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Spanish LANGUAGE LEARNING GUIDE
If you would like to travel to the paradisiac beaches in the Caribbean and have the time of your life, or move to Spain, get a better job at a Spanish or Latin American company, or impress your Spanish-speaking in-laws, you should definitely start learning Spanish today.
Today, you have dozens of options if your objective is to be fluent in Spanish. Whether you are learning with free (or premium) apps like Duolingo and Memrise, or you’re taking group or individual lessons with a native-speaking instructor, soon you’ll find yourself able to hold conversations, write texts, and even sing in Spanish!
Certainly, learning Spanish is an asset, especially considering there are over 500 million speakers in the world (and a large number of them are living in the USA!). So, if you are looking to join their ranks, read our complete guide on how to learn Spanish today. ¡Vamos!
Today, you have dozens of options if your objective is to be fluent in Spanish. Whether you are learning with free (or premium) apps like Duolingo and Memrise, or you’re taking group or individual lessons with a native-speaking instructor, soon you’ll find yourself able to hold conversations, write texts, and even sing in Spanish!
Certainly, learning Spanish is an asset, especially considering there are over 500 million speakers in the world (and a large number of them are living in the USA!). So, if you are looking to join their ranks, read our complete guide on how to learn Spanish today. ¡Vamos!
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1. Why Learn Spanish Today
You may have heard a thousand times that you should learn Spanish... but why? What makes it different (or better) than learning other popular languages such as Mandarin Chinese, German, or Arabic? Here we present you with some reasons why you should learn Spanish today regardless of your age, background, or level.
- The USA has geographical proximity to Latin America, in addition to commercial and cultural ties, while the UK has close bonds to Spain.
- Millions of native Spanish speakers live in the USA (and they are likely to be many more shortly!), while hundreds of thousands are living in Canada, Australia and the UK.
- Many words and expressions are the same. Spanish has borrowed extensively from English, using words like sale, notebook, piercing, or hockey on a daily basis. Conversely, English also has borrowed terms like armada, sierra, or mosquito, so you’ll soon discover there are many terms you already know!
- and many more reasons! Discover them below.
Professional Benefits
Learning Spanish can help you boost your career, especially if you plan to do business with Latin America. As you probably know already, most Latin American countries speak Spanish (except for Brazil, which speaks Portuguese), and the number of fluent English speakers is very low.
For example, Education First publishes an annual study comparing English proficiency among countries and regions where English is not the native language. According to the 2025 EF English Proficiency Index, Argentina remains the highest-ranked country in Latin America, placing 26th globally out of 123 countries and regions with a score of 575. The results show that English proficiency still varies considerably across Latin America, which can make Spanish especially valuable for anyone planning to work or do business in the region.
Plus, there are nearly 4.4 million Latino-owned businesses in the United States that contribute more than $700 billion to the American economy every year, according to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. So, learning Spanish can be beneficial at home, not only if you plan to travel abroad.
So, if you
- Are planning to relocate to a Spanish-speaking country soon,
- Need to interact with business partners, suppliers, or stakeholders from Latin America or Spain,
- Would like to expand your existing company to Latin America,
- Want to reach out to the more than 40 million Spanish speakers living in the USA...
... then, learning Spanish is essential for your career or business to succeed. And if you need more arguments to convince you why you should learn Spanish for your career, you should read our article on 5 reasons why you should speak Spanish in the workplace. And here you can find essential phrases in Spanish to use for business!
”The classes with Javier have been great so far. He is a flexible, communicative and open-minded teacher who plans his lessons around my needs.”
Lucyna Sobecka - Spanish course in Cork
To Travel Around the World
If you are an avid traveller, then you already know the importance of knowing the local language to get by in a foreign country. This is especially true in places like Central or Latin America, where bilingualism in English is not widespread. For instance, all the street signs, magazines, restaurant menus, etc. are in Spanish. You’ll be lucky if you find something in English at the airport!
Furthermore, there’s no better way to connect with the local culture than by knowing the local language. Learn Spanish and you will get to know more about their customs and traditions, and you’ll even be able to discover secret places unknown to tourists. You won’t be restricted to resorts or hotels where everybody speaks only English!
Learn Spanish as a Springboard for Other Languages
Spanish is a Romance language. This means that it is a linguistic sister to many other European languages such as French, Portuguese, Italian, and even Romanian. Why is this relevant, you may ask? Because it means that, once you are proficient in one of them, it will be a lot easier to learn the others!
Their vocabulary is very much alike (compare “palabras” in Spanish with “palavras” in Portuguese or “idea” in Spanish and “idée” in French) and their grammatical rules and syntax are also similar. So, if you plan to be a polyglot soon, you can start by learning Spanish and take it from there!
To Expand Your Social Circle at Home
Acquiring Spanish is not only useful if you plan to go abroad. Locally, you’ll find millions of people who speak Spanish as their first or second language. For example, in the USA there are more than 40 million Spanish speakers, to be precise, while you’ll find over 150,000 in the UK and 140,000 in Australia (according to the 2011 census).
And if you are wondering if you can put your Spanish skills to the test at home, the answer is: of course you can! For instance, if you live in Washington DC, you can attend the yearly Mexico Films Across Borders, hosted by the Mexican Cultural Institute on Dupont Circle. Or, if you are in Chicago, you can visit the Little Village area, which is part of the South Lawndale neighbourhood on the west side of the city. There, you can find Mexican bakeries, Cuban grocery stores, and many other shops with items of Latino origin.
Similarly, those living in the UK will find their professional opportunities broadened by knowing Spanish, as trade between the UK and Latin America doubled between 2011 and 2018, according to a report by the RSA Insurance Group.
And if you live in Australia, every year you can attend the Spanish Film Festival celebrated in Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane, in addition to finding museums, music shows, and restaurants that will help you connect with the Hispanic culture on a whole new level.
2. What Spanish Should I Learn?
Like English, Spanish is a language with many dialects, accents, and regional variations. It’s only natural that, being spoken in 21 countries, there are major differences in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. For example, did you know that car is “auto” in Argentina, “carro” in Mexico, and “coche” in Spain? The same happens with common words like avocado, straw, or T-shirt.
| English term | European Spanish | Argentinian Spanish | Mexican Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basketball | Baloncesto | Básquet | Baloncesto |
| Straw | Sorbete | Pajita | Popote |
| T-shirt | Camiseta o sudadera | Remera | Playera |
| Ceiling | Tejado | Techo | Techo |
| Cash (slang) | Pasta | Guita | Lana |
| Hanger | Colgadero | Percha | Gancho |
| Strawberry | Fresón | Frutilla | Fresa |
Don’t fret, though: these Spanish varieties are mutually intelligible, so locals will be able to understand you even if you don’t remember the right word for skirt. Just bear in mind that there is no “standard” Spanish you can learn. Instead, we recommend that you study the Spanish variety that suits your needs.
But if you are planning to move to a certain Spanish-speaking country and would like to learn Spanish focusing on that particular variety, you can contact us today! We will pair you up with native-speaking, professional Spanish instructors with years of experience. Or you can take a look at some of our language guides:
3. Castellano vs Español: Is It All the Same?
Of course not! Just as with American and British English, castellano (the variety spoken in Latin America) and español (as spoken in Spain) have differences in grammar, pronunciation, style, and vocabulary. Here are some of them:
Vosotros/Ustedes
While in Spain the second-person plural is “vosotros”, Latin American Spanish uses “ustedes”. This makes verb conjugations very different (and complicated!). Watch this:
- Vosotros sabéis de música.
- Ustedes saben de música.
Or:
- Vosotros corristeis por la plaza.
- Ustedes corrieron por la plaza.
Voseo
This is a phenomenon that takes place in South America, more specifically in Argentina and some parts of Uruguay. There, instead of using the pronoun “tú”, people use “vos”. Similar to what happens with vosotros and ustedes, the differences in verb conjugation are huge, especially when it comes to pronunciation:
- Escuchá, Pablo, no parecés preocupado.
- Escucha, Pablo, no pareces preocupado.
Seseo
Castilian and European Spanish also differ in their pronunciation of the letter “s”. While in Latin America people pronounce “abrazo” with an “s” (as in “sit”), Spaniards would say “abrazo” with a sound called theeta (θ) which in English is spelt “th” as in “throw”. Watch this video by the BBC to find more examples of this phenomenon!
These are only some examples of these variations. If you’d like to learn more, you can always read our article on Castilian vs European Spanish!
4. Learn Spanish With a Teacher
If you have decided to take the leap and start learning Spanish, you won’t regret taking lessons with a teacher. At Language Trainers, for example, we partner with professional, experienced instructors who are native speakers of the language they teach.
Main Reasons Why You Should Learn Spanish With a Teacher
Learning with a professional tutor means they’ll be able to explain even the most complex formal aspects of Spanish in an engaging way while they transmit cultural values and traditions to you that can’t be learned otherwise. If you are not convinced yet, here you can find many compelling reasons why you should start learning Spanish with a teacher today.
For Motivation and Support
It can be really hard to stay motivated if you are not sure of what you are doing or if your efforts are paying off. Motivation plays a crucial role when learning anything, especially a foreign language.
It’s only natural to feel frustrated when learning a language. Sometimes, things will not go as well or as fast as you may want, no matter how much effort you put into learning them. For example, mastering the rolled R’s as a native English speaker can take a lot of time!
Your teacher, then, will help you stay calm and motivated, and remind you that these things take time. Plus, they will give you advice based on their experience of what to do if you get stuck.
With all the distractions we have today, it can be easy to drift away from your study time and end up using Instagram without even noticing! This will not happen if you take language lessons with a teacher. Instead, you’ll have an hour, or two, or any period you agree with your tutor of focused language instruction (and fun!).
Also, a professional Spanish tutor can help you focus on what’s important. If you are learning Argentinian Spanish on your own, for example, you may think that the present perfect tense (he ido) is important, but in reality, it’s rare for people to use it.
To Ask Questions
Today, you can find amazingly well-written (or recorded) materials on the internet entirely for free. But, no matter how good they seem, chances are you are going to have questions. Instead of spending hours flipping through books trying to find the correct answer, you can just ask your teacher.
To Improve Your Speaking Skills
No matter our individual reasons for learning Spanish, the ultimate goal is always the same: to be able to communicate our ideas in this foreign language. For this, you’ll need to pay special attention to your productive skills: writing and speaking.
While writing can be developed on your own, speaking is a different story. Without someone who gives you feedback on your pronunciation, intonation, and overall performance, it’s hard to truly advance. Luckily, your teacher can help you take your speaking skills to the next level and help you pinpoint the areas that need some improvement.
Individual or Group Lessons
If you have already decided you’d like to learn Spanish, now comes another decision: whether to study alone with a private teacher or with a group. Both of these options have great advantages and some cons, too. Let’s review them below!
Individual Spanish Lessons
Individual language lessons are brilliant options for people who need to advance their skills quickly and in a personalised way. For instance, an engineer who needs to sit for an exam to advance in their career will find it much more useful to hire a teacher who can take care of this very specific requirement. Other advantages of one-to-one lessons when compared to group language classes include:
- Feel safe and comfortable. Having contact with strangers can be tough for some people, and even more so if you feel ridiculous when trying to pronounce in Spanish. With individual Spanish lessons, you don’t have to get out of your comfort zone (at least not yet!).
- Learn faster: Your teacher can focus on you exclusively, helping you identify your strengths and weaknesses. Plus, you won’t be bored while the tutor focuses on another student who might be a bit slower than you.
- You don’t have to adapt to others’ schedules. The lessons will be completely tailored to your needs and busy schedule, so you can take lessons at 6 in the morning if you prefer (so long as the teacher agrees, of course!), even if nobody else can join you at that time.
Group Lessons
If you would like to socialize while learning Spanish, then group lessons are your best choice. And there are other benefits of choosing group sessions instead of private Spanish classes:
- Learn from others. What makes group learning wonderful is that you can learn from each other. If your partner makes a mistake when conjugating a verb, for example, and the teacher corrects them, you can take notes so as not to make the same mistake.
- The lessons are usually cheaper, as you’ll share the cost of the class with other students.
- Participate in enriching cultural exchange. For example, if you participate in Spanish group lessons with students from Italy, you’ll soon learn that they usually have dinner at 9 pm instead of at 7 pm as in the USA.
- Participate in (almost) real-life conversation. At times, conversations with your Spanish teacher can be a bit artificial, as your tutor will try and do everything to help you succeed (even lower their Spanish level to suit yours). Instead, talking to peers who are at the same level as you will give you a hint of how real-life conversations will go once you finish your Spanish course.
If all of this has inspired you to learn Spanish with a group, we can help! We can offer open group lessons, where you’ll meet learners from different parts of the world with a language level similar to yours. Or you can sign up for private Spanish lessons with friends, family, or co-workers. The choice is yours!
5. Face-to-Face or Online
If you are looking to learn Spanish fast, now there’s another important decision you have to make: to study face-to-face or online. While these two ways of learning are fairly similar (after all, you’ll have an instructor with whom to interact and acquire everything you need to be fluent in Spanish), there are specific advantages to choosing one or the other. Let’s explore these benefits below!
Learn Spanish Face-to-Face
- You’ll have real-life interaction. If you are learning Spanish, your ultimate goal is probably to be able to communicate fluently. For this, there’s no better way than to communicate with a person using your target language. While online classes are great, talking face-to-face with your teacher also gives you access to non-verbal cues like facial expressions, gestures and postures that are hard to grasp when using a webcam.
- You’ll feel more comfortable. Most of us have gone through traditional classrooms at some point in our lives, so you’ll probably feel more comfortable learning face-to-face than doing so online, especially if you’ve never been in a virtual classroom before.
- It’s easier to connect with your teacher. Establishing rapport is crucial to learning languages. You’ll be practising and making a lot of mistakes, so you should feel comfortable with your tutor, and it’s easier to get to know your teacher if you are in the same place and can make some small talk.
Learn Spanish Online
- It’s easier to find a suitable teacher. If you want to study Peruvian Spanish and you live in Canada, for example, it’s not going to be that easy to find a native-speaking, certified instructor with whom to learn. But if you take online Spanish lessons, you can directly contact a teacher living in Peru without any issues!
- Online Spanish classes are usually cheaper than in-person lessons, especially if you join group sessions like Language Trainers Connect!
- No travel time. Those who have a hectic schedule and are tired of commuting everywhere will surely appreciate this! You only have to turn on the computer, tablet or smartphone 5 minutes before the lesson, make sure everything is working properly, and get started! Plus, you won’t have to spend extra money on gas or public transport.
- You have endless resources at your disposal. Taking online Spanish lessons gives you the opportunity to use free tools and resources such as dictionaries, flashcard makers, short movie clips, podcasts, YouTube videos, songs, online translators, and many more!
- More flexibility: As nobody has to commute to class, you can reschedule your class with only 24 hours’ notice. Also, if you need to travel, this doesn’t mean you cannot take your language lessons during this time. You may have to adjust to being in a different time zone, but other than that, you can take your Spanish class as if you were at home.
And if you’ve never taken an online lesson before and you’re wondering how they work, you can watch our video featuring a Spanish lesson and get an idea of the way you’ll be learning!
6. Learn Spanish Without a Teacher
It may be the case that you don’t want to learn with a teacher, either because you are shy, you don’t have enough money, or you feel you don’t have the time. In any case, today there are thousands of resources and tools you can use to learn Spanish on your own. From apps like Duolingo to traditional coursebooks, there’s something for everyone.
Where to start?
This is one of the most important questions to address. When learning Spanish, there are many aspects to consider and it’s hard to know where to start. The first thing, then, is to know your level. Even if you have never studied Spanish before, chances are you already know some words and expressions.
So, it’s a great idea to take a Spanish level test. At Language Trainers, for instance, we offer a completely free level test you can take anytime, anywhere. Just complete as many questions as you want (in batches of 10) and receive your results via email!
Once you understand your current level, it’s time to start looking for suitable materials. Don’t forget to choose elements that also suit your interests. For example, if you love literature, you can always use books, short stories, or even poems to increase your language level. The same happens if you’d like to learn Spanish with music (here are some artists you can follow!).
Coursebooks for Beginners
Coursebooks for Intermediate-Level Students
Coursebooks for Advanced-Level Students
Best Fiction Books to Learn Spanish
Spanish Dictionaries
Listening
If you ever tried to listen to Spanish telenovelas or to understand Shakira’s songs and you couldn’t get a single word, then these resources are for you!
Films
- Discover films and TV shows that are better dubbed in Spanish and use them to practise listening with entertaining, familiar content.
- Learn how to use media to improve your Spanish effectively, with practical ideas for turning films, TV, music, and other content into useful language-learning tools.
Music
- Follow our Spotify Playlist where you’ll find dozens of songs in Spanish by popular (and not so popular!) artists like Shakira, J Balvin, Rosalía, or Daddy Yankee!
- Read this article on four great artists to follow if you want to learn Spanish!
Podcasts
- SpanishPod101 for general podcasts and audio lessons about the Spanish language.
- How to Spanish offers videos and podcast-style content designed to help learners understand natural Spanish and improve their listening comprehension.
Writing
Writing can be tough to learn if you don’t have anyone who reads and corrects your texts. After all, it’s very difficult to self-assess your own productions, no matter how advanced in your language journey you are. But there are some websites and apps that can help you improve your writing skills from home. Let’s take a look at them!
- Learn how to write an email in Spanish with useful vocabulary, structures, and examples for both formal and informal messages.
- Review the essential rules of Spanish punctuation so your writing is clearer, more accurate, and more natural.
Speaking
Those who are studying Spanish by themselves may think it’s almost impossible to improve their speaking ability without a teacher, but this is not true. In addition to speaking to yourself in front of a mirror, there are some other options to put your skills into practice:
- Join a community of Spanish speakers such as Conversation Exchange, where you can chat, send voice notes, make video calls, or even arrange in-person meetings to make new friends while you practise!
- Record yourself. Use your phone to record yourself saying anything in Spanish, from a telenovela dialogue to tongue twisters. Then, listen to the recording and compare your version to the original one. Is it similar? Can you improve your sounds, intonation, accent? Do it as many times as needed!
Spanish Hand Gestures and Facial Expressions
Spanish-speaking people are famous for their use of hand gestures and facial expressions when expressing themselves. If you want to communicate fluently (and understand what others do!), you should definitely learn more about the most popular hand gestures used in your target Spanish variety.
Find some guides below:
Tips to Learn Spanish Grammar
Very few people can claim to love learning Spanish grammar. If you are one of them… kudos to you! But if you are not and you’re tired of fill-in-the-blanks exercises, you may find these tips to learn Spanish grammar fast useful!
- Make flashcards with conjugations. In this way, it will be easier to learn each verb, such as “I have” means “tengo”.
- Play games! Learning Spanish grammar rules can be incredibly boring, but you can solve this by playing short and engaging language games, such as the ones featured by Spanish.cl or Conjuguemos.
- Learn the most useful tenses first. Spanish has hundreds of verb conjugations, but not all of them are used every day. If you’re just getting started, knowing the present, the preterite, and the subjunctive is more than enough!
- Focus on learning the gender of nouns. The Spanish language has 2 grammatical genders that can make your head hurt. There’s no reason why “silla” is feminine or “desodorante” is masculine, so there’s no other way to learn this than by memorisation and use!
- Use forums. WordReference, for example, has a brilliant community where you can ask about anything related to learning Spanish (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation). Take advantage of this free resource!
Bonus: Did you know you can learn Spanish grammar by watching TV? In case you didn’t, read our article and discover some great Spanish-speaking shows (and ideas on how to acquire grammar) to learn while having fun.
Tips to Learn Spanish Vocabulary
Are you bored of using the same old vocabulary exercises and lists to learn new terms and expressions? You can use the following tips to learn Spanish vocabulary in a fun and engaging manner.
- Beware of false friends. Embarazada in Spanish and embarrassed in English look fairly similar… so they should have a similar meaning, right? Well, not quite. “Embarazada” means pregnant! The same happens with other terms like advertencia (warning, not advertisement), asistir (to attend, not assist), bombero (firefighter, not bomber), carpeta, choque, and many others!
- Focus on the core words. Did you know that, with knowledge of 250-750 words, you can hold a conversation in Spanish? These are not just random words, but the most frequently used terms in a given language. Focus on learning them and soon you’ll notice results! Here you can find dozens of vocabulary lists with core words for you to study.
- Take frequent tests. Self-assessment is crucial to measure your progress. Try to take quizzes when you end a unit, for example, to know whether you really learned those terms. If not, you can take some time to review them and get more practice!
- Try different study techniques. It can be hard to stay focused for long periods of time. So, why not try new ways to study Spanish effectively? For example, you can use the Pomodoro technique (25 minutes of concentration, 5 minutes of rest) or Spaced Practice (based on frequent review and repetition). There are countless options!
Tips to Learn Spanish Pronunciation
While all language skills are fairly difficult to perfect, pronunciation is one of the most dreaded. First, because you need to be brave enough to pronounce words in a foreign language and, secondly, it’s hard to find a qualified tutor who can teach you how to speak Spanish like a native. While we can write a bible on Spanish pronunciation, here you can find the most important tips to feel comfortable when pronouncing in Spanish. Soon, you’ll be mistaken for a native speaker!
- Spanish t and d are produced differently from their English equivalents, so paying attention to tongue position can make your pronunciation sound much more natural.This video explains these sounds in more detail.
- Spanish vowels are generally much more consistent than English vowels. An o, for example, keeps a relatively stable sound rather than changing as dramatically as it can in English. For a broader comparison, explore the main differences between English and Spanish pronunciation.
- Individual sounds can also change subtly when Spanish is spoken naturally and quickly.Learn about Spanish allophones, assimilation, and connected speech to understand why fast Spanish may sound different from carefully pronounced words.
- Tongue twisters are a useful way to practise difficult sound combinations while improving rhythm and articulation. Try these five Spanish tongue twisters for tricky sounds.
7. Tools to Study Spanish for Free
In case your budget is limited and you would like to study Spanish for free (at least at the beginning!), there are countless apps, tools, and resources you can use. Find them below!
Apps
Looking to acquire Spanish on the go? Today, you can find plenty of free apps with bite-sized lessons that are ideal for beginner and intermediate-level students. Most of them focus on vocabulary and a bit of grammar through translation exercises, while others also include short videos featuring phrases crucial for communication. Start learning Spanish with these apps!
Verb Conjugators
If you find that Spanish is nightmarish to conjugate, you’ll be happy to know that today you can use online verb conjugators. This is software that automatically gives you all the possible conjugations of a certain verb after you type it. Wonderful, isn’t it? Some great verb conjugators to learn Spanish for free include:
Flashcard Generators
Visual learners will be happy to know they don’t have to be proficient drawers to make their own flashcards. Today, you can find dozens of free flashcard generators where you can include text, images, video, and even phonetic script. Here are some examples you can use to learn Spanish for free.
Lyrics Training
If you like music, you’ll enjoy learning Spanish like never before with Lyrics Training. As the name shows, this app features hundreds of songs in Spanish by your favourite artists, such as Shakira, Camila Cabello, Romeo Santos, or Jennifer Lopez.
You just have to pick your level (beginner, intermediate, advanced, expert), the song you’d like to use and get started with the game! You’ll be shown a music video with incomplete lyrics, and you’ll have to type the words missing from what you hear. Soon, you’ll notice how your listening comprehension improves!
Linguee
We all know that Google Translate can fail, but what alternatives do we have? Luckily, there are many, and the best of them is Linguee.
This is not a traditional dictionary you can use for translation. Instead, it’s a corpus that shows how different news outlets, publishing houses, and even social media users translate words or phrases from different languages into Spanish. In this way, you’ll find dozens of examples of how to use Spanish terms instead of an automatic translation by a machine like Google Translate. Try it out!
8. Is Spanish Easy to Learn?
Like everything in life… it depends! If you are a native English speaker who doesn’t know any other language and has never had contact with Spanish-speaking cultures, then Spanish can be hard to acquire. The vocabulary is strikingly different from English, not to mention the grammar and pronunciation systems!
But, if you already speak a Romance language such as French, you’ll find verb conjugations are a piece of cake. It all comes down to your abilities and background!
So, How Long Does Learning to Speak Spanish Take?
Experts claim that English speakers can hold a conversation after 480-600 hours of study. This means that:
- You’ll achieve this goal in 6 months if you study 3 hours per day.
- If you study one hour a day, it will take you one and a half years.
- Two hours per week means four and a half years!
Contact us and we will design a Spanish face-to-face or online course that suits your needs and requirements!
9. Spanish Survival Phrases You Need to Know
Thinking about travelling to Latin America or Spain soon but you don’t know how to say anything but “gracias”? Don’t worry, we can help! Find below some survival phrases that will help you get by in any Spanish-speaking country.
| Phrases (EN) | SPANISH | |
|---|---|---|
| Greetings | Hello / Hi | Hola |
| How are you?/ How are you doing? | ¿Cómo estás? / ¿Cómo te va? | |
| Good morning/afternoon/night | Buenos días, Buenas tardes/noches | |
| Thanking others | Thank you! Thanks! (You're welcome) | Gracias! Muchas gracias! (de nada) |
| I appreciate it. | No hay de qué. | |
| Asking for forgiveness | Apologies | Disculpas. |
| I’m sorry / I’m very sorry | Perdón. Lo siento mucho. | |
| Asking for help | Where is... the bathroom/the kitchen? | ¿Dónde está... el baño/la cocina? |
| Can you help me with... my luggage/my phone? | ¿Me puedes ayudar con... mi equipaje/mi teléfono? | |
| There is a problem with/ I have a problem with... | Hay un problema con... / Tengo un problema con... | |
| Asking for information | How can I get to... the museum/the hotel/the restaurant? | ¿Cómo se llega al museo/al hotel/al restaurante? |
| Do you know where...? | ¿Sabes dónde queda...? | |
| Could you tell me...? | ¿Me podrías decir...? | |
| Ordering at the restaurant | I'd like the tuna salad/a sándwich, please | Quisiera un sándwich/una ensalada, por favor. |
| I'll have the steak/french fries, please | Voy a pedir un bife/papas fritas, por favor. | |
| Nothing for me, thanks. | Nada para mí, gracias. | |
| Asking for clarification | Sorry, can you repeat? | Perdón, ¿podrías repetirlo? |
| I don't understand. Can you say that again? | No comprendo. ¿Lo puedes decir de nuevo? | |
| What do you mean by...? | ¿A qué te refieres con...? | |
| Inviting someone | Would you like to... go to the cinema? | ¿Te gustaría... ir al cine? |
| Do you want to...? | ¿Quisieras... ir al cine? | |
| Accepting an invitation | Yes, thank you | Sí, gracias. |
| Sure! | ¡Claro! | |
| Let's do it. | Hagámoslo. | |
| Rejecting an invitation | No, thank you | No, gracias. |
| I'd love to, but I'm busy right now. | Me encantaría, pero estoy ocupado. | |
| Thank you, I have other plans. | Gracias, tengo otros planes. | |
| Asking for the price | How much is this? | ¿Cuánto es? |
| How much does this cost? | ¿Cuánto cuesta esto? |
And if you need more help, you can always resort to one of these guides:
Are you ready to get started with your language journey? Contact us today and start acquiring Spanish in the most inspiring way with professional, native-speaking instructors. Soon, you’ll be able to express your ideas with total clarity!
