This new season of fresh stories all about personal experiences. Today’s story is about my mother and her family. When my mom was eight years old, she moved with her family from Michigan to Sumatra, Indonesia. I always loved hearing her stories and today I am going to share the story of her journey with you. Today’s story is told in the third person using the past tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “viaje” (trip), “barco” (boat) “abuelos” (grandparents), “llegó” (arrived), and “holandés” (Dutch).  No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2023/03/12/simple-stories-in-spanish-un-viaje-a-indonesia-parte-1/ Support the show

This new season of fresh stories all about personal experiences. Today’s story is about chickens. Josh and Marya were looking for a change of pace during the pandemic and they found it by becoming the owners of a few backyard chickens. With the help of a local Chicken Guy, Marya and Josh got set up for success in their new urban farming adventure. Today’s story is told in the third person using multiple tenses, including the present, past, and conditional. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “gallinas” (chickens), “gallinero” (chicken coop) “el pollero” (the Chicken Guy), “el jardín” (garden/yard) “alquilar” (to rent), and “poner huevos” (to lay eggs).No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2023/02/28/simple-stories-in-spanish-las-gallinas/ Support the show

This new season of fresh stories all about personal experiences. Today’s story is about my own personal Spanish journey. As you are aware, I am not a native Spanish speaker. While you can read a bit about why I’m a Spanish teacher on my blog, a couple of listeners have asked me to share the story of my Spanish journey in Spanish.Today’s story is told in the first person using both the present and past tenses. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “viaje” (journey), “idioma” (language), “seguir” (to continue), “tuve” (I had), and “extranjero” (foreign).No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2023/02/21/simple-stories-in-spanish-mi-viaje-espanol/ Support the show

This new season of fresh stories all about personal experiences. Today’s story is about a very talented musical family and their band, Sugar ‘n Sage. Based in Vancouver, Canada, this groups gets audiences on their feet, dancing and singing along to their toe-tapping songs.Today’s story is told in the third person using both the present and past tenses. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “juntos” (together), “agrega” (adds), “baterista” (drummer), and “cantante” (singer).Learn more about Sugar 'n Sage on their website: https://www.sugarnsage.ca/ No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2023/02/14/simple-stories-in-spanish-sugar-n-sage/ Support the show

This new season of fresh stories all about personal experiences. Today’s story is one I did not write. It is a very special story of love told by someone I happen to share a name with. Camila is a native of Colombia. Her husband, Stephen, listens to this podcast to practice his Spanish, so Camila decided to write a story especially for him. Today’s story is told in the third person using mostly the past tenses. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “hermoso” (beautiful), “conocer” (to meet/to know), “disfrutar” (to enjoy), and “vista” (view/sight).No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2023/02/06/simple-stories-in-spanish-amor-a-primera-vista/ Support the show

This new season of fresh stories all about personal experiences. Today’s personal experience comes from Skipper. Skipper was an amazing volunteer in his community, but he didn’t work alone. Skipper trained therapy dogs. His leonberger Ransom visited people from all walks of life, bringing them love and comfort.  Today’s story is told in the third person using both the present and the past tenses. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “dueño” (owner), “entrenamiento” (training), “equipo” (team), “consuelo” (comfort), “discapacidad” (disability), “entrenar” (to train) and “entretener” (to entertain).No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2023/01/31/simple-stories-in-spanish-skipper-y-ransom/ Support the show

Today marks a new season of fresh stories all about personal experiences. I am kicking off the season with one of my favorite travel stories. When I went to Ecuador ten years ago, I had the opportunity to snorkel twice with blowfish, sea turtles and sea lions, which in Spanish are called sea wolves. The first day was amazing, but the second was a little scary.  This story is mostly in the first-person plural (pronoun “we”) and the past tense. Important vocabulary in the story includes: “barco” (boat), “fuimos” (we went), “tortuga” (tortoise), “tiburón” (shark), and “lobo marino” (literally sea wolf, although we call it a sealion). No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2023/01/23/simple-stories-in-spanish-un-viaje-a-las-islas-galapagos/ Support the show

This seventh season of Simple Stories in Spanish is updating some of my favorite episodes. Today’s remake is from Season 3, episode 13: La Leyenda del Carruaje de la Muerte. According to the legend, a “carruaje” or carriage appears in the night to carry souls to the afterlife. The carriage with its big, black horses is not meant to be seen. If you do see it, it can mean…death. This story is told in the past tense. Repeated words and phrases include “carruaje” (carriage), “muerte” (death), “oyó” (heard), “espantoso” (scary), “tenía miedo” (was afraid), “ruido” (noise), and “jalar” (tu pull). No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2023/01/09/simple-stories-in-spanish-el-carruaje-de-la-muerte/ Support the show

This seventh season of Simple Stories in Spanish is updating some of my favorite episodes. Today’s remake is from Season 2, episode 10: ¿Cómo es mi familia? If you have been following me for a while, you know that my family dynamics changed last year. So, I felt I should start this new year by celebrating the wonderful people I am related to. This story is told in the present tense. Repeated words and phrases include “mayor” (older), “menor” (younger), “hijo” (child/son), “hermanos” (siblings), “sobrinos” (nieces and nephews), “tíos” (aunts and uncles), and “abuelos” (grandparents). No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2023/01/04/simple-stories-in-spanish-como-es-mi-familia-2/  Support the show

This seventh season of Simple Stories in Spanish is updating some of my favorite episodes. Today’s remake is from Season 6, episode 21. Juan is a little cat. Every day he explores the world with his family, but one day everything changed. When he woke up, his family was gone, and he was in the middle of a construction site. Would he be able to make his way through the heavy equipment to find his family? This story is written in the past tense. Repeated words and phrases include “viga” (beam), “tierra” (dirt/earth/ground), “borde” (edge), “grúa” (crane), “volquete” (dump truck), “cargadora” (front loader), “montacargas” (forklift), and “buscó” (looked for). No matter where you are in your language journey, stories will help you on your way. You can find a transcript of the story and read along at https://smalltownspanishteacher.com/2022/12/20/simple-stories-in-spanish-el-gatito-valiente-2/ Support the show