Spanish

Online Dictionary

Online Subscription Programs

  Return to the top

Audio Self-Instruction

All Audio Spanish
Emphasizing spoken communication, this Living Language set is designed to teach Spanish in 35 lessons without having to do any reading. Includes 6 sound discs and an accompanying book.

Berlitz Advanced Spanish
This advanced Spanish language program includes 3 sound discs and a coursebook.

Berlitz Deluxe Language Pack: Spanish
A comprehensive Spanish language course that takes learners at their own pace from the beginning through the intermediate level, developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Includes 3 basic level and 3 intermediate level audio CDs recorded by native speakers, basic and intermediate level course books, a bilingual dictionary, and 100 quiz cards with questions designed to test newly acquired language skills.

Berlitz Latin American Spanish Travel Pack
This single disc and phrasebook/dictionary set provides instruction in speaking and understanding Latin American Spanish, featuring words and phrases commonly used when traveling. Brush up before your trip.

Complete Spanish: The Basics
This Living Language introduction includes 3 CDs, a dictionary and a 372 page coursebook.

Mastering Spanish. Level 1
Developed by the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Institute for use in training diplomats, this comprehensive Spanish language program from Barrons helps users master grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary skills as they gain command of the spoken language. Includes 12 sound discs and a textbook.

Pimsleur Language Programs. Spanish II A
Pimsleur Language Programs. Spanish III A
Pimsleur Language Programs. Spanish III B
Each series contains 30 lessons on 9 sound discs. If you are serious about learning, try these.

TravelTalk Euro Spanish
If you are going to Spain, you might want to check this set out. It includes an instructional CD, a music CD (with Aranjuez), and a phrasebook. There is a similar set for traveling to Mexico.

Starting out in Spanish
A step-by-step 3-disc audio-only program from Living Language that uses listening and repetiton to teach basic Spanish.

  Return to the top

Dictionaries / Vocabulary

Books

Barron's Spanish-English Dictionary
PC4640.S593 2006
100,000 entries with examples. American English.

Larousse Concise Dictionary: Spanish English, English Spanish
PC4640.L38 2009x
Try out the dictionaries before you buy one! 90,000 entries

Savaiano, Eugene
Spanish Idioms
PC4460.S362 2007
These are the words and phrases that often are not in a dictionary but used all the time!

• More print dictionaries...

Online Dictionaries

• Babylon Spanish Dictionary
  This free online dictionary is from Babylon.com, a provider of online and offline dictionaries and translation services. The definitions are quick and brief. There is also a downloadable version that is around $10/month or $99.
• Diccionarios.com
  This is a great site from Vox (publishers of Spanish language dictionaries) that will look up words in Spanish or give you synonyms/antonyms for Spanish words but will also translate from Spanish to English, French, and Catalan and vice versa. Unfortunately it is a subscription service after two free lookups.
• Real Academia Española
  The Royal Spanish Academy of the Spanish language which dictates usage. It offers a "Diccionario de la lengua española", a Spanish to Spanish online dictionary.
• Word Reference
  Online English/Spanish Dictionary. Also a Spanish/Spanish dictionary from the Diccionario de la lengua española © 2005 Espasa Calpe.

  Return to the top

Spanish Grammar and Verbs

Books

Berlitz 601 Spanish Verbs
Find all your irregular conjugations in this 734 book with accompanying CD-ROM.

Zayas-Bazán, Eduardo
Arriba!: Comunicación y Cultura
q PC4112.Z38 2008
A university textbook for learning Spanish. For fun, you can check out the companion website for the 3rd edition which includes practice quizzes.

Browse the Catalog

Web Sites

• BBC Languages: Spanish
  Includes a variety of courses of different levels, including "Talk Spanish", a language course for absolute beginners based on the BBC television series that can be used as a complement to the programmes or as a stand-alone resource. Requires Real Video and includes video clips with sound of native speakers using common phrases.
• don Quijote: Lessons
  After free registration you can view their online lessons. Also sign up for their weekly newsletter with vocabulary and lessons.
• Learn Spanish: A Free Online Tutorial
  Good basic lessons in Spanish plus recommended books and audio, useful links.
• Trabalenguas (Tongue Twisters)
  Spanish speakers love tongue twisters, sayings, proverbs and all sorts of word games.

  Return to the top

Comprehensive Web Sites

• Colorín Colorado
  Colorín Colorado (este cuento se ha acabado) is a web-based service that provides information, activities, and advice for Spanish-speaking parents and educators of English language learners (ELLs).
• Destinos
  This Spanish language learning site at Annenberg Media's Learner.org, offers language learning videos online. Destinos teaches speaking, listening, and comprehension skills in Spanish. This telenovela, or Spanish soap opera, immerses students in everyday situations with native speakers and introduces the cultures, accents, and dialects of Mexico, Spain, Argentina, and Puerto Rico.
• Google.es
  Run your searches for Spanish language resources on Spain's Google.
• Quia! Spanish
  Online activities and games for learning Spanish.
• Wikipedia Español
  Try the Spanish wikipedia for resources about Spain and Latin America and for resources in Spanish.

  Return to the top

Audio: Listen to Spanish

• Bell Labs Spanish text-to-speech synthesis
  Type in some Spanish text and hear what it sounds like spoken by a Mexican or Castilian speaker of Spanish. This is great for learning the correct pronunciation!

  Return to the top

News and TV

• HTV
  This is the Latin version of MTV, presenting music videos of the Latin world. Their website includes video clips of the current popular performers.
• El Mundo
  from Madrid, Spain. An online version of Madrid's daily newspaper.
• El Nuevo Herald
  "El Nuevo Herald: Noticias de Cuba, Miami, Venezuela, Colombia, deportes, entretenimiento e inmigración." Practice your Spanish with this Spanish version of the Miami Herald.
• Online Newspapers
  Links to newspapers around the world, including Central and South America
  • Mexico
  • Spain
  • Central and South America
• Telemundo
  One of major Spanish language television networks in the US. Available via cable in many locations and via satellite dish in the rest. Watching the "noticias" and "telenovelas" is a good way to practice your Spanish.
• Terra
  This Spanish owned portal company offers portals for Spain and most Latin American countries. They are created in conjunction with the major local newspapers and so are full of content. Lycos is now part of Terra.
• Univision
  Another of the major Spanish language television networks in the US. Check to see if your local cable or dish network offers it.
• Weekly News Magazines
  Similar to Time and Newsweek, these magazines will give you a weekly summary of news events.
  • Caretas - Peru
  • Semana - Colombia
• Yahoo! España
  Try out your Spanish on this site from the Yahoo! folks. It links primarily to web sites in Spain. Naturally most are in Spanish.

  Return to the top

Books and Literature

Here is a selection of books and literary sites so that you can practice reading Spanish.

• Cervantes Project
  A digital library project at Texas A&M University provides a comprehensive reference and research site dedicated to the study of Cervantes' works and life.
• Library Journal: Criticas Spanish Language Authors and Book Reviews
  An English speaker's guide to the latest Spanish-language titles. This website is from Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc., publishers of Library Journal.
• Don Quijote: Spanish Literature
  Don Quijote offers Spanish language schools in various countries. In this section of its website, you can read about the history of Spanish literature in Spanish. They also have an extensive Spanish literature library.
• Golden Age Sonnets (Sonetos del Siglo de Oro)
  Practice your Spanish with these 101 sonnets from 18 Spanish poets (check it with the translations). By Alix Ingber, Professor of Spanish, Sweet Briar College
• Instituto Cervantes
  This is a global organization that promotes the study and learning of the Spanish Language.
• Library of Congress: Hispanic Reading Room
  Includes online collections, the Handbook of Latin American Studies, and various bibliographies.
• Literatura Argentina Contemporánea
  In Spanish. Learn about contemporary Argentinian writers

  Return to the top

Culture & History

• Accordion Dreams
  This companion website is for the PBS documentary, Accordion Dreams, which is a musical journey into the heart and soul of conjunto, a unique musical tradition (Conjunto) born in 19th century Texas that continues to thrive today.
• Don Quijote
  Don Quijote offers Spanish language programs in Spain but their website also has cultural information on Spain, including fiestas and bullfights.
• LIBRO: The Library of Iberian Resources Online
  LIBRO is a joint project of the American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain and the University of Central Arkansas. Its task is to make available to users the best scholarship about the peoples and nations of the Iberian peninsula with a book list principally drawn from recent, but out-of-print university press monographs.
• The Visual Front: Posters of the Spanish Civil War
  These are from the collection at the University of California at San Diego. Each poster is accompanied by a fairly detailed and lengthy annotation so that helps one understand the situation.

  Return to the top

Famous Hispanics

• Isabel Allende
  Official website for the author with information on her books
• Gabriela Mistral
  A Chilean Nobel Prize winner in literature
• Pablo Neruda
  A Chilean Nobel Prize winner in literature
• Virtual Diego Rivera Museum
  Information on the Mexican muralist.

  Return to the top

Pittsburgh Region

• University of Pittsburgh: Hispanic Languages & Literature
  Information about the undergraduate and graduate programs available at Pitt in both Hispanic Languages and Culture and Hispanic Languages and Literature.

Last updated December 12, 2012