So much has been going on here at SpanishPod’s Studio Fiesta, it’s hard to keep track! Here’s what’s going on…

SpanishPod Holiday Special
The biggest news, of course, is Holiday discount being offered through the month of December on subscriptions. Give SpanishPod as a gift, or add some time to your own subscription! Click here for more details!

SpanishPod Community Updates
The Conversations section has been hopping lately! By far, the most lively discussion has been taking place on Where are you from?, where members of the SpanishPod community from all over the world have been checking in to say hello. Some of the more advanced Spanish students have been weighing in at Hit The Jackpot, SpanishPod’s first Intermediate-level lesson. Finally, I’ve been trying to come up with a cool name for my new Q&A show that will be coming up soon. I posted some ideas over on New SpanishPod Extra Show; some good ideas, some bad ideas, and one that was a little bit racy, just to see who was paying attention… just so you know, nothing gets past AuntySue!

The Praxis tech team has been hard at work making goodies for SpanishPod community members like you and me. For example, they’ve built a widget that you can post in the sidebar of your own blog; see the widget in action and find the code here!

If you’re a Facebook user, please add the SpanishPod Facebook application and join the Facebook SpanishPod group; it’s not only another fun way to interact with other SpanishPod friends, but it also helps get the word out that SpanishPod is up and running.

If you’re accessing SpanishPod lessons through iTunes, check out the page in the iTunes store for educational podcasts; SpanishPod is being featured in the New and Notable section! Click here to go directly to SpanishPod: subscribe page. While you’re there, take a minute to write us a Customer Review!

SpanishPod Product updates

• Leo is hosting a new Extra show called ¿Qué pasa?, a news and features podcast highlighting the latest news that every SpanishPod user should know about. Look for the first ¿Qué pasa? to come out before the end of this week.
• The Exercises section of each lesson is now up and running! Please let us know what you think!
• SpanishPod mail is working now; go to your About page in the Conversations section and check to see if you have messages!
• Every so often we receive “chipmunk alerts” from users who hear the audio playing at double or triple speed. When we detect audio chipmunks here at Studio Fiesta, we usually fly into action and fix the problem, so that you can enjoy your SpanishPod lessons at human speed. To prevent audio chipmunks from originating at your end, please make sure you’ve got the most up-to-date version of the flashplayer; click here to update.

SpanishPod Team Update
Our dear friend Adriana Castañeda has returned to her native Bogotá, Columbia to continue her career as a language educator. We do miss her lovely face in the office, but happily for us she continues to grace SpanishPod Conversations section with her comments and insights. We wish her the best!

We delighted to be joined by Estibalitz Gete, who is taking over editing duties as well as some voice work and future co-hosting. Esti is from San Sebastian, the beautiful resort town in Spain’s Basque country. She will help bring the European point of view to our work, and help us represent the Spanish language’s more international dimension. Welcome, Estibalitz!

As always, we love to hear from you, our worldwide SpanishPod community. Please drop us a line at SpanishPod@gmail.com, even if it’s just to say “hola.”

JP Villanueva