22 Spanish Audiobooks with Text That Delight and Entertain Every Learner
Did you know that you can listen to Spanish audiobooks with text to improve your pronunciation along with your listening comprehension?
If you’re a visual learner like me, audiobooks may not be your thing, because you need to see the words to comprehend them fully. Good news! In this post, we’ll explore how to use audiobooks together with text. And we’ll provide you with loads of links to free or inexpensive audiobooks and their companion transcripts for beginning, intermediate, and advanced Spanish learners!
Benefits of Audiobooks
Audiobooks can be novels, poems, stories, or non-fiction books—virtually any type of book you wish. They tend to provide much clearer audio than TV, movies, and music, which makes them great for learning. Imagine listening to a loud and clear voice enunciating each word, without the distraction of background noise. This is what most audiobooks offer.
Listening often to a wide variety of books will enhance your overall listening skills. Because the pace of speech in audiobooks is typically slower than that of conversation, listening to audiobooks with text is a helpful segue into being able to understand and join in on the more fast-paced conversations of native speakers.
Last but not least, audiobooks are super convenient. Like ebooks, they’re easy to download and take wherever you go. Compared to podcasts, the length of audiobooks varies greatly. If you’re pressed for time, just listen to a chapter, a poem, or a short story. If you want to devote a few hours to Spanish practice, you could even listen to a whole book in one sitting.
Strategies for Studying Audiobooks with Text
By listening to an audiobook while reading along with the print or ebook version, you will improve your vocabulary and avoid getting the pronunciation wrong. You’ll tune your ear to hear Spanish and gain exposure to new words, concepts, and interesting topics.
It’s empowering to find interesting and challenging audiobooks with text in Spanish that is appropriate for your level to boost your listening comprehension skills.
Listen to the audiobook while you read along with the written version of the book. Make note of the unfamiliar words and phrases. Note the meaning of the word in context (within the sentence) to better understand its meaning.
Let’s look at the top Spanish audiobooks with text for every level!
Beginner Spanish Audiobooks with Text
1. Simplemente Darío
Available free via LibriVox, Simplemente Darío is composed of five short poems by Rubén Darío, a popular Nicaraguan poet born in the late 19th century. Beginners will benefit from the cadence that makes them easy to listen to. Darío’s poems use common vocabulary for the most part.
2. La Edad de Oro
La edad de oro (The Golden Age) is another work from the public domain available via LibriVox. This collection of short children’s stories are written with basic vocabulary with children in mind. On the LibriVox website, scroll down and click the “Online Text” link on the left-hand column to download the e-book and follow along as you listen.
3. Spanish Short Stories For Beginners
Totaling nearly seven hours altogether, this collection of short stories is ideal for beginners. They come with PDFs so you can read along and even choose between two different speeds (slow and normal). Both narrators have beautiful clear pronunciation in Mexican Spanish. These cuentos center on daily life and use loads of common vocabulary words.
4. Caperucita Roja
Available as an Audiobook and Kindle ebook, the classic tale of a little girl encountering a wolf in the woods on the way to her grandmother’s house is presented in a Spanish version that will delight you. The audiobook is narrated in neutral Spanish and lasts 27 minutes from start to finish.
5. 12 Poemas de Amor
The 16-minute 12 Poemas de Amor audiobook includes some of the greatest love poems of all time, little known by many as they were written by Spanish-speaking poets in the 19th and 20th centuries. Available free with a one-month Audible trial, and it’ll only cost you $1.50 for the Kindle ebook.
Intermediate Spanish Audiobooks with Text
1. El cuervo
Edgar Allen Poe’s classic poem, “The Raven,” takes 1.5 hours to listen to in its entirety in Spanish. El cuervo is available for free on LibriVox. Although the vocabulary is somewhat advanced, intermediate students who are familiar with the English version will be able to follow it. Its rhythm also makes the poem easy and enjoyable to hear, even if you’re not familiar with it. Scroll down the page to download the Spanish audiobook file, and click “etext” to access the transcript.
2. El Principito
The Little Prince is available in Spanish as an audiobook and very affordable Kindle ebook. The entire book lasts 2.5 hours. Enjoy the marvelous story of a boy who comes from a planet the size of a house who asks questions and seeks answers to things adults find trivial. Sometimes, adults want kids to look at things in a serious way, and that’s no fun! The Little Prince sees wonder in the details and inspires us to do the same.
3. El maravilloso mago de Oz
The Spanish version of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is on Kindle and Audible.
It’s a timeless story for kids of all ages that was published in 1900. Follow the adventures of Dorothy and her dog Totó as they explore the vivid world of Oz, meeting friends on the journey to meet the wizard who can hopefully help them find their way home. The whole book lasts 4.25 hours.
4. La lección de August: Wonder
August Pullman was born with a major facial difference that kept him from going to a mainstream school until 5th grade. At first, his new classmates can’t see past Auggie’s extraordinary face. The story is told from multiple points of view and illustrates the struggle to find true compassion and acceptance. Grab the Kindle and Audible versions of this touching modern young adult novel.
5. La Vuelta Al Mundo en 80 Dias
Called “Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours” in French, Around the World in Eighty Days was published in French and English in 1873. Why not listen to one of Jules Verne’s most acclaimed novels in Spanish? Follow along with the adventures of Phileas Fogg on his attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days. Get it on Kindle and Audible.
6. Padre Rico, Padre Pobre
Rich Dad Poor Dad is a story of growing up with two dads and how both men shaped the author’s thoughts about money and personal finance. The book explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you by investing. Download via Kindle and Audible.
7. El Alquimista
The subtitle of this book is “A Fable About Following Your Dream.” Paulo Coelho’s enchanting novel has inspired a devoted worldwide following. This simple story is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago on a quest to the desert in Egypt in search of buried treasure. His journey to find riches turns into a meditation on the treasures found within. Purchase on Kindle and Audible
8. Más allá del invierno
A sweeping novel by renowned Chilean author Isabel Allende about three people who are brought together unexpectedly, this gripping story is set in present-day Brooklyn, Guatemala in the recent past, and 1970s Chile and Brazil. In the Midst of Winter begins with a minor traffic accident, the catalyst for an unexpected love story between two people in the winter of their lives. Get the Kindle and Audible versions.
9. La reina del sur
This thriller spans decades and continents—from the dusty streets of Mexico to the coast of Morocco, Spain, and the Strait of Gibraltar—in a story encompassing loyalty and betrayal, life and death, drug smuggling, and the world of narcos. Access the Kindle and Audible versions.
10. Dispara, yo ya estoy muerto
Shoot, I’m Already Dead is on Kindle and Audible. This gripping story of two families struggling to overcome their destinies is set in 1948. The book is full of real people who take charge of their fate by following their dreams and fighting for their lives.
Advanced Spanish Audiobooks with Text
1. Don Quijote
The classic novel by Miguel de Cervantes is available for free via LibriVox. It follows an often bumbling knight as he strives to be a hero. Don Quijote is a great choice for advanced Spanish students. Because it’s such a beloved classic, reading this book is good for both your Spanish literacy and cultural education. It’s an old tale written in the 17th century, so some of the vocabulary is antiquated, and you’ll need to use context clues and/or a dictionary to decode the meaning of some words.
2. Lazarillo de Tormes
Dating back even further (from the 16th century), Lazarillo de Tormes is also on LibriVox. It’s the life story of the title character. Notably, this book is thought to have introduced the picaresque novel, a type of episodic novel that follows a rogue hero. It was even banned during the Spanish Inquisition! However, due to its historical nature, much of the vocabulary is more challenging than other books.
3. Moby Dick
Widely regarded as the greatest American novel of all time, Moby Dick is a story of whaling, an adventure, a romance with eccentric characters, a symbolic allegory, and an epic drama rolled into one. Get the ebook and audiobook.
4. Cien años de soledad
One Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world as renowned Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s masterpiece. The novel vividly chronicles the story of the mythical town of Macondo through the intriguing story of the Buendía family. Both tragic and comical, One Hundred Years of Solitude has been translated into dozens of languages. Listen to and read it in its original Spanish via Kindle and Audiobook.
5. El Amor en los Tiempos del Cólera
Also penned by Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera is the story of a young couple who falls passionately in love but cannot be together. With humor and craft, the author spins the tale of 50 years of unrequited love. Love flows through the novel in joyful, melancholy, and surprising ways. Get the Kindle and Audiobook versions.
6. Como agua para chocolate
Listen to Like Water for Chocolate, the bestselling phenomenon that was the inspiration for an award-winning film. This magical and charming tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico blends romance and wit. Author Laura Esquivel uses magical realism to make the main character Tita’s contact with food sensual, emotional, and dramatic.
7. 20,000 Leguas de Viaje Submarino
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne is one of the all-time greatest underwater sea adventures. It is both a harbinger of technology to come (Verne accurately forecasted the development of submarine vessels in the book) and a captivating tale of epic adventure which has delighted readers since its original publication in 1872.
Listen, Read, and Speak!
Listening to a language and following a written text at the same time is one of the best ways to learn a language. We hope you enjoy our list of Spanish audiobooks with text to help you boost your Spanish to the next level. To become fluent in Spanish faster, make sure you try speaking it! Sign up for a free class with Homeschool Spanish Academy to develop your listening and speaking skills!
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