Spanish - resources
I've been learning Spanish for about 3 years now and this is a list of resources I compiled for myself:
Books
Most of the books I read were fiction (🍄). Some were psychology (🧠). I'd say most of them are good for B1/B2 level. At PBZ they organize a book club in Spanish and some books are from that book club.
🍄 El bosque en silencio - Monica Subietas
The plot of the lost and found painting was super interesting. I also liked that the action happens in Zurich.
🍄 La Reina Roja - Juan Gomez Jurado
A very suspanseful thriller (a bit too dark for me at times, I did not know that you can kill someone by removing all the blood in their body). Easy to read, it has a bit of the Hollywood movie vibe, sometimes the author exaggerated a bit with Antonia Scott's super powers.
🍄 La sombra del viento - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
I read this book before a trip I made to Barcelona. The action takes place in Barcelona, so I loved to read about places that I visited later on. I was so excited about it, that I even made a storymap for it. I found the book easy to read and very captivating: you just can't put the book down until you found out who Julian Carax is!
🍄 Cien anos de soledad - Gabriel García Márquez
This book was on my "absolutely must read" booklist for 2024, but I found it really difficult to read for a non-native speaker. I was drawn into it by how crazy all the events and the characters were. Sometimes I had to read a section again because it was hard to figure out whether I understood correctly. I should read it again once I get my spanish skills to next level. It would be nice to organize a book club to read it together and discuss it. This graphic of the genealogical tree was so helpful to keep up with the Jose Arcadios and Aurelianos 😁.
🧠 Enamorate de ti - Walter Riso
It's about learning how to find a middle ground between being a narcissist and not recognizing your worth. Be realistic: trust what you can do, push your limits to achieve more, treat yourself kindly, focus on your positive traits, try to change the negative ones, learn from your mistakes, but don't let yourself or others put you down. I'd say this book is comprehensible starting with B1 level, I was surprised how easy it was to understand it.
Podcasts
Movies
[Spain]
[Argentina]
Medianeras - I loved this movie because it tackles with humor the topic of solitude in large cities: in a world that is super connected we disconnect more and more from each other.