Free resources to learn Spanish
Amalia’s favorite Spanish grammar books, and the websites, podcasts and video channels she uses with her students. Links checked in October 2026.
I first send a small test to determine the level of the student. Once I know the appropriate level, I use many interactive online resources for each one. These are the ones I come back to.
My favorite Spanish grammar books
- Manual de gramática (World Languages), 5th edition, by Zulma Iguina and Eleanor Dozier
- Essential Spanish Grammar in Review, 1st edition, by John Koppenhaver and Lynn Winget
- The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice: Mastering Spanish Grammar for Confident Communication, 1st edition, by Ronni Gordon and David Stillman
- Workbook in Everyday Spanish, Book 1: Elementary/Intermediate, 2nd edition, by Julio I. Andújar and Robert J. Dixson
- 501 Spanish Verbs, 7th edition, by Christopher Kendris and Theodore Kendris
- Webster’s New World Spanish Grammar Handbook, 1st edition, by Gail Stein
- The Practice Makes Perfect series, by Dorothy Richmond
Grammar and exercises online
- Spanish Grammar at Bowdoin College
- StudySpanish.com
- 123TeachMe
- Spanish MOOC
- Duolingo: Spanish
- FSI Language Courses, the public-domain courses of the U.S. Foreign Service Institute
- Por and para, an automatic exercise
- Para and por, explained at SpanishDict
- Medical Spanish for Healthcare Providers
- Cuentos para chicos, short stories in Spanish
Dictionaries and pronunciation
- WordReference
- Forvo, to hear how native speakers pronounce a word
Podcasts and audio
Video
- Beginners Spanish Lessons, 1 of 40, by Master Spanish Language
- Spanish Sessions, and their lesson on the subjunctive for recommendations
- SpanishPod101 on YouTube
- Papitus
- Mi Vida Loca, the BBC’s interactive video mystery for beginners
- Talk Spanish, also from the BBC
The links on this page were checked in October 2026; the ones that no longer worked were removed. If you find one that is broken, write to me.