If you have been following our social media accounts for the last year then you have probably heard all about the Garbanzo Spanish Podcast. If you haven’t tried it out, you may be wondering - WHERE DO I BEGIN?
This is the place! Start here! START NOW!
The Garbanzo Spanish Podcast is an audio resource with accompanying printable activities for Spanish learners. We designed it for teachers to use in class with their students, but anyone can listen! The stories are written by native Spanish speakers and teachers and recorded by native speakers. The language is simple, and the speaking speed is controlled to make these podcasts comprehensible for beginners.
Episode 1 (published in the Fall of 2022) was written specifically for complete beginners. Each subsequent episode practices previously introduced vocabulary and introduces a few new words.
Do I have to listen to episodes in order?
The Garbanzo Spanish podcast episodes are designed to go in order, and build upon each other, but you don’t HAVE to listen to them in order. A teacher may wish to skim the transcripts of the episodes and choose one based on what they think would be appropriate to slip somewhere into their curriculum.
If you are a Somos Curriculum user (click here for info about The Somos Curriculum), it is even easier to pick and choose episodes because each one is aligned with a particular Somos unit.
What can I expect from Garbanzo Spanish Podcast episodes?
We use a simple, easy-to-follow formula for our podcast episodes. Each episode tells a story written for beginners. Our voice artists introduce the episode in English and introduce a few new vocabulary words to the listeners. During the introduction and throughout the episode, the voice artist will ask questions to engage the listener and make sure they are processing what they hear. Each question is preceded by an “incoming question” tone and followed by a “question wait time” tone to make sure listeners are ready and have a moment to pause and think. After the introduction and “first telling” of the story with processing questions, the story is retold in its entirety without pausing for questions.
How can I access the podcast?
The podcast is available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Google Podcasts.
If you are unable to access streaming audio in class, talk to your school tech person about ways in which streaming audio can be saved as an mp3 file.
Can I use The Garbanzo Spanish Podcast in class?
You are in luck! Along with each episode of the podcast, the Garbanzo team creates free printables to use in class! We publish a blog post to go with each episode and link the audio streaming services, the printables, a transcript, and relevant Garbanzo episodes! Access all printables and transcripts here.
The printables contain a wide variety of activities and the transcript can be downloaded and edited to fit any activities you design yourself.
You can get a LOT of mileage out of one episode! Students can listen to the episode (11-33 minutes), complete several pages of printables per episode, AND complete the Garbanzo lesson! Talk about sub plans!
Any tips for keeping all this info organized?
Certainly! We have developed a planning guide to help you keep track of episodes and plan efficiently! Access the planning guide here.
This guide contains a list of episodes, cover images, coordinating Somos unit, core vocabulary, episode length (including a time stamp for where the full story starts), and a link to the blog post containing the printables and transcript!
I still have questions!
If you need more info or ideas, come see us in the Teaching with Garbanzo App Facebook group or email us at [email protected]
