Free Spanish Short Stories To Accelerate Your Learning

Spanish stories are a fantastic language learning resource. Not only do you get to lose yourself in a literary world (or something closer to the real world if you’re reading non-fiction), but you’re being exposed to new vocabulary and sentence structures in your target language. It’s a win-win!

Now, reading in Spanish comes with a handful of challenges. Getting through each chapter may take longer as you constantly stop to look up a word that you don’t know. You may find yourself re-reading the same sentence over and over again without much comprehension. This ultimately disrupts your reading flow. When learning Spanish, you want to immerse yourself in the language without losing motivation or interest. 

In this post, we’ll share how you can develop a stronger reading flow in Spanish with LingQ, a tool that allows you simultaneously read the content you love, search and save new vocabulary with one click, and listen to the audio. We’ll also share a handful of solid short story recommendations to accelerate your Spanish learning. 

Spanish Stories for Beginners

Spanish Tales for Beginners

When collecting stories for Spanish Tales for Beginners, Elijah Clarence Hills had three rules in mind: each work should 1) be well-written, 2) portray modern Spanish life and 3) not be too linguistically difficult for a Spanish learner. What do you think, do his stories meet these guidelines? 

The Spanish Experiment

The Spanish Experiment contains several well-known children’s stories translated into Spanish. Each story comes with a recording made by a native Spanish speaker. Relive your childhood with these classics!

Cuentos Para Dormir

If you like what The Spanish Experiment has to offer, take a look at Cuentos Para Dormir. This website has a much bigger selection of Spanish children’s stories available.

An Elementary Spanish Reader

An Elementary Spanish Reader by Earl Stanley Harrison contains a series of short stories and fables. The book contains constant repetition of common words and expressions, perfect for a novice Spanish learner.

LingQ Mini Stories (Spanish)

At LingQ, we offer a series of mini stories specially designed for the language learner. Each mini story is filled with the high-frequency vocabulary and sentence structures you need to build a solid foundation in Spanish. Each story comes with an audio recording from a native Spanish speaker, and you have the choice between a Latin American of European Spanish series. The Latin American collection of mini-stories, for example, contains 62 lessons and nearly 2,000 fundamental words in Spanish. Check out our other beginner courses, filled with short stories for beginners on LingQ.

Spanish Stories for Intermediate Learners

El Principito

Chances are you’ve read The Little Prince already. After all, it’s one of the most translated books in the world. Why not challenge yourself to read the poetic tale of a young prince who falls to Earth from an asteroid in Spanish? El Principito is available as a series of language lessons, with both text and audio, in our Spanish LingQ Library.  

Practical Spanish Intermediate Readings

This is a collection of stories (and one letter) about everyday life in Spanish. Each short story has an accompanying audio. The narrator has a clear voice and speaks at a good pace for intermediate learners.

e-Stories.org

This gem of a site is a place for writers to showcase their short stories. The Spanish selection offers tales in all  genres: mystery, horror, romance, experimental, humor (why not learn some Spanish jokes through reading?), fairy tales, and more. There are lots of stories on the shorter side. You can also practice your writing by leaving a comment for the writer of a story you liked.

The Linguist: una guía personal para el aprendizaje de idiomas

Follow the journey of polyglot Steve Kauffman as he recounts his language-learning journey. From studying French in Paris to learning Japanese for professional endeavors, gain valuable insight regarding how languages are learned while following Steve’s fascinating story. This book is available in several languages on LingQ.

Spanish Stories for Advanced Learners

Don Quixote

If you really want to challenge yourself, try reading one of the most influential pieces of literature from the Spanish Golden Age, a time when arts and literature flourished in Spain. It might take you a while, but imagine the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel when you finish it! Don Quixote is available on LingQ, divided into smaller, more manageable lessons. 

LivingSpanish

I know, I know, poems aren’t stories, but this great resource deserves a mention anyway. Figuring out the nuances and subtleties of poetry can be tough even in your native language, so doing it in a language you’re learning is not for the faint-hearted. If you’re an advanced learner and want to read the biographies and works of poets like Pedro Salinas and Federico García Lorca then you’ll want to check this resource out.

Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is  a treasure trove of content for language learners. This link takes you to a list of advanced reading materials on the site. The list isn’t restricted to stories, but there are lots of them to discover.

Los Tres Mosqueteros

A great way to develop reading flow is to read works that you’re already familiar with. Perhaps you’ve read The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Why not give it a try in Spanish? This work is available on LingQ, divided into smaller chunks averaging 20 minutes of reading per lesson.

Import Spanish Stories into LingQ to Accelerate Your Studying

Steve Kaufmann has always said the best way to learn a new language is by using (native) compelling content. Let me quickly show you how you can create the ultimate Spanish lesson – using LingQ and compelling content:

Once you’ve logged into LingQ, click the import button at the top right corner of your screen.

Afterwards, simply paste the transcript, add a picture, and audio into the designated areas.

Once you’ve hit save, you can open your lesson and start practicing Spanish by reading, listening, and reviewing (all in one platform).

Oh, and don’t forget, it’s on mobile too so you can take your lessons on the go and have more time to study.

Phew! That’s a lot of reading. If you want to try a short story or novel in Spanish using LingQ, be sure to give importing a try. Not only can you import short stories online but you can also import YouTube videos.  Create the most interactive Spanish lessons today. LingQ is the best way of learning Spanish online because it lets you learn from content you enjoy! 

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Also, LingQ is available on mobile. Take your lessons wherever you go and listen to your target language, read your transcripts, and create review flashcards. LingQ’s language learning apps are available for both Android and iOS.

Enjoyed this post? Check out polyglot and LingQ cofounder Steve Kaufmann’s blog post for some tips for learning Spanish!