American in Spain

Cody's Cuentos - Podcasting Fairy Tales in Spanish

March 21, 2008
Cody's Cuentos

Eleena, the woman who runs the Voices en Español blog, a podcast-based blog oriented towards English speakers learning Spanish, found my blog a few months ago, and has since become a regular visitor and commenter. I've also been following her work on Voices en Español. As a fellow American living in Spain, she's got a perspective on learning the language that allows her to post on specific areas, crucial to normal life, that most Spanish classes neglect, like proper pronunciation and telephone etiquette. Her newest project is called Cody's Cuentos. From Cody's About page:

Welcome to Cody’s Cuentos! Cody, a mischievous, lovable puppy, serves as the mascot to this free, weekly Spanish language podcast.

Each week, Cody and one of his human pals from Spain, Mexico or Argentina presents a well-told tale in Spanish from a professional storyteller who is a native Spanish speaker. Spanish-speaking and bilingual families everywhere can now introduce to their children classic fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault, among others.

The website and podcast (subscribe with iTunes) are very well done. It's clear that a lot of work has been put into this project, and it's being given away to the public for free! The idea of using well-known children's stories as a way to teach a language seems pretty great to me. I've already listened to, and followed along with in the text, Tres Cerditos and Caperucita Roja. They were both fantastic! ...despite the anti-Canis-lupus undertones.

To support her in this effort, the least I can do is write this blog post directing people her way. Good luck, Eleena!