The Best Latin American Spanish Podcasts To Put On Your Phone

I love listening to podcasts and take full advantage of the free resources out there for improving my Spanish “on the go”. Trust me when I say that these audio shows and podcasts will help you on your way towards achieving your linguistic goals. I’ve listened to lots of shows but these are the best for people learning Latin American Spanish.

Are you a student of Spanish and having a hard time getting your head around some of the vocabulary? Maybe you speak Spanish well but want to learn more. Well look no further, here’s my list of the best podcast shows about Latin American Spanish. All are easy to listen to and provide a good mix of real-life situations and vocabulary.

There are roughly three types of podcasts can help you learn Spanish:

1. Podcasts focussed on teaching you grammar, listening skills, and real-life vocabulary in every episode.

2. Podcasts that deliver news items and general topics of interest from Spanish-speaking countries, often in a simplified form especially for people learning Spanish.

3. Podcasts that help you with improve your language acquisition and language skills

For a more general approach to learning and improving your skills, try The Actual Fluency Podcast. Kris Broholm interviews learners, teachers, bloggers, and all sorts of people that have interesting stories about language acquisition.

Pick a news show, sports commentary show, or podcast about a topic you’re interested in. Slow down the speech (without changing the pitch of the voice) if you’re a beginner. This makes it easier to hear and absorb the information. The podcast player on your phone should have speed controls that allow this. If not, get the Apple Podcast player, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or Overcast podcast apps.

How To Spanish

A weekly podcast by Spanish teachers from Mexico. Episodes on How To Spanish often focus on topics related to Mexican Spanish and Mexican culture. But as the hosts’ accents are very easy to understand and the shows are well produced and well thought out, you can learn a lot even if you have no specific interest in the country.

Examples of show episodes:

• The middle class in Mexico
• Weddings
• The bilingual mind
• Owning a car in Mexico
• The best places to live in Mexico

The hosts also have a YouTube channel with plenty of great videos. Fans can use Patreon to get exclusive articles, short stories, grammar points, and episodes that don’t appear on the regular podcast show.

Recommended episodes:

🎧 Ep 121: La inteligencia y el éxito
🎧 Ep 117: El Boom Latinoamericano

Españolistas

This podcast is hosted by a native English speaker from the US and a native Spanish speaker from Colombia. Nate and Andrea are passionate about sharing the Spanish language with the world and produce podcasts that help listeners with their listening and comprehension skills related to topics such as tourism, travel, religion, and politics.

Episodes are delivered almost entirely in Spanish so this is a podcast for intermediate Spanish learners. The website contains full transcripts of each show which you can download by giving your name and email. The team also offers free active listening mini-course.

Example episodes:
🎧 Episodio 206 – Traduciendo 15 Expresiones Cotidianas
🎧 Episodio 213 – 7 Métodos Para Mejorar Tu Español

Duolingo Spanish Podcast

A podcast from the makers of the world’s most popular language-learning app. Aimed at intermediate listeners, this is one of the best shows in the list.

The production reminds me of the kind of shows you’d hear on NPR. Well produced and professionally narrated, every episode is enjoyable. And that’s true for me even if the subject matter isn’t particularly interesting.

The “El Gran Robo Argentino” mini-season based around the most famous heist is a must-listen, especially for people interested in the Argentine accent and culture and learning more about the culture of Argentina. It’s a gripping story told mostly by native Spanish speakers from Argentina. The show’s presenter adds context in English throughout every episode.

You can get full transcripts of every podcast on the website along with links to every major podcast network where shows have been syndicated.

Listen to these episodes first:
🎧 Episode 61: El arte del café (The Art of Coffee) – The story of a barista from El Salvador competing in the world’s toughest barista competition.
🎧 Episode 67: El robo (The Robbery) – the story of the greatest bank robbery in Argentine history.

10 Minute Spanish Tips – Spanishland School Podcast

I really like this podcast. In part because there’s a ton of value packed into each episode. But also because podcaster Andrea Alger speaks clearly and at a similar pace throughout. The relatively neutral Colombian accent makes it easier for learners to grasp the concepts.

This is a podcast for intermediate and advanced learners as it’s almost entirely in Spanish. Lessons are short, at around 10 minutes, but are all about actionable and practical tips.

Episodes to download:
🎧 268 – Sentir vs. Sentirse y Sentar vs. Sentarse (Andrea clears up any confusion you might have with these common verbs)
🎧 263 | Fijarse: 6 Usos Diferentes – Tips on how to use this useful reflexive verb.

Platicando

This show covers topics as wide-ranging as Spanglish/Espanglish, meeting the in-laws, compound words, the origin of surnames, palabras machistas, Día de muertos (Day of the Dead), and more. Hosts Lalo and Chayo cover Colombian slang phrases like “no dar papaya” and “la tuna”, as well as slang words used throughout Latin America.

Episode duration runs from 10 to 20 minutes and you’re bound to not only improve your Spanish comprehension but also learn a few new things about Latino culture.

It’s not a show for beginners, but it’s a great way to hear conversational Spanish by native speakers.

Check out these episodes:
🎧 Comida colombiana vs mexicana – Everyone loves food, right? Learn the differences between two of the regions best-known cuisines.
🎧 Palabras en ingles sin traducción al español – words in English that just don’t translate.

Medical Spanish

While discussing medical topics in Spanish might not sound like everyone’s cup of tea (or café), this podcast is really worth a listen. In fact, it’s one of the best produced shows on the list.

Doc Molly has created an incredible resource for the intermediate learner or advanced Spanish student. Host Molly Martin MD is fluent in Spanish and could easily double as a Spanish teacher.

The podcast is billed as “Spanish audio lessons for busy healthcare workers on the go” but it’s much more than that. As a non-medical professional, I found the episodes fascinating and informative. I learned a lot and was able to hone my Spanish listening skills thanks to the clear and simple explanations and well-paced repetitions.

A great show to improve your Spanish skills. Don’t ignore this one!

Listen:
🎧 Spanish for Checkups and Monitoring
🎧 Spanish for Pregnancy – Weight Gain and Caffeine Intake

Spanish Obsessed

Spanish Obsessed is another good podcast that tackles regional accents and country-specific terms.

Unfortunately, the podcast episodes stopped coming in 2018. That doesn’t mean you should ignore them. On the contrary, the episodes will not fade with time (at least not for the next few decades) and there’s plenty of listening comprehension material in there.

Presenters Lis (a native speaker from Colombia) and Rob (a native English speaker from England) have put their energies into growing their website where you can access audio lessons for free. There are multiple beginner, intermediate, and advanced level courses with free audio downloads. A pro membership option gives you access to transcripts, interactive exercises, Spanish lessons, and Downloadable PDF notes.

There’s plenty of high-quality content here and plenty of material for people who are at any step of their journey to Spanish fluency.

Selected episodes:
🎧 Beginners 30: How to tell a joke
🎧 Beginner Spanish 25: How to pay a compliment

News in Slow Spanish [Linguistica 360]

There are two versions of this podcast so if you’re looking for Latin American Spanish, make sure to download the “Latino” version of News in Slow Spanish.

This podcast is for intermediate listeners and beyond. It’s not a language lesson show but a medium to help students improve their listening skills.

Every news item is delivered in Spanish at a much slower rate than one would hear on the radio or a news podcast.

Free episodes are quite short (3 minutes average) but listeners can upgrade to the paid version for full episodes and bonus materials. Subscriptions cost $22.90 USD a month so it’s not a cheap way to learn but if you’re serious about improving your listening and comprehension skills, this is a good way to get new material every week. There are three levels to choose from, Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. Keep taking your skills to the next level as you progress through slow Spanish lessons.

There’s a free 7-day trial to test out the quality of the shows before committing to the paid subscription.

Recommended episodes:
🎧 News In Slow Spanish Latino #389 – Easy Spanish Conversation about Current Events
🎧 News In Slow Spanish Latino #387 – Easy Spanish Conversation about Current Events

Accelerated Spanish: Learn Spanish Online

Hosted by Timothy Moser, a Spanish coach, mnemonist, and language hacker, Accelerated Spanish takes a different approach to other podcasts. The presenter, a native English speaker, explains Spanish grammar through English, peppered with Spanish words, before moving on to the Spanish version.

Memorization of words, in a similar vein to the Pimsleur Spanish Learning courses is one of the main techniques used.

There’s a particular rhythm to episodes that might jar with some people but there’s no denying that the information is very useful, and it’s a well-produced and professional podcast.

Episodes run anywhere from 4 minutes to an hour. There’s also a paid version that offers listeners more content, videos, dialogues, and quizzes.

Listen to:

🎧 AS031: Think in Spanish, Using “The Spanish Zone”
🎧 AS005: Practice Spanish Pronunciation (imitation exercises)

Chat Spanish

Harry is English and has a great command of the Spanish language. He started the Chat Spanish Podcast to share his experiences of language learning and meeting people with different Spanish accents from all over the world.

Listen to casual, upbeat conversations about pretty much anything as Harry talks to people from Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Spain, Peru, Honduras, the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the UK.

Start with these show episodes:
🎧 Ep 17 | Porteña y Profesora 🇦🇷 – chatting with a Spanish teacher from Argentina
🎧 Ep 11 | Gastronomía y Guatones 🇨🇱 – Victor talks about his life in Santiago, Chile

Charlas Hispanas

An excellent podcast by the team at Hoy Hablamos, Charlas Hispanas covers diverse topics, sometimes focusing on grammar exercises and other times on food, travel, dancing, and other Latino Spanish culture topics. Each episode runs to around 15 minutes and is well-produced and well-paced for intermediate or advanced Spanish students.

Subscribers get access to transcriptions and exercises for practising the grammar in each episode. Episode show notes pages contain a part of the full transcription along with a link to Apple Podcasts and a button to download the audio in mp3 format.

With more than 250 episodes and narrators from Argentina, Mexico, Perú, and Colombia, there’s something for everyone here.

Recommended episodes:
🎧 266. Pretérito imperfecto del subjuntivo
🎧 230. Gastronomía en Perú

Learn Spanish Con Salsa

The full name of this podcast is Learn Spanish Con Salsa | Weekly conversations and Spanish lessons with Latin music.

The format of this show is learning Spanish through the culture of Spanish language music and dance. Each episode is narrated in English with explanations of Spanish words and grammar, all based around the theme of music. It’s an interesting format and as many people find learning through music beneficial, this is sure to help a lot of folks take their Spanish to the next level. Learn Latino pop culture while having fun

The website offers courses, a community, and show notes for each episode.

Listen to:
🎧 104: Commonly Confused Spanish Verb [Baila esta cumbia]
🎧 92: Learn Puerto Rican Spanish with Music [Mi gente]

Aprende español con Latin ELE

Latin ELE produces two superb shows for Latin American Spanish fans. Speaking Spanish for Beginners is obviously for newbies. And Latin ELE – Aprende Español is for advanced Spanish speakers. Both podcasts focus on the Spanish of Latin America so they are great places to start or keep learning your Latino language phrases.

Both shows are hosted by professional Spanish teachers from Mexico, Central American and South America. The team discusses topics topics such as “Vocabulario de Redes Sociales” (social media vocabulary) and Español de Paraguay (Spanish in Paraguay).

Check out these episodes

🎧 El Lenguaje del Ajedrez
🎧 Latin ELE #24 – Colombianismos

SpanishPod101

SpanishPod101 isn’t a true podcast. It’s more of an audio version of the courses and videos produced by the now large media publishing company called Innovative Language.

Most of the good stuff on Spanish Pod is reserved for paid accounts but there are still plenty of short, informative, and somewhat entertaining episodes that you can listen to on a weekly basis. However, even with 12 years of back catalogue, much of the content can be hard to find. If you really enjoy an episode, download it for safekeeping. There’s also a lot of airtime taken up with selling the paid courses.

However, shows are enjoyable and the material that comes with a paid course is high quality and professionally produced. I’ve used the Spanish, Thai, and French courses in the LanguagePod series and I’d recommend them all. The site often has discounts for courses (sign up for their emails) and with the reduced price, the courses offer great value. You can download some podcast episodes in all categories can for free anytime.

The Spanish accents are all Latin American so this is a good place to start if you need podcasts episodes that target a particular country in the Americas.

What did you think of the podcasts on this list? Did you find any new and useful shows? Let us know if you find a new show that you think should be in this “Best Podcasts” list.