Feliz año nuevo, buon anno,  bonne année und ein frohes neues Jahr to the entire Coffee Break learning community around the world. We hope that 2016 is a happy, healthy and successful year for you, and that you have many opportunities to put your language skills to use over the coming months.
We’re delighted to bring you this update from Radio Lingua at the beginning of 2016. We’ve had a very busy holiday period with the launch of our new Coffee Break Academy website and the Coffee Break French and Spanish Masterclass programmes, but more about that a bit later.
Looking back at 2015
Let’s begin by taking a look back at 2015 and what it meant for Coffee Break language learners. We completed our fourth season of Coffee Break French and we launched our fourth season of Coffee Break Spanish last year. We also introduced a brand new language with Coffee Break Italian, along with our children’s show High Five French.
Over the year we delivered over 21 million free language lessons and this means that on average over 59,000 lessons were downloaded every day. In other words, language learners around the world downloaded 41 of our lessons every minute of 2015.
What’s coming in 2016
We spent much of last year producing new content for this coming year: we’ve been filming and recording in Spain, France and Germany for new and existing projects. We can’t say too much about some of these projects just yet, but you can look forward to exciting, new content and we’re sure you’ll enjoy continuing your learning journey with us.

* Coffee Break Spanish Season 4 continues with episode 21 released on 27th January.
* We’ll be launching the second of our Coffee Break French Season 4 Companion ebooks in the next few weeks.
* We’re excited to be releasing our brand new video course High Five Spanish for younger learners in the summer.
* We had planned to record the final section of Coffee Break Italian Season 1 in Italy earlier this month but unfortunately this visit had to be postponed. We’ll be publishing some top-up episodes to help our Italian learners keep up their skills until we can rearrange the visit to Francesca’s homeland.
* And finally, we can confirm that there will be new Coffee Break German content in 2016!

The Masterclass
Our biggest news is the launch of our special 12-month course for intermediate learners of Spanish and French, the Coffee Break Masterclass. We’ve built a brand new website, the Coffee Break Academy, where you can join the Masterclass and become a master of the language. We’ve been listening very carefully to your feedback and have put together this innovative course which combines our regular, structured audio lessons with challenges, tasks and a discussion area. There are already many members interacting every day in the Masterclass forums, practising what they’re learning in the audio lessons and completing our challenges and exercises.
Each month there’s a new module, and you’ll receive lessons every 3 or 4 days. We’ll deliver everything straight to your inbox and the best thing about the Masterclass is that it starts when you’re ready for it. So if you join today you will receive your orientation module and lesson 1, then lesson 2 will follow in a few days’ time. The feedback so far on the Masterclass has been fantastic and we̵...

We’re delighted to bring you this special edition of Radio Lingua News. Watch the video above for all the details. Follow the links below for more information about our announcements:

* Coffee Break French Season 4
* Coffee Break Spanish Season 4
* Coffee Break Spanish Newsstand Magazine
* High Five French – French for children

Coming up in this lesson:
In lesson 32 we’re still concentrating on Colombian Spanish, and Mark and Carolina discuss the music and literature of Colombia, and typical Colombian expressions including the word paila. In the second act of this episode, Mark discusses impersonal verbs such as apetecer, gustar and falter.
Please note that lesson 32 of Season 3 was originally known as lesson 332 of Coffee Break Spanish. We have renumbered the lessons of each season as lessons 1-40 to make things more simple for our listeners.
Accessing the Premium Version

The premium version of Coffee Break Spanish Season 3 provides additional materials which will help you move forward more effectively with your Spanish studies. The premium version includes the following elements:

* Full transcript: a complete transcript of all the Spanish used in the episodes;
* Explanations and examples: detailed explanations of the grammar points and idiomatic expressions covered in each lesson;
* Bonus audio lesson: a translation challenge where you are encouraged to translate sentences from English into Spanish and Spanish into English based on the words and phrases in each lesson
* Bonus audio notes: notes for the bonus audio lesson.

The members’ version can be accessed through our membership system. You can purchase the course using the links below.

* Season 3 Complete: Lessons 1-40

£89.00 GBP inc VAT / approx £109 USD ex VAT for non-EU customers)
* Season 3A: Lessons 1-20

£57.00 GBP inc VAT / approx $67 USD ex VAT for non-EU customers)
* Season 3B: Lessons 21-40

£57.00 GBP inc VAT / approx $67 USD ex VAT for non-EU customers)

So, you’ve been learning Spanish with Coffee Break Spanish, and perhaps you’ve been extending your knowledge with Show Time Spanish. Today we’re delighted to introduce a new show to help you build your vocabulary and develop your listening skills even further.
News Time Spanish is a new weekly show from the Radio Lingua Network aimed at intermediate to advanced learners of Spanish. Each week we’ll be bringing you stories from around the world in short reports, written especially for learners. We’ll be reporting on current affairs, sport, culture, technology and lots more, so News Time Spanish will be an excellent way to increase your Spanish vocabulary and build your range of expression.
The first season of News Time Spanish begins today, 17th May 2010 and you can listen to episode one on our site, or subscribe in iTunes, as usual. Each episode comes with a full transcript of the report, vocabulary and exercises, and there’s even a second version of the audio file which has been digitally slowed-down to help you understand the episode.
Find out more about News Time Spanish on the product page for the show.

The final episode in the series of Show Time Spanish includes episode eight of our soap Verano Español. Just what will Laura say to Ángel and Fiona after discovering them together? And will Ramón finally have the courage to tell Laura how he feels? Find out in the long-awaited final instalment of the telenovela.
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We’re delighted to be joined once more by Alba in this special episode of Show Time Spanish. It’s the last ‘normal’ episode in the series: next week we’ll have the eighth and final instalment of Verano Español, so lesson 39 is the final ‘normal’ episode in the series. We find out what Alba has been doing since before the summer and Mark takes the opportunity to test listeners on some of the phrases learned earlier in the series.
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In this episode Mark is joined by Sofía from Argentina and Ana Isabel from Ecuador. Language points discussed include the difference between si no and sino, using hace with a time phrase, and voseo, the use of vos in Rioplatense Spanish.
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This week Mark returns with Loreto for the second of our Chilean episodes of Show Time Spanish. In episode 37 we learn a  bit more about Chilean culture and Loreto teaches Mark some Chilean expressions.
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¡Estamos de vuelta! It’s been a few weeks since our last episode of Show Time Spanish, and this has been the result of major server problems. We’ve completed a migration of all our content to new servers today, and we’re delighted to be back with a new episode of Show Time Spanish in which Mark is joined by Loreto, from Chile. In this first of two episodes with Loreto, we learn about the geography and culture of Chile.
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In this week’s show we’re returning to our telenovela, Verano Español. It’s the morning after the night before when Ángel arrived drunk at Iona’s party. Needless to say Laura’s dad isn’t very impressed with Ángel! Laura’s friend Fiona arrives from Scotland and the love triangle threatens to become a square! As usual, in Act II, Mark will help listeners understand the story by working through a series of questions and answers about what happens in this episode.
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After our recent server problems, we’re back with Show Time Spanish! We’re staying in Mexico in episode 34 of Show Time as Mark and Juan discuss some of the interesting aspects of Mexican Spanish. ¡Todo está padrísimo en este episodio! Language points covered include pedir a alguien que + subjunctive, the expression referirse a, and llevarse a cabo. José’s intermedio concentrates on phrases which involve being angry or in a bad mood.
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In lesson 33 it’s destination Mexico as Mark is joined by Juan from México D.F. Juan introduces Mark to the geography and some of the tourist attractions of Mexico. Language concepts included the use of soler, the difference between amable and amigable, and a reminder of the fact that “another” is otro/otra in Spanish – and not un otro / una otra…
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In lesson 32 we’re still concentrating on Colombian Spanish, and Mark and Carolina discuss the music and literature of Colombia, and typical Colombian expressions including the word paila. In the second act of this episode, Mark discusses impersonal verbs such as apetecer, gustar and faltar.
Members | Purchase | RSS | iTunes link

It’s destination Colombia for lesson 31 as Mark is joined by Carolina from Bogotá. Carolina introduces Mark to the geography and traditions of Colombia, and Mark learns a few useful expresiones colombianas. In episodes 31-40 of Show Time Spanish, Mark will be joined by various speakers of Spanish from different parts of Latin America, providing learners with a range of experiences and a useful introduction to each country and its traditions and language.
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It’s time to return to our telenovela, Verano Español. In this sixth instalment, we’ll find out the latest about what’s happening in the Laura – Ángel – Ramón love triangle, and we’ll also hear if things are still ok between Antonio and Iona after Antonio’s the plumber’s visit! In Act II, Mark will help listeners understand the story by working through a series of questions and answers about what happens in this episode.
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In this week’s episode, Alba and Mark are en la cocina, making a Spanish tortilla. The episode is slightly different from our usual episodes as the audio was recorded live in the kitchen rather than in the studio. There’s no “Act II” this week as the conversation follows the entire process of making the tortilla.
Have a look at the photos of our culinary exploits below, and why not try making a tortilla yourself and send us your photos to network [at] radiolingua.com.
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The topic for this week’s episode of Show Time Spanish is food, or tapas in particular. Alba has recently had a bad experience in a tapas restaurant in Scotland, compared with her normal experiences of tapas in Spain. Mark and Alba talk about different tapas and their experience of eating Spanish food in Spain and elsewhere. Language points covered include ojalá, the word cobrar and si clauses. In this week’s intermedio, José introduces a couple of phrases which help you disagree with people emphatically.
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This week we return to a topic we covered previously – in response to listeners’ requests. It’s time to look at your tricks and tips for language learning. Mark and Alba talk about the suggestion of one of our listeners which involves printing out internet texts and cutting out the words. Listen to the episode for more information and further suggestions! Language topics this week include the alternative forms of the possessive adjectives including mío, tuyo, suyo, and so on. We also look at the phrase una vez, this time not linked to the subjunctive. 
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This week’s topic is low-cost airlines and the advantages and disadvantages of low-cost travel. Mark and Alba discuss their experiences of flying with low-cost airlines (and indeed with other airlines!) and José introduces two phrases which you can use when you manage to find a real bargain! Language points covered include the use of quedarse, fijarse and no sólo … sino también. Premium members will find a bonus item in this week’s feed – a special bonus episode concentrating on quedar and its various uses. Let us know what you think!
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Episode 25 of Show Time Spanish features the fifth instalment of our ‘telenovela’, Verano Español. At the end of the previous episode, Laura discovered that the boy who has been chatting her up on a daily basis in the panadería is none other than Ángel, her next-door neighbour. In episode 5 of the soap, Estela – Ángel’s sister – warns her about Ángel and his aventuras de verano, and Antonio plans his surprise arrival in Spain for Iona’s birthday, only to discover things are not quite what he expected!
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