"Nosotros estamos hablando en la clase."
Translation:We are speaking in class.
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So in previous lessons it would say that " Nosotros hablamos" also meant we are speaking. Is this correct?
Yes, it's correct. There are a couple different forms of the present that you can use.
We speak/talk = hablamos (present)
We are speaking/talking = estamos hablando (present continuous)
The difference is that the Spanish tense taught in this lesson can only be used when the action is currently taking place.
For example, the english sentence "We are talking at eight tonight" could NOT be translated "Estamos hablando a las ocho esta noche" -- the action takes place in the future so the Spanish present progessive form is incorrect. But you could use "Nosotros hablamos a las ocho esta noche" since the simple present tense can look forward to near future actions.
Another example would be something like "We had a fight but we are speaking again." You couldn't use "estamos hablando" here because you are talking about "speaking" in general (you're on speaking terms again) rather than speaking at a particular moment.
Is there a difference between speaking and talking in Spanish? In English, I think of the word speaking as saying something to a group. Less of a discussion and more of a solo activity before a group.
In the dictionary, both to speak and to talk is translated as hablar, and I use it for both regardless of the audience. The context usually clarifies who is being addressed. Dirigir is also use when speaking of addressing an audience and perhaps is a little more specific. For to say I use decir.
I put "we are speaking in the classroom" and was marked wrong. On previous sentences I translated "clase" as class, and was marked wrong. Not fun if it turns into a guessing game. Reported
The same here. In one sentence they accept "the class" only and reject "classroom" and in another sentence vice versa
She does not pronounce the "en" at all. I know it is needed but she doesn't say it. That makes it harder for students to know what is correct.
I heard and wrote las clases. - TWICE. Apparently that is wrong but there is no indication given as what was wrong,
Is Hablando an adjective here? Should I understand "speaking" as in "we are (the) speaking (people)"?
No, it is not an adjective. If it were, it would change to match the subject and be hablandos.
It's the present participle of the verb, which along with a form of estar, makes the present progressive verb tense.