From music to podcasts to audiobooks, there are now endless ways to make long drives more enjoyable or productive without distracting you. Incorporating language learning into your everyday life doesn’t just save time; it’s also one of the basic principles of Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion method.
If you spend a lot of time in the coche / carro (car), it’s a great place to passively practice your Español (Spanish). You can mix and match these activities throughout the week to make learning Spanish while driving divertido (fun).
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How to learn Spanish while driving yourself
It’s easy to swap out whatever type of media you normally listen to while driving with beginner-friendly alternatives to learn Spanish while driving. Listening to Spanish is a simple way to learn that doesn’t feel like estudiar (studying).
You can also practice your pronunciation while you’re alone in your car. Try these ideas to practice your Spanish without getting a distracted driving ticket.
1. Queue up a Spanish language podcast
Podcasts sharpen your listening skills as you hear conversations in Spanish. Whether you like comedia (comedy), historias de fantasmas (ghost stories), or anything in between, there’s a Spanish-language podcast for you.
Check out some of our favorite Spanish podcasts for beginners:
- Radio Ambulante (noticias; news): Radio Ambulante is an NPR-produced news podcast about events of interest across Latin America. Interview subjects from Spanish-speaking countries will help you broaden your cultural education horizons and get your ears used to different accents.
- Gossip in Spanish (entretenimiento; entertainment): If you’re a fan of celebrity gossip and reality TV, this podcast is a fun way to practice your Spanish. Hosts Karla y La Colo hilariously spill the tea on pop culture in the states and across Latin America and help you learn some Spanish slang.
- La Ciencia Vs (ciencia; science): Hosts Dr. Leonora Milán and Dr. Alejandra Ortíz are on a mission to make science fun and accessible. You’ll learn new science vocabulary and get a broader understanding of science in everyday life.
- Entiende Tu Mente (psicología; psychology): Give your brain a workout while learning more about it. Entiende Tu Mente translates to “understand your mind.” In each 20-minute episode, hosts Esther, Luis, and Molo take listeners on a journey through popular psychology topics.
- La Cotorrisa (comedy): Jajaja (hahaha) it up with Ricardo Pérez and Slobotzky every Wednesday. This comedy podcast makes you laugh while you learn about how humor works in Spanish cultures.
- ¡Qué Spooky! Podcast (ghost stories): Hosts Kevin and Andrez bring paranormal encounters and urban legends to life with a focus on Mexican and broader Latino culture. Every fifth episode is entirely in Spanish while the rest are in English.
2. Turn up the Spanish music
Sometimes practicing Spanish is as easy as turning up the volumen de la música (jams). Listening to Spanish music helps you flex your listening and comprehension skills in memorable ways. Start with our list of essential songs in Spanish:
- Songs for Spanish 1: Simple lyrics are easy for beginners to understand.
- Classic Spanish Hits: Get familiar with Spanish-language classics.
- Spanish Love Songs: Get in your feels with romantic songs.
- Spotify’s Viva Latino: Learn what’s hot in Latin pop.
3. Listen to Spanish stories
Audiolibros (audiobooks) count as listening or reading practice, too. Public libraries generally work with an audiobook app where you may be able to check out Spanish audiobooks for free if you have a current library card. After you listen to the audiobook, try reading a physical copy of the book at home to enhance your Spanish reading skills.
Some of the best Spanish books to listen to include:
- Esperanza renace (Esperanza Rising) by Pam Muñoz Ryan: This novella is about a young Mexican girl who settles on a farm in California during the great depression. Beginners will learn new adjectives and master past and present tenses when they listen to this book.
- La vida imaginaria (The Imaginary Life) by Mara Torres: This short, easy novel is about a woman going through a breakup. The first-person narration is easy for beginners to understand, and the writing style will introduce you to a lot of new colloquial phrases. The protagonist’s emotional journey introduces useful vocabulary to describe emotions.
- La Casa en Mango Street (The House on Mango Street) by Sandra Cisneros: This coming-of-age novel is about a Latina teenager growing up in Chicago. The book explores some heavy themes, but its short length and simple language make it a great read for Spanish learners.
- Detective Malasuerte (Unlucky Detective) by Hilario Pena: More advanced learners will love the supernatural twists and turns of Detective Malasuerte. Intermediate learners will also benefit from learning new vocabulary and slang.
Rosetta Stone Stories are standalone, conversation-based narratives designed to match your proficiency level, so they are great listening options, too. Each story helps you practice your language skills and learn cultural context and history. You can download stories ahead of time for your journey.
4. Switch your navigation to Spanish
Put your Spanish comprehension to the test by switching your navigation language to Spanish. The more Spanish you learn, the less likely you will be to miss a turn. If you’re planning a trip to a Spanish-speaking country, this can help you practice asking for and following directions from locals. You can also use the words you learn from your GPS to help a Spanish-speaking visitor in your city find their way around.
5. Narrate as you navigate
Whether you’re driving alone or have pasajeros (passengers), narrating your journey in Spanish can make it more exciting. In Spanish, say directions out loud, point out sitios de interés (landmarks) or tiendas (shops), or describe the paisajes (landscape) as you go. This helps you practice thinking and speaking in Spanish for a longer period of time.
6. Translate signs into Spanish
If you’re not quite ready to navigate your entire drive in Spanish, start by trying to translate road signs and traffic signs into Spanish. From pare (stop) signs to bienvenida (welcome) signs, you’ll likely have many opportunities to practice translating and saying different words along your route.
7. Phone a Spanish-speaking friend
Thanks to hands-free calling, you can use your time on the road to talk to a Spanish-speaking friend on the phone. If they’re commuting at the same time as you, they might appreciate the company.
8. Perfect your pronunciation with Spanish tongue twisters
Spanish uses the same letters as English, but the letters don’t make the same sounds. Work on your Spanish alphabet pronunciation as you drive with Spanish tongue twisters.
Here are a few good ones to try:
| Spanish tongue twister | English meaning |
| Camarón, caramelo. Caramelo, camarón | Shrimp, caramel. Caramel, shrimp |
| Un perro rompe la rama del árbol | A dog breaks the tree branch |
| Juan junta juncos junto a la zanja | Juan gathers branches next to the ditch |
| Papá pone pan para Pepín. Para Pepín pone pan papá | Dad puts the bread for Pepín. For Pepín Dad puts the bread |
| Pancha plancha con cuatro planchas.¿Con cuántas planchas plancha Pancha? | Pancha irons with four irons. With how many irons does Pancha iron? |
| Dicen que el dicho no está bien dicho porque bien dicho tú no lo has dicho | They say that saying is not right said, because right said you haven´t said it well |
How to learn Spanish in the passenger seat
These practice methods take too much active attention to learn Spanish while driving but are productive ways to pass the time as a passenger. Some of them can be done alone, others can involve the other people you’re riding with. Whether you’re carpooling with a colleague or taking the bus or train, use these tactics to improve your Espanol.
9. Flip through Spanish flashcards to expand your vocabulary
Don’t have time for a full lesson? Rosetta Stone Phrasebook has you covered. Choose a category and flip through the pages like a deck of digital flashcards. Each phrase includes audio pronunciation from native speakers and evaluates your pronunciation with our one-of-a-kind TruAccent speech recognition engine. See how many phrases you can flip through during your commute.
10. Play “I Spy” in Spanish
Practice talking about your surroundings and get your carpool-mates involved with a game of I Spy en Espanol. Whether you spy something rojo (red) or azul (blue) with your little eye, this classic childhood game can help you practice using the words you know on the fly.
11. Play a game of 20 questions to practice forming sentences
Learning vocabulary and grammar is one thing: Putting it all together to create your own sentences is quite another. A game of 20 questions with your friends in the car will help you practice thinking of questions and answers organically in a fun, easy environment. If you’re studying a particular topic at the moment, like animales (animals), make it a rule that the answers must all fit that category.
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