http://radiolingua.com/shows/spanish/show-time-spanish/
Show Time Spanish is the sequel to Coffee Break Spanish (see June, 2008). Like Coffee Break, it is also a Radio Lingua production and is also hosted by Mark Pentleton. But this is a far cry from the previous series. For me, it is a very challenging step up with some interesting and diverse twists.
In keeping with the Show Time theme, there are two acts and an intermedio. In the first act, Mark (who is Scottish and that is where the podcast is recorded) has a conversation with Alba (a native of Spain). They have good chemistry, but I still miss Cara from Coffe Break Spanish Mark and Alba usually begin with “What did you do last semana” and then it is off on the topic of the week (holidays, vacations, smoking laws). The dialogue is at normal speed and for a learner like me it is sometimes hard to keep up, but that is how you improve.
Their conversation is followed by a brief section where Mark summarizes what Alba has said and vice versa (el resumen). Later in the podcast, during the second act, Mark discusses grammar points about sentences or word usage that arose in the natural course of the first act conversation (reflective pronouns, uses of the subjunctive, think academic in this section). It is an effective way to bring the whole show together.
I apologize for the A-B-C nature of this review, but it is the sectional nature of Show Time Spanish which makes it a compelling way to learn. To continue, there is the intermedio, which runs between the two acts and serves a breather for the listener. This section has featured tongue twisters (trabalenguas), jokes and movie reviews (of movies in Spanish, of course). The intermedio also has one of my favorite features… the phrase of the week. Jose runs this segment and gives the listener a native speaker’s way of expressing themselves, something more distinguishable like “no podria estar mejor”, instead of “muy bueno”, for instance.
There is yet another twist to Show Time Spanish. Every five weeks they drop the format and present an episode of their own podcastnovella, entitled “Verano Español”. The plot involves a bilingual family who goes to spend the summer in Spain at a house the father inherited. It is low on the drama meter, but it does put different voices into the podcast, and functions effectively as a change of pace for the regular episodes.And there’s more. As you know I am all about the Free when it comes to podcasts. However, for Show Time Spanish, I splurged and became a premium member (during one of the Radio Lingua sale periods, naturally). This allowed me access to PDF guides and other “bonus materials”, as they like say. It is very helpful to me to see the dialogue and intermedio in a printed format accompanying the audio. And I can now download the Encore podcast, which is Mark flying solo presenting some exercises which relate to the grammar points from the main podcast.
In conclusion….I apologize again for the “what it is” rather than reviewing the quality points of Show Time Spanish. I will just say it works for me. It is personable and has a non didactic tone. I can attest that my comprehension of everyday Spanish has greatly improved. My speaking ability is nowhere near that, but that is not the fault of Show Time Spanish. Give it a try.
