The Olympic Games, thoroughly covered in Spanish

If you're looking to work on your Spanish as you follow this year's Olympic Games from Beijing, there may be no better place to do it than the Web site of the Spanish television network RTVE. You'll find all the updates you could hope for, as well as a wide assortment of video clips and live coverage (look for the "en directo" labels).

As I write this, the site is featuring highlights of the opening ceremonies — not available legally on U.S.-based websites because of NBC's decision to do everything it can to build its audience for the 12-to-15-hour-delay coverage it will offer this evening.

RTVE's site is entirely in Spanish, of course, although even if you have only a basic knowledge of the language you won't have a terribly difficult time navigating the site.

The only Spanish-language television coverage in the United States (except for those living close to the Mexican border) comes from NBC-owned Telemundo, although its coverage will be mainly of soccer (fútbol).

Of course, if you look around the Web, you'll also find plenty of Spanish-language Olympics coverage, including streaming video, from throughout the Spanish-speaking world. If you have a favorite site for following the Olympics, be sure to let us know by clicking on the Comments link below.

Update: Since this post was written, RTVE has blocked access to Internet users based in the United States, and perhaps other areas as well. In fact, it has become increasingly difficult for Internet users in the United States to find streaming live video of the Olympics from anyplace other than NBC; some of the sites that were available a few days ago have been blocked. But while live video may not be available, there are still plenty of other places you can get Olympics news in Spanish. Among them:

• Beijing 2008 (official site)
• Clarín (Buenos Aires)
• Olímpiadas Beijing 2008
• ABC (Madrid)
• El Universal (Mexico City)
• Terra (Miami)