Today we launch the new BEGINNER category of stories here at Cody’s Cuentos. These are stories that will be short, sweet and easy to understand.

The goal of these Beginner-level stories is to help you improve your Spanish listening comprehension and to further your understanding of various aspects of Spanish grammar. These stories are not designed to teach you Spanish from scratch. As you can imagine, it would be impossible to read or listen to a story in a language in which you knew absolutely no words. So I’m operating from a belief that you already know some Spanish and are looking for an entertaining supplement.

The first story is entitled “Chema y Emma escriben una carta.” The story features vocabulary related to daily routines and Spanish reflexive verbs. An enhanced transcript of the story is available. The transcript includes:
•    The entire story in Spanish.
•    An English translation of the story.
•    Grammar and vocabulary notes. This is an explanation in English of some the key vocabulary or   grammar items presented in the story.
•    A practice exercise.

I recommend that you listen to the story first, without the transcript. See how much you understand just by listening. Then play the audio a second time while reading the transcript. That way you can see how much you understood the first time. Be sure to read the Grammar and Vocabulary Notes at the end of the transcript to get more insight into the structure of the story.

This new Beginner category is a bit of an experiment for me so I really need to hear from you guys as to what works, what doesn’t, etc. It’s actually more challenging to do the Beginner-level stories than the Intermediate and Advanced ones since the Beginner stories need to be specially adapted and more detailed explanations given.

By the way, if you enjoy “Cody’s Cuentos,” please support the podcast any way you can. You can show your support by leaving a review on iTunes, doing a write-up about it on your own blog, buying a transcript or telling your Spanish-speaking friends and relatives about the program. I’m doing my best to spread the word but I could use a little help from those of you who are already listening and enjoying the program. ¡Gracias!