Speak like a native

Beyond Cómo te llamas

Your Spanish teacher taught you how to tell someone your name and ask for theirs.   The problem is when it comes to real world conversations, that’s hardly enough.   In today’s podcast I’m going to take ...

9 Ways to use the word YA in conversational Spanish

The Spanish word YA is widely used.   Learn when and how Spanish speakers use it in daily conversation.   It isn’t hard to understand, but it can be confusing because it’s used in a variety of situations. ...

Beyond Cuánto Cuesta: The many ways native speakers ask how much things cost

Sooner or later you’re going to have to ask the price of things in Spanish, and I’m going to guess many of you were only taught the classical (and very reliable):  ¿Cuánto cuesta? There’s nothing ...

11 Responses to “Cómo estás” that will make you sound like a native speaker

When it comes to answering the question “¿Cómo estás?”, your Spanish book typically only offers you a limited number of responses: Estoy bienI’m fine Estoy malI’m not well Those responses are pretty boring, right?   I’m ...

7 Ways to say traffic in Spanish

For many years I thought I knew the only word there was for traffic in Spanish.  Well, turns out I was wrong.  Spanish has a funny way of surprising you with these things. Here are ...
Real Life Spaish Podcast - What did you say

Learn to ask “What did you say?” like a native Spanish speaker

Spanish teachers and textbooks typically teach you to use the verb repetir to get someone to repeat what they said.  But if you want to sound more like a native speaker there are several other options ...

A little bit of Nicaraguan Spanish – The Verb Dilatar

About two weeks ago I caught up with an old friend who had spent a bit of time in Nicaragua.   As we were talking about various things she said ¿Cuánto tiempo dilata? .   With what I’m ...

Real Mexican Spanish from the streets of Tijuana

In today’s podcast I’m going to talk about the Spanish I’ve learned during my visits to Baja Norte, or Northern Baja, primarily the city of Tijuana. You won’t find these words and expressions in your ...

The hidden meanings of que rico, sabroso and delicioso

Welcome to another episode of the Real Life Spanish podcast series where you’ll learn the Spanish you need for real life conversations and situations. You’ve probably heard the words que rico, sabroso and delicioso before when ...

Learn the right way to say excuse me in Spanish

In Spanish there are three different ways you can say excuse me using the words perdón, con permiso and disculpe, but you can’t always use them interchangeably. In today’s podcast we’re going to look at the ...

22 Colombian Spanish Words You Should Know

A lot of people say Colombian Spanish is the “best Spanish in the world”. Well, I don’t know about all of that, but I will say based on my experiences in Colombia and talking to ...
Contractions in Spanish

The Spanish contractions your textbook didn’t tell you about

According to your Spanish textbook there are only two contractions in Spanish. Your Spanish textbook and most likely your Spanish teacher probably neglected to teach you several other Spanish contractions that are used so much ...

The right way to say I had a good time in Spanish

I love to help people with their Spanish.  Every week I’m exposed to many beginners and people just starting their journey down the road to Spanish fluency.  With that said, I hear a lot of ...