Spanish Reading Guide
Spanish comprehensible input for beginners
Story Languages is an iPhone and iPad app with Spanish comprehensible input in two forms: graded stories from A1 to C2, and short clips from real Spanish videos with subtitles you can tap. Tap any word you don’t know, listen to a story read aloud, and save words to flashcards that keep their el or la.
Comprehensible input is Spanish you mostly understand, and for a beginner it is hard to find. Native videos run too fast, and most reading is either too hard or has no audio. Stories and clips at the same level let you read, hear and watch real sentences long before native media makes sense.
Download Story LanguagesWhat comprehensible input means
The idea comes from the linguist Stephen Krashen: you acquire a language by understanding messages in it, not by drilling rules. The input has to be mostly familiar, so the few new words make sense from everything around them.
“Mostly” means a lot. Research on reading puts comfortable comprehension at about 98% of words known, or one new word in fifty (Hu and Nation, 2000). A beginner meets far more than that in a novel or a TV series, which is why graded material matters most in the first months.
What to look for in Spanish input
Graded levels, so most of every page is already familiar
Reading and listening at the same level, not one without the other
Short clips from real videos, with subtitles you can follow
Tap for meaning, so one unknown word doesn't stop the whole sentence
Audio for every story, so you hear what you read
Review that keeps the article on every noun
How Story Languages does it
Stories from A1 to C2
Graded Spanish stories at every level from beginner to advanced. Tap a word for its meaning in the sentence, hold it to hear it, or turn on listen mode to hear the story read aloud sentence by sentence.
Short clips you can tap
Moments is a feed of short clips cut from real Spanish videos, for A1 to B1. Tap any word in the subtitles for its meaning, and the clip picks up again from that word.
Flashcards that keep el and la
Words you save come back on a spaced-repetition schedule, and Spanish nouns keep their article. The ready-made A1, A2 and B1 decks also show the Latin American word where it differs from Spain's.
A simple daily routine
- 1
Read one story at your level. If you are tapping more than a word every few lines, try the level below.
- 2
Turn on listen mode and follow the text while the story is read aloud.
- 3
Watch two or three clips at the same level, and tap the words you miss.
- 4
Save five words worth keeping.
- 5
Review them the next day, then reread the story and notice what you now understand without tapping.
FAQ
Where can I find Spanish comprehensible input at my level?
In Story Languages, an app for iPhone and iPad. It has graded Spanish stories from A1 to C2 and short clips from real Spanish videos for A1 to B1, with tap-to-translate, audio and flashcards built in.
Is there an app with graded Spanish stories and short videos together?
Yes. Story Languages has both in one app: graded stories to read and listen to, and Moments, a feed of short Spanish clips with subtitles you can tap. Words you save from either one become flashcards.
Doesn't tapping for a translation break comprehensible input?
No. The point of comprehensible input is to understand what you read and hear. In graded material most words are already familiar, and a tap covers the few that are not, so the sentence stays comprehensible instead of stopping you.
Is it Spain or Latin American Spanish?
Both. The stories use vocabulary from Spain and Latin America. The ready-made A1, A2 and B1 decks teach Spain Spanish and show the Latin American word on its own line where it differs.
Do the Spanish flashcards show el and la?
Yes. Every noun in the A1, A2 and B1 Spanish decks carries its article, and a noun you save from a story or a clip is saved with its article too.
Is Story Languages free?
The app is free to download, and you can start with free Spanish stories and a free preview of the clips. Premium opens the full library and removes the limits.
Related pages
Learn Spanish with stories
What makes Spanish hard to read, and how reading with the app helps.
How to get comprehensible input in Spanish as a beginner
Why the first months are the hardest, and a routine that reads, listens and watches at one level.