SpanishPod101 Beginner S1 Curriculum
In this 40-lesson season, hosts Alan and Lisy will guide you through a beginner course that will teach you proper greetings, how to ask where things are, the future tense, and much much more. You’ll hear Spanish spoken in a variety of situations. That means you will pick up both formal and informal Spanish.
| Title | Topic | Function | Grammar Point | Useful Vocabulary and Phrases | Vocabulary List | Cultural Insight | |
| #1 | Saying Hello! | Introductions | Greeting people | Different phrases for greeting people | Greetings (handshakes and kisses) | ||
| #2 | Where are you from? | Introductions | Asking where someone is from | Using “ser” to ask where someone is from | The Andes Mountains | ||
| #3 | Thank you for your help! | Thanking someone | Expressing appreciation/thanks | Using the verb “agradecer”, which means “to appreciate” or “to be thankful for” | Saying “You’re Welcome” | ||
| #4 | Excuse me. | Apologizing | Asking for forgiveness or apologizing | Asking for forgiveness or apologizing | Asking someone for directions | ||
| #5 | Where is the market? | Directions | Asking where something is | Asking where something is | The Informal Market | ||
| #6 | What is it? What does it mean? | Buying a gift | Asking what something is, and what something means | Asking the questions “¿qué es esto? (What is this?) and “¿qué quiere decir?” (What does it mean?) | Cajón peruano (Peruvian Box Drum) | ||
| #7 | When do you want to go to the beach? | Making plans | Saying and days of the week and months | Days of the week and months of the year | Chicama Beach | ||
| #8 | Getting Around The City | Going home | Talking about future actions in Spanish | The Absolute Future tense | Public transportation in Latin America | ||
| #9 | Will you play the song again? | Music | Talking about future actions in Spanish | The Absolute Future tense | Bolero (music of Cuba) | ||
| #10 | You’re there? Or, You’ll be there? | Making plans | Talking about future actions in Spanish | Future Tense of the Indicate Mood | Using the present tense to talk about the future | ||
| #11 | There will be a lot of people. | Talking about a party | Talking about future actions in Spanish | The Future Tense of “haber” | Going out late | ||
| #12 | There are some people, but there’ll be a lot more. | Talking about a party | Talking about future actions in Spanish | The Future Tense of “haber” pt. II | Social circles | ||
| #13 | Mathematics I: Addition | Mathematics | Counting in Spanish | Cardinal numbers (1-10) | The phrase “zero on the left” | ||
| #14 | Mathematics II: Subtraction | Mathematics | Counting in Spanish | Cardinal numbers (11-19) | Change at stores | ||
| #15 | Mathematics III: Multiplication | Mathematics | Counting in Spanish | Cardinal numbers (21-30) | Information in the Inkan Empire | ||
| #16 | Mathematics IV: Division | Mathematics | Counting in Spanish | Cardinal numbers (31-40) | The architecture of the Tahuantinsuyu, the Inkan Empire | ||
| #17 | Rise and Shine I | Talking on the phone | Saying the hours in Spanish | Saying the hours in Spanish | Breakfast in Latin America | ||
| #18 | Rise and Shine II | Talking on the phone | Talking about actions that are in progress or incomplete | The gerund (”-ing”) in Spanish for generalized or incomplete actions | Coffee in Latin America | ||
| #19 | Rise and Shine III | Talking on the phone | Talking about actions that are in progress or incomplete | The gerund (”-ing”) in Spanish for generalized or incomplete actions, pt. II | Voice-over-IP phone services | ||
| #20 | Rise and Shine IV | Talking on the phone | Talking about actions that are in progress or incomplete | The gerund (”-ing”) in Spanish for generalized or incomplete actions, pt. III (comparing with the absolute present) | Education in Latin America | ||
| #21 | Rise and Shine V | Talking on the phone | Talking about future actions in Spanish | Expressing future actions using the gerund | Declining an invitation | ||
| #22 | Rise and Shine VI | Talking on the phone | Talking about sleeping | The verb “dormir”, which means “to sleep” | Napping in Latin American culture | ||
| #23 | Cleaning Up: 1 | Cleaning Up | Talking about possession | Possessive adjectives | Cleaning ladies/nannies | ||
| #24 | Whose shirt is this? | Clothes | Talking about possession | Possessive pronouns | Cleanliness | ||
| #25 | I enjoy your company… And I enjoy yours as well. | Asking about one’s schedule | Talking about possession | The differences between Possessive adjectives and Possessive pronouns | Formal and informal Spanish | ||
| #26 | Do you know the speed limit? | Driving | How to express obligation | How to express obligations using the verb “tener” (to have) | Traffic in Lima | ||
| #27 | Impossible | Driving | Saying that some can or cannot be | The phrase “puede ser” (it could be, it is possible, maybe, perhaps) | Bribes | ||
| #28 | The compensation | Driving | Talking about future actions in Spanish | Expressing future actions using ir a + infinitive | Bribes | ||
| #29 | The Negotiation | Driving | Expressing impersonal obligation | An impersonal expression of obligation, “hay que” | Bribes | ||
| #30 | Phone Card Frustration 1 | Phone Card | Talking about past actions | The Preterit Perfect | Calling cards | ||
| #31 | Phone Card Frustration 2 | Phone Card | Using direct object pronouns | Direct Object Pronouns | Using Skype to make a call | ||
| #32 | Phone Card Frustration 3 | Phone Card | Identifying yourself on the phone | Use the verb “ser” (to be) on the telephone in order to identify yourself | Busy Latin American cities | ||
| #33 | Meet My Relatives - 1 | Meeting people | Using personal pronouns | Personal pronouns when they’re used as direct object pronouns | Family | ||
| #34 | Meet My Relatives - 2 | Meeting people | Expressing that something is missing or lacking | The verb “faltar”, which means “to lack” | Extended families | ||
| #35 | Meet My Relatives - 3 | Meeting people | Using the subjunctive tense | Subjunctive Tense | Joking around in Spanish | ||
| #36 | Love in the time of cholera | Literature | Using the subjunctive tense | The Subjunctive Mood used to express doubt and possibility about present, future, or past events | Author Gabriel García Márquez | ||
| #37 | I don’t even understand an iota! | Literature | Using the passive/impersonal “se” | The passive/impersonal use of “se | Mario Vargas Llosa | ||
| #38 | Listen to me with your eyes | Literature | Talking about past actions | Distinguishing the usage of the Absolute (simple) Preterit from the Preterit Perfect | Poet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz | ||
| #39 | I’ve got to read it for myself | Literature | Telling someone not to do something | Negative commands “Don’t do (verb)” | Ernesto Sábato | ||
| #40 | The Other Path | Literature | Abstract nouns of quality | Abstract nouns of quality | El Otro Sendero |