How An Audiobook Can Help Your Child Speak Spanish
When my daughter and I are out in public and a native Spanish speaker overhears us talking, they often comment on how well my daughter speaks Spanish. They often wonder how her Spanish sounds so good, when it’s obvious to them that I am a non-native speaker.
I believe that my daughter speaks Spanish so naturally because of the amount of audio she hears from native Spanish speakers each day through audio resources.
While we don’t watch much TV, we spend a lot of time listening to Spanish music, podcasts and Spanish books on tape.
Table of Contents
Why Spanish Audiobooks?
Listening to fluent and native Spanish speakers has a huge impact on a child’s Spanish fluency because they are so easily able to adapt and mimic the language that they are hearing.
When we listen to audiobooks or books on tape multiple times, my daughter is able to internalize the phrases and intonation that she hears and use it in her own speech.
For more ways that you can use books on tape to augment your Spanish learning, check out this post!
4 Secrets To Learning A Language With Audiobooks
Books on Tape
It’s been a little challenging for me to find quality books on tape in Spanish that are right for my daughter and her interests. We’ve had the best luck with Scholastic, though there are still very few books that we have found that I believe are truly good quality.
“Chato Y Su Cena”
ISBN 13: 978-1595192646
One of our favorites is “Chato Y Su Cena” by Gary Soto.
Gary Soto is a famous writer from California who often writes about his Mexican-American heritage and growing up in California.
He has written many short stories and poetry collections for children of all ages and has won several awards.
“Chato Y Su Cena’ is the first of several books that he has written about Chato, a cool cat from Los Angeles.
The Scholastic translated version of this book is of good quality, with decent sound effects and a strong narrator. We enjoy listening to this CD in the car and also at home while we follow along with the book!
Here’s What I Like About “Chato Y Su Cena”
The Reader
Having a strong reader is one of the most important parts of a good book on tape and Jorge Pupo does an awesome job with this book! Unlike some readers who use a monotone voice, Pupo artfully takes listeners through the story of Chato as he tries to entice 5 mice to come and eat dinner at his house. Pupo changes his voice to create distinct voices for the characters and adds inflection to emphasize certain parts of speech. His clear speaking makes his words understandable for Spanish language learners.
Vocabulary
Gary Soto is known for the strong vocabulary and varied word choice that he embeds in his stories, and this Chato book is no exception. Not only does he include various idioms and phrases that native speakers would use, but he also includes a wide variety of descriptors. The overall Spanish language quality of this book is very high which helps Spanish language learners to hear and internalize a more advanced level of audio.
“Chato Y Su Cena” is a wonderful resource and addition to our Spanish language library. I have seen that other books in the Chato series are also available as books on tape.
If you subscribe to Epic! you can access “Chato Y Los Amigos Pachangueros” there. For more information on Epic! and how to use it for free, check out this post.
Listening to native Spanish speakers is a great way to improve your child’s Spanish language skills. Listening to books on tape and other audio resources is a great way to add more Spanish to your day and build your child’s interest in Spanish language.
For more information on Spanish music, podcasts and audiobooks, check out these posts here!
3 Charming Nursery Rhymes To Boost Your Baby’s Spanish
A Valubale Spanish Podcast For Kids That You Need To Know About
How To Use These Epic Online Spanish Books For Beginners
I’m always looking for more audio resources to use with my own kiddo. If you have any suggestions, let me know about them in the comments!
Happy Learning!
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Yeah, I have also tried audiobook to learn french and they help a lot to learn a new language!
That’s awesome! Are you a parent teaching French to your child or just learning for yourself?
I am learning French for myself. It’s always fun to learn something new.
That’s awesome that you’re learning French for yourself! There are so many benefits to being bilingual and working on other languages. I’m not sure what your level of French is, but there’s a site that I used when I was trying to beef up my Spanish – BrainPop. It’s directed towards older kids (maybe middle school?) but they have a lot of great mini videos and resources that go along with them and you can use it to practice listening and reading skills. There is a paid subscription, but I always just used the free video of the day to practice. Here’s the link in case you want to check it out -https://fr.brainpop.com/. Good luck learning French!