Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Mi hermana es más auditiva y aprende mejor cuando escucha podcasts en español. - My sister is more auditory and learns better when she listens to podcasts in Spanish.

Mi hermana es más auditiva = This is part of who she is, her general learning style.
Mi hermana está cansada = She is tired (right now, temporary).

Because “being more auditory” describes her general learning preference (a stable trait), ser (es) is the natural choice, not estar.

What exactly does “auditiva” mean here? Is that natural Spanish?

Auditiva comes from oído (hearing) and oír (to hear). It means something like:

auditiva = related to hearing / auditory

In this context, es más auditiva = she’s more of an auditory learner (she learns better by listening).

It sounds somewhat technical or educational (like talking about visual, auditory, kinesthetic learning styles), but it’s fine and understandable.
In everyday speech, many people might instead say things like:

Aprende mejor escuchando. – She learns better by listening.
Es de aprender escuchando. – She’s the type who learns by listening.

Why is it “auditiva” and not “auditivo”?

Adjectives in Spanish agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

hermana is feminine singular → auditiva (feminine singular)
If it were mi hermano, you’d say: Mi hermano es más auditivo.

So:

Mi hermana es más auditiva.
Mi hermano es más auditivo.

Is “más auditiva” okay without saying “than something”? Isn’t a comparison missing?

Grammatically, “más auditiva” is complete; Spanish often leaves the comparison implicit, just like English sometimes does.

Context usually supplies the missing part:

Mi hermana es más auditiva (que visual).
→ My sister is more auditory (than visual).
Mi hermano es más visual.
→ My brother is more visual.

If the context is clear (talking about learning styles, or comparing her to others), you don’t have to say “que…” explicitly.

Why is it “aprende mejor” and not something like “aprende más mejor”?

In Spanish:

bien → mejor → el mejor
(good → better → the best)

It works like in English (good / better / best, not “more better”):

aprende bien – she learns well
aprende mejor – she learns better
aprende lo mejor que puede – she learns as best she can

So “más mejor” is incorrect in standard Spanish, just like “more better” is in English.

Why is it “cuando escucha” and not “cuando escuche”?

In time clauses with cuando, Spanish uses:

Indicative (escucha) for habitual, repeated, or past actions.
Subjunctive (escuche) for future or uncertain actions.

Here, it describes a habit:

Aprende mejor cuando escucha podcasts en español.
→ Whenever she listens… she learns better. (habit → indicative)

Compare:

Aprenderá mejor cuando escuche podcasts en español.
→ She will learn better when she listens to podcasts in Spanish.
(Future, not yet realized → subjunctive: escuche)

Could I say “aprende mejor escuchando podcasts en español” instead of “cuando escucha”?

Yes, both are natural, with a small nuance difference:

Aprende mejor cuando escucha podcasts en español.
Focus on the time/condition: when she listens, she learns better.
Aprende mejor escuchando podcasts en español.
Focus on the method: she learns better by listening to podcasts.

In many contexts, they’re interchangeable. The “‑ando” form (gerund) often answers “How? By doing what?”

What’s the difference between “escuchar” and “oír”? Could I say “cuando oye podcasts”?

oír = to hear (the sound reaches your ears, can be involuntary)
escuchar = to listen (active, intentional)

So:

Oigo música del vecino. – I hear the neighbor’s music. (whether I want to or not)
Escucho música. – I’m listening to music. (on purpose)

In this sentence, she is actively listening to podcasts to learn, so escucha is more natural than oye.
You could say oye podcasts, but it suggests just hearing them, not necessarily paying close attention.

Why is there no article before “podcasts”? Why not “los podcasts”?

Both are possible; the article changes the nuance:

escucha podcasts en español
→ she listens to podcasts in Spanish (in general, some podcasts)
escucha los podcasts en español
→ she listens to the podcasts in Spanish (some specific ones that we already know or mentioned)

In English, this is a bit like:

“She listens to podcasts in Spanish” vs.
“She listens to the podcasts in Spanish.”

The sentence you have talks about the type of resource, not specific podcasts, so no article is very natural.

Why is it “en español” and not “en el español” or “españoles”?

For languages, Spanish normally uses “en + language” with no article:

en español – in Spanish
en inglés – in English
en francés – in French

So:

escucha podcasts en español – listens to podcasts in Spanish.

“en el español” is rarely used and sounds odd here.
“podcasts españoles” would mean Spanish (from Spain) podcasts culturally/nationally, not necessarily “podcasts in Spanish as a language.”

Example contrast:

Escucha podcasts en español. – She listens to podcasts in the Spanish language.
Escucha podcasts españoles. – She listens to Spanish (from Spain) podcasts. (could even be about things in English subtitles etc., depending on context)

Can I move “mejor” to another place, like “mejor aprende cuando escucha…”?

Word order is more flexible in Spanish than in English, but some options sound more natural than others:

Most natural here:

Mi hermana aprende mejor cuando escucha podcasts en español.

Possible but more marked / poetic or emphatic:

Mi hermana mejor aprende cuando escucha podcasts en español.

That second option is not wrong, but it sounds old‑fashioned or very literary in many contexts. For everyday speech, keep:

[subject] + [verb] + mejor
→ Mi hermana aprende mejor…