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Learn Spanish with Stories

Lingo Mastery Spanish

150 episodes

5 days ago

What makes somebody "Latin American?" (or Latino*?) Is it being born in Latin America? Is it being born to Latino parents? Or is it adopting the culture and actually feeling Latino? In this special DUAL NARRATOR episode, we go over this frustration that so many Latinos and non-Latinos can go through, especially those who have been born to Latino parents outside of Latin America, or who have left Latin America at a young age. Starring Elisa, a young Dominican Lady who left DR at a very young...

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What makes somebody "Latin American?" (or Latino*?) Is it being born in Latin America? Is it being born to Latino parents? Or is it adopting the culture and actually feeling Latino? In this special DUAL NARRATOR episode, we go over this frustration that so many Latinos and non-Latinos can go through, especially those who have been born to Latino parents outside of Latin America, or who have left Latin America at a young age. Starring Elisa, a young Dominican Lady who left DR at a very young...

Show more...

Language Learning

Episodes (20/150)

Learn Spanish with Stories

Is Latinidad Innate or Acquired? (¿La Latinidad Nace o Se Hace?)

What makes somebody "Latin American?" (or Latino*?) Is it being born in Latin America? Is it being born to Latino parents? Or is it adopting the culture and actually feeling Latino? In this special DUAL NARRATOR episode, we go over this frustration that so many Latinos and non-Latinos can go through, especially those who have been born to Latino parents outside of Latin America, or who have left Latin America at a young age. Starring Elisa, a young Dominican Lady who left DR at a very young...

5 days ago

31 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

Guaraní, Paraguay's Hidden Heart (Guaraníes, El Corazón Escondido de Paraguay)

There is a country in South America that is particularly "different" from its neighbors in many ways, but the most interesting is its language and culture: I'm talking about Paraguay. Not only is the only nation where the most-spoken language is an indigenous language (Guaraní), but it also has a very strong "mestizo" presence (over 93%), making it one of the most homogeneous demographies in Latin America. But who are the Guaraní, and what makes them so special - and more importantl...

1 week ago

31 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

The Crisis that Sunk Latin America (La Crisis que Hundió a Latinoamérica)

Economic crises are nothing new to us, especially in these times of unpredictability and instability, but Latin America took it to a WHOLE new level in the 1970s. During a particularly wealthy economic period, banks in the US and other rich nations began to lend billions in cash with few conditions (really, all they asked was "pay it later"), with Latin American governments siphoning it all up to modernize their nations and invest in the future... sadly, the prices of raw materials that the...

2 weeks ago

33 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

Backpacking with Sayings, A Trip through Latin America (Refranes con Mochila, Un Viaje por Latinoamérica)

Latin America, a region of almost 700 million people, speaks mostly one language (Brazil will have to forgive us for this generalization), but we're not talking of one single Spanish language that everyone understands. In fact, each country has its own dialects, sayings, and differences that can be as crucial as they can be careful - after all, some completely normal words in one nation could sound rude or weird in others. So how do you, as a Spanish learner, avoid making a mistake and...

3 weeks ago

28 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

The Thousand Day War (La Guerra de los Mil Días)

We rarely hear about the local wars in South America, but some were just as ugly and crude as the historical wars in Europe and the US - and the Thousand Day War (technically, the 1,130 Day War, but the given name sounds catchier) was no different. A conflict that initiated when Colombia's Liberals decided that enough was enough, and that they would not stand for the corruption and impoverishment committed by the Conservatives, and picked up their tools and makeshift weapons to fight. A w...

1 month ago

32 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

Spain in Free Fall, The New Latin America? (España en Caída Libre, ¿La Nueva Latinoamérica?)

Spain, just like Latin America, has been a popular place to visit and move to as an expat, due to its beautiful beaches, modern cities, and great food. However, also like Latin America, it is affected by corruption, a lack of opportunities, and overall, bad policies that are making life harder for its citizens. And while many of its ministers and politicians flock to social media to make claims on how well the country is doing, the youth of the country is questioning if it's worth it to con...

1 month ago

30 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

To Stay or to Go? The Latin American Dilemma (¿Quedarse o Partir? El Dilema Latinoamericano)

Life in Latin America can be stressful or it can be the most comfortable existence you'll ever have - it all depends on how you look at it. In today's DUAL NARRATOR episode and Season 4 finale, we fly over to warm, sunny Cali to join Daniel (a Colombian looking to move to Spain) and Sofia (a Spaniard looking to move to Colombia) as they spend a few months together and explore the next step of their lives and careers. Is Latin America a place worth living in, or is it only good enough for a...

5 months ago

33 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

The Worst Kind of Impunity, The Atrocious Case of Linda Loaiza (La Peor Impunidad, El Atroz Caso de Linda Loaiza)

One of the saddest things about crime in Latin America is that even the worst criminals can benefit from impunity. In the case of Linda Loaiza, this was demonstrated in the most brazen and shameless way possible. Linda was a young woman from the west of Venezuela who moved to the capital, Caracas, to study and become a veterinarian. But one day, she was kidnapped by a wealthy and well-connected individual who decided to make her his latest victim; what followed was months of pain and humilia...

5 months ago

31 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

Rigoberta Menchú, Courage in the Form of a Woman (Rigoberta Menchú, El Coraje Hecho Mujer)

Guatemala has a Nobel prize winner who you've probably never heard of, but she's one of the most incredible cases of a small voice being powerful enough to topple giants: Rigoberta Menchú. A poor indigenous woman in a nation where belonging to any of those three conditions reduces you to background noise, Rigoberta lost multiple family members in the terrible events of the 36-year Guatemalan Civil War, and knew that she had to speak up if nobody else would. What followed was a journey of le...

6 months ago

31 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

The Revolution of “Rock en Español” (La Revolución del Rock en Español)

Rock music is no longer as popular in the world as it once was (and what a loss THAT has been, am I right?) - but rock "in español" has a very important place in world history. Not only was it super difficult to produce and promote (thanks to the fact that Latin American dictatorships would read the lyrics with magnifying glasses to ensure it wasn't "inciting violence"), but also because labels looked to fund more traditional Latin American music. In this episode, we discover how exactly ...

6 months ago

30 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

El Mozote, The Massacre the U.S. Knew About and Kept Quiet (El Mozote, La Masacre que Estados Unidos Conocía y Calló)

The US has done incredible things in its history, but it has also been involved in some of the most tragic events, too. The El Mozote Massacre that occurred on December 11, 1981, is among the worst of these US-sponsored tragedies. With communist guerrilla movements spreading across El Salvador, both the American and Salvadoran governments knew that they had to quickly put a stop to this before it got out of their control, so they planned "Operación Rescate" (Operation Rescue), a so-called "...

6 months ago

30 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

Dictatorship in Venezuela, The Country without a Future (Dictadura en Venezuela, El País que se Quedó sin Futuro)

Today's episode is different. And it's different not because it's a true story (because we always feature those on our podcast), but because your narrator, Anthony, went through the events expressed in the tale. This is the reality of how Venezuela collapsed, of what led 7 million people to flee the country and seek a better life elsewhere. It's an account of how any average family (in this case, a family that supported the government at its beginning) lost all its net worth and soon strugg...

6 months ago

34 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

Blood, Sweat, and Silver, Latin America's Resources (Sangre, Sudor y Plata, Recursos de Latinoamérica)

The lithium in your phone's battery, maybe the device you're using to read this - it may probably have come from Chile, and the copper in the wires of your charger may have come from Peru... Latin America is and has always been one of the main provider of precious metals in the world. And this didn't begin with the Spanish and Portuguese colonization, either... the natives had been mining long before the arrivals of Europeans, and knew how to keep these operations sustainable (something we ...

6 months ago

34 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

Legends of Latin America, the Journey of Quetzalcoatl (Leyendas de Latinoamérica, el Viaje de Quetzalcóatl)

The gods of ancient Latin American belief were very interesting and different from what we have to come to know in Asia, Europe, and North America... they were somewhat more human, said to walk among us when they felt like it, and collaborated closely with animals and nature to make things occur. Quetzalcóatl, the Feathered Serpent, is one such example, perhaps the greatest of them all... disguised as a noble but aging traveler, he walked among men and taught them the marvels of science and...

7 months ago

33 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

Retiring in Latin America, a Dream Retreat? (Jubilación en Latinoamérica, ¿Retiro Soñado?)

Retiring in Latin America as a foreigner = 👍 Retiring in Latin America as a Latin American = ☠️ Let's face it - when you think of the Caribbean, Brazilian beaches, the Angel Falls in Venezuela, Mexican resorts and Argentine plains, there's a feeling of relief and joy that you can spend your final years just exploring the land and living for cheap. But what does it look like for a native, and how they survive while receiving a pension that is probably 30% (on average) of what they used ...

7 months ago

28 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

José Rizal, An Unarmed Hero (José Rizal, Un Héroe Sin Armas)

There is a Filipino hero who, despite raising his voice and an entire nation against the Spanish colonizers, is so respected globally that he has his own monument in the center of Madrid, Spain's capital. His name is José Rizal - but what's the story behind this incredible figure, who, unlike Simón Bolívar or José de Martín (among others), never raised his arms against the Spanish and instead led with beautiful words, such as: "Justice is the foremost virtue of the civilizing races....

7 months ago

30 minutes

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Left vs. Right, The Battle for Latin America (Izquierda vs. Derecha, La Batalla por Latinoamérica)

If you think only North American politics get crazy around, before or after election season, then you're very mistaken: Latin America has a serious problem with political polarization. And the worst part, frankly (as a Latin American myself), is that both sides are very poor at doing their job. Because sadly, both the left and the right wing of politics have failed to follow through with their promises, and have let their voters down, every single time. Whether it's the left giving away mon...

7 months ago

31 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

Should Spain Apologize to Latin America? (¿Debería España Pedir Perdón a América Latina?)

"Spain should ask for forgiveness" - these were the words of Mexico's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, shortly after being elected. She took it a step further and decided not to invite Spain's King Felipe VI after he failed to respond, and this initiated a grand debate: should Spain apologize for what their ancestors did 500 years ago? Some claim it is a fair demand by a number of Latin American groups, while others believe it to be excessive - after all, who from today was alive back then...

8 months ago

30 minutes

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Trump vs. Latin America (Trump vs América Latina)

Donald Trump is back in power, and he is already taking action to bring mass migration into the US from the south to a screeching halt (understandable based on the numbers we were witnessing, but not a popular decision). But he's also affecting Latin America in many other ways, several of which are extremely harmful for local economies. You see: Donald Trump is "America First", through and through, and though Latin America has been a geographical and philosophical ally for a long time, it s...

8 months ago

31 minutes

Learn Spanish with Stories

Edmundo Chirinos, The Case that Shocked Venezuela (Edmundo Chirinos, El Caso que Estremeció a Venezuela)

If you think about a psychiatrist, you usually associate this with someone of very high social standing, and if it's somebody who even served the president, then there's no way they could be a wrongdoer, right? Right...? Wrong. Edmundo Chirinos, despite even being President Hugo Chavez's psychiatrist at one point, led a despicable double life in which he sedated and abused his female patients, committing terrible acts to hundreds of women, the enormous majority of which were unware of what h...

8 months ago

29 minutes