos roll off the tongue in just 5 minutes a day (you’re probably only using 50% of our lessons’ potential right now…)
Some chunks that are widely used in the news are:
| Spanish Expression | English Translation |
|---|---|
| En otras noticias… | In other news… |
| Seguimos con más detalles sobre… | We continue with more details about… |
| Pasamos ahora a nuestra corresponsal en… | Now we go to our correspondent in… |
| Nuestro compañero tiene la historia | Our colleague has the story |
| A continuación | Next |
| Un resumen de los principales titulares… | A summary of the main headlines… |
| Hacemos una pausa y regresamos | We’ll take a break and come back |
| Vamos a una pausa | We’re going on a break |
| Al regresar… | Upon returning… |
Pay attention to how news presenters speak.
In most cases, formal language and a very clear tone are used. They pronounce words very well. In some cases, such as in Azteca Noticias, some reporters use a very peculiar tone to give the news.
Another thing you should notice is that headlines usually use the present tense.
And when giving the news, the past tense used is the preterite indefinite:
- falleció,
- arrasó,
- fue,
- asistió,
- estuvo,
- murió,
- golpeó,
- ganó,
- perdió…
Let’s remember that this verb tense is precisely used to narrate the actions of a story, to give the main information about something that happened in the past. You can learn more about the indefinite versus the imperfect in another video on our Spring Spanish YouTube channel.
4. How to understand news in Spanish
To better understand the news in Spanish, it’s helpful to follow some tips.
For example:
- Listen to news about the same topic several times, both on the same station and on different stations. This will help you become familiar with the specific vocabulary and common phrases related to that topic.
- Start by listening to news in English about a topic that interests you and then look for the same news in Spanish. This will give you a context that will make understanding in Spanish easier.
- Read news in Spanish. This will help you become familiar with the structure and vocabulary used in the media. Keep in mind that the language used in the news can be different from everyday Spanish, so don’t get discouraged if you find it difficult to understand at first. With practice and constant exposure, you’ll get used to the specific language of the news.
- Incorporate news into your daily routine. You can, for example, listen to it in the morning while having breakfast, or at noon when you have a coffee. This will help you get used to the rhythm and style of newscasts. Over time, you’ll feel more comfortable listening to the news in Spanish.
Do you like watching the news?
What time do you watch it?
What’s your favorite information medium?
Tell us all about it in the video’s comments.
