News In Slow Spanish Review: Good Resource But Not The Best

  • Lara Scott
    Written by Lara Scott
  • Read time 2 mins
  • Comments 0
A reasonably good Spanish resource that might be more suitable for higher level learners.
News In Slow Spanish Review: Good Resource But Not The Best

News In Slow Spanish
News In Slow Spanish
Pricing: $29.90 per month
Positives
  • It features a recording tool to help develop pronunciation
  • Crucial phrases can be translated to help you understand the texts
  • Slowing the speed of the audio is possible (as is speeding it up)
Negatives
  • It might not appeal to visual learners
  • More useful for higher levels

Summary

A comprehensive Spanish language learning resource that caters for all levels, but is better for intermediate to advanced. The price is great for the content, but there is more emphasis on listening than having a conversation.

depth
Depth This is 'content' richness. How comprehensive is News In Slow Spanish and does it take you far in terms of levels, or is it more suited to low level/tourist learners?
uniqueness
Uniqueness Is News In Slow Spanish innovative or is it just an imitation? Does it have a unique selling proposition (USP) that makes it stand out among competitors?
quality
Quality Overall product quality indicator that covers everything from video/dialogue clarity, authenticity, explanations, and effectiveness.
cost
Cost Is News In Slow Spanish acceptably priced and how does its pricing compare to market competition?

News In Slow Spanish is comprehensive — that’s for sure.

It covers all four elements required to master the Spanish language. News in Slow Spanish lets you write, read, speak and listen.

This is my review of the content and features of News in Slow Spanish.

News in Slow Spanish features

Some of the key features of the News in Slow Spanish platform are its three levels of Spanish — you’ve got beginner materials, intermediate materials and advanced materials.

Cultural elements are intertwined with the News in Slow Spanish platform, as all news items come from countries around the world.

When you sign up, you’ll be able to access more than 20 news stories each week.

You’ll have an audio version of a text or article that you can play at different speeds, and the text version below it to follow the contents.

There’s a grammar course for intermediate and advanced students and plenty of quizzes too.

Story feature

Making use of the story feature is great for all levels.

The text contains in-built translations for difficult, keywords and phrases to help you understand the content.

You can stop the audio that comes with the story at any point and revisit parts you didn’t understand.

For this reason, even beginners will be able to keep track of the text.

Each story is approximately five minutes — I found this just enough to keep my attention without getting bored.

News in Slow Spanish course — how it breaks down

Then, there are courses to explore!

This was particularly useful for me.

Within each episode of the ‘Getting Up To Speed’ course, for example, there is a grammar section and a lesson, then a story and the chance to practice pronunciation.

What I liked about the pronunciation section was the speed of the audio’s playback and the chance to record your pronunciation.

If you’re a beginner, you’ll feel as though you’re being coached — even though there is no coach — because the speed of the audio is easy to understand and repeat.

Grammar feature

I had a look at the grammar feature included in episode one of the ‘Getting Up To Speed’ course.

I found it to be informative and beneficial, explaining Spanish nouns and articles simply and clearly.

It uses tables to help you distinguish between masculine and feminine articles, setting it out like an in-person course.

As part of the grammar, there are quizzes of the grammar you learn.

You will be asked to complete sentences using a particular verb tense.

With News in Slow Spanish, you’ll be able to build your vocabulary and start to understand Spanish grammatical rules.

Test it out for free and see for yourself how rewarding the resource is.

IMO, you might be better off checking out a course like Rocket Spanish or even SpanishPod101 if you’re starting out.


Have you used News In Slow Spanish before?

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Donovan Nagel
Donovan Nagel - B. Th, MA AppLing
I'm an Applied Linguistics graduate, teacher and translator with a passion for language learning (especially Arabic).
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