SpanishPod101.com Blog

Hello Listener,

Once in a while, we like to pop in out of nowhere and ask:

How you doin’?!

As in, how is your Spanish progress going? How has SpanishPod101 helped you with learning Spanish, school, traveling abroad, or with your Spanish speaking grandmother?

We love stories from our listeners about why they started learning Spanish, the adventures they’ve been on, and how Spanish has become a regular part of their lives. Similarly, we also want to hear about your results and progress!

Whether you have a crazy story for us or just want to drop a few thoughts on how SpanishPod101 improved your language skills – we want to know.

Tell us your story – email us at testimonials@spanishpod101.com

For stories from our other users, click on the “Success Stories” in Categories on the right side of this blog.

Oh. Don’t act cute with us. We both know WTF means Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. In fact, it’s a holiday that was recently invented by us. Why? September is a relatively dry month – it marks the beginning of a new school year. It is the Monday of Months.

We’re celebrating the WTF Holiday with a 30% OFF Sale on all premium subscriptions.

WTF means the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 30% OFF Sale from 9/21 until 9/23. By sheer coincidence, it also means Where’s the Fridge, and Welcome To France. Strange, we know.

Click here and use Coupon Code WTF for 30% OFF.

The fun and educational audio lessons are what our subscribers love the most! At 30% OFF for all premium accounts, you get to enjoy your favorite series with more of the benefits, at a lower price. Get access to our huge audio and video lesson library, lesson documents, memory building flashcards, 2,000 must-know words (that’s 80% of all conversation), and more.

Users are ready to speak from the first lesson, But – the catch is – this big discount only lasts 3 days because not every day of the week is W.T.F. And nobody is excited about Mondays or Tuesdays. But if you are, let us know in the comments below!

The WTF Sale lasts from 9/21 to 9/23. Get 30% off all premium accounts and lock in at a cheaper price. That’s smart.

Click here: Pay LESS this WTF for 30% OFF.

Hi Listener,

Remember getting smileys on your homework? Where have those days gone? Smiley face stickers in first grade evolved into nasty red-inked comments from college professors. Learning should be fun and rewarding.

Here’s your chance to practice Spanish and win prizes with SpanishPod101! You won’t get stickers, but something bigger and better to help you be awesome in Spanish.

There’s no such thing as too much practice. So, if you’ve been studying hard or easily breezing through, we want to give you an extra push.

Join the Facebook Spanish Only Challenge & Win Prizes

Why?

1. You’ll become amazing with lots of practice.

2. Hint: Big Prizes for participants

3. Why not?

On Facebook only, join the 5-day Spanish only challenge!

The Spanish Word of the Day is posted daily on our Facebook page. The challenge is to put your Spanish to use for the next 5 days using the daily vocabulary words.

For each daily word, from Monday (9/12) until Friday (9/16), your job is to create a sentence with that word. These sentences must be…

* Creative – most creative sentences get extra prizes
* Unique – not copied from the guy that commented before you!
* Consistent – you have to post every day this week

Ready? Jump on over to our Facebook page and start with the daily word for Monday, September 12th! The last day of the challenge is Friday, Sept 16th and users who participated for all 5 days will win a mystery prize that we promise you’ll love!

Winners will get instructions on how to claim their well-earned prizes once the contest ends.

Good luck and get writing!

Hello Listener,

(For maximum impact, read in Old Spice Guy’s voice)

Look at our homepage. Now back to us.
Now back to our homepage. Now back to us.

Look different? It should! With the help of our wonderful users, like you, we’ve listened to your feedback and came up with this. Designing the homepage has been like watching a baby grow.

Our iTunes logo has also changed. You can see it on our Facebook and Twitter accounts!

So when you download our free audio lessons on iTunes and see a new logo… do not be alarmed. It’s still SpanishPod101.

The Old

The New

We’ve decided it was time for a change here at SpanishPod101.
Why the change? Well, We’re not just a podcast website - but a language learning system.

This design makeover is just one small step towards one giant leap to becoming a complete online learning system.

Thoughts on the design? Feedback? Please let us know in the comments below.

But Wait!
What’s that? Look below. There’s a link.
To our 18% OFF Back To School Sale that you’ve always wanted. Look again!
It’s still there but only until August 26th. Sadly, schools don’t lower their costs and neither do student loans. However, we do.

18% OFF any premium subscription. Use Coupon 2COOL4SCHOOL and save!

If you’re taking Spanish this semester, you’re more than prepared. Just don’t sleep in class, unless you’re dozing off to the sweet sounds of a SpanishPod101 audio lesson.

And If you’re not in school (lucky!) - you’re still a student of Spanish. Join in on the discount too!

Note: The Back to School Sale Ends in 48 hours. Save 18% OFF now because your school never does this.

Google is the world’s biggest Search Engine.
Apple is the world’s biggest smart phone maker.
The Blue whale is the world’s biggest animal.

And now, our little Innovative Language Learning family has become the world’s biggest language learning app maker! Apple verified this themselves. Surprised? Us too!

In about 5 years, we’ve made over 600 apps across 40 languages that available on the iTunes store for the iPhone and iPad alone. Not to mention, our Android and Mac desktop apps.

Can you imagine? That’s more language packed in one spot than a United Nations conference. Except you could learn them all. Or some. Mastering 600 apps is only for insane overachievers.

Some of our most popular mobile apps include Survival Phrases for brushing up on essential phrases when you visit a Spanish speaking country, Gengo FlashCards for multi-sensory vocabulary learning, and the recently updated WordPower that gives you the core 2000 words and phrases necessary for daily conversation. The language is directly at your fingertips - you’re touching words and sentences as you learn them!

In fact, you can download some for free or unlock all features with our premium apps.

Head over to our Apps page for the complete list of apps and more information. You can also search the Android Market and iTunes store for “Innovative Language Learning.”

Try them risk free!

Let us know what you think. We update them regularly based on your feedback!

Probably not, but it can get you pretty close. This little app does pack a massive punch - master all the words and you’ll reach 80% comprehension, or in other words, daily conversational level!

But if Gengo WordPower wasn’t powerful enough already, we’ve went ahead and added more power!

In Case You Didnt Know…
The Gengo WordPower App provides you with the Core 2000 Spanish words. According to experts, knowing 2000 puts you at over 80% comprehension (exact number varies per language).

So Whats New?

Gengo WordPower is great for every day situations - whether you’re going to the bank, the doctor, or the airport. We’ve categorized the words down into 75 categories as well!

Here’s how you learn:

The core 2000 words are broken into 75 unique categories - which you go through like levels in a video game!

When you come across words that just wont stick in your brain, place them in the WordBank. Then, review your list of words with Flashcards until you remember.

And if you’re embarrassed about your pronunciation, wait til you hear mine! You can listen to a native speaker’s pronunciation - record your own - and compare the two.

Gengo Wordpower is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
Try the Free WordPower Lite or access all features with Gengo WordPower.

It’s already second half of 2011! How are your New Year’s Resolutions going?

..Its okay, we totally understand.

By no coincidence, the 2nd half of our season begins today.

Here’s a reminder of our weekly schedule!

You were swimming, weren’t you!?

Don’t worry, just checking.

Summer’s here and we’re in the mood to celebrate this warm joyous season – and what better way to start summer off right than have a Summer Celebration Sale!

Why celebrate summer you ask? Excellent question. Because not only is the sun shining and the ice-cream plentiful, but we also have a lot of NEW things to release. We’re kicking off July with 6 brand NEW languages, NEW Premium Flashcards, NEW lessons AND a NEW discount of 22% OFF for Premium Subscribers.

Click here to get the discount and get all of our new features!

This Fourth of July, we welcome Swedish, Dutch, Hungarian, Hindi, Hebrew and Indonesian to the Pod101 family! Also, our Premium Flashcards are faster, better, and stronger with spaced-repetition and progress tracking that will make you learn vocabulary faster and stronger too. Finally, we’re continuing with the 2nd half of our 2011 season with brand new lessons from your favorite energetic hosts.

But why 22% OFF on all Premium Subscriptions? Why not 17.3%? We’ve debated this extensively and while 17.3 is a fantastic number, we’re using 22% to mark our new total of 22 languages at Interactive Language Learning.

The only catch is that this sale doesn’t last all summer - sale ends July 15th!

Join the Summer Celebration Sale: New Languages, New Premium Flashcards, New Lessons, New 22% Discount, and A New Sunburn (not provided by us). Subscribe for 22% Less and get it all here!

Hej! Hallo! Sziasztok! That’s “Hello” in Dutch, Swedish, and Hungarian. Did we get it right?

We’re really excited about our 3 new European additions to the Innovative Language Learning family and today we’re announcing yet another three languages. We’ve held our breath for so long to keep these a secret that we’re just about ready to faint!

Ready?

Starting July 4, Hindi, Hebrew, and Indonesian will be getting the complete Innovative Language Learning treatment with their own 101.com websites! Now, even though these languages are spoken by a collective 725 million people worldwide, they aren’t given enough attention online – or anywhere for that matter. Until now! If you’ve never had a good reason to learn these languages before, we’re about to give you some!

Why learn with Innovative Language Learning?
These brand new Hindi, Indonesian, and Hebrew lessons will use our fun and effective lesson format. And of course, you’ll also get our free and premium learning tools such as online flashcards, line-by-line audio, video lessons, and mobile apps, which you can use to learn wherever you are in the world (except Antarctica.)

The first 101 listeners to sign up for the Founding Fathers Club will get a lifetime 50% off discount and to celebrate the addition of these new languages, we’ll also be having a Summer Celebration Sale where listeners can save BIG on current site subscriptions including to JapanesePod101!

So, why should you learn Hindi, Indonesian, or Hebrew?
Hindi is one of 22 languages spoken in India, and being the second most populated country with over 1 billion people, it’s just too big for us to skip. India is notorious for its traffic but showing some patience will pay big dividends when you try the food! If you’re in the mood for something a little more tropical, Indonesian is one of the world’s most spoken languages. After all, Indonesia is the fourth most populated country right after the United States, and a popular travel destination. Who could resist Indonesia’s tropical climate, beautiful islands, white sandy beaches…hold on, we’re getting carried away…

Lastly, did you know that Hebrew is one of the most requested languages from our Innovative Language Learning listeners? Well, we just couldn’t wait any longer! Travelling to Israel? Can’t understand your grandmother? (I can’t either) Or perhaps you’d like to take a dip in the Dead Sea? HebrewPod101.com will provide you with the resources to make sure you don’t open your eyes underwater – it’s extremely salty!

Stay tuned for more details to come on how to get in on all the discounts!

In case you thought we were kidding about world language domination, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. After months of hard work, we’re proud to announce the launch of AustralianPod101.com for all of you Down Under lovers!

Just kidding. Though, we are giving this idea serious consideration.

Coming this July to a laptop screen right in front of you, we will be introducing 6 new exciting languages to the Innovative Language Learning family. Dutch, Hungarian, and Swedish are just the first additions to our language family on track to be released July 5th. We’d love to tell you about the other 3 but it’s a big secret – you’ll have to wait another 2 weeks!

Now, the Dutch, Hungarian and Swedish languages aren’t the most sought after languages and as a result, there aren’t many places to learn them. But that’s exactly why we’ve chosen to teach them and make them available to you anywhere you are.

Why learn with Innovative Language Learning? These new language sites will follow our signature fun and effective lesson format using our free and premium learning tools such as online flashcards, line-by-line audio, video lessons, and mobile apps. Not to mention the fact that you can learn the language from anywhere in the world! For the 6 new languages, the first 101 listeners to sign up for the Founding Fathers Club will get a lifetime 50% off discount, and to celebrate the addition of these new languages, we’ll also be having a Summer Celebration Sale where listeners can save on the site they’re already subscribed to.

So, why should you learn Dutch, Swedish or Hungarian? With over 23 million Dutch speakers, 16 million Hungarian speakers, and 10 Million Swedish, you’ll learn all about their rich cultures and traditions. Or if you’re hungry like us, do it for their food! In fact, by knowing English, you already have a head start on Dutch which is said to be a mixture of English and German. Feel free to crash the next World Cup and yell alongside your fellow Dutchmen.

In addition to being the national language of Sweden (duh!), Swedish is spoken in parts of Finland and is mutually intelligible with Norwegian. Knowing Swedish grants you access to the Nordic part of Europe (except Iceland – but we’ll get them too!) But if Vikings aren’t your thing, why not try Hungarian? It’s the most prevalent non-Indo-European language in Europe and would be quite handy if you’re interested in their history or cuisine, or choose to explore Hungary’s passionate spa culture.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the final 3 languages and more details to come on how to get in on the discounts!