Generally speaking, the preterite is used for actions in the past that are seen as completed whereas the imperfect is used for past actions that did not have a definite beginning or end.
E.G.
Juan hablo dos horas.
Juan spoke two hours.
Action = Completed.
Las chicas hablaban en ingles.
The girls used to speak in English.
No definite end or beginning.
Another way to view this is that preterite tells us specifically when an action took place, while imperfect tells us in general when an action took place.
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