As a self-taught Spanish speaker, organizer of a Spanish conversation group and a conversational Spanish language coach, I get a lot questions from people asking for my advice on how to improve their conversational Spanish. Part of that answer is simply having conversations with as many Spanish speakers as possible, discussing a variety of topics and asking a lot questions. …
If you travel to Spanish speaking countries, exchanging money is something you’ll find yourself doing, so in this post we’re going to talk about the Spanish you need to do this successfully. First things things first, let’s talk about what you call a currency exchange in Spanish in the first place. Depending on where you travel to, they’ll be called …
Like many things in Spanish, I didn’t know I needed this until I was in the moment and it was too late. Once again I was caught speechless. I know that eventually something is going to stump me, but I hate it when it’s something this simple. I don’t want to this to happen to you, so today I’m going …
Asking someone for a ride is one of those common everyday things that everyone does, and sooner or later you’re going to need to know how to ask for a ride in Spanish. Whether you’re asking a friend for a ride or asking a taxi or Uber driver, this bit of Spanish is going to be a lifesaver. To ask …
The verb dar means a lot more than to give. Learn ten of the of most common ways to use dar like a native speaker and improve your conversational Spanish. If you enjoyed the podcast and want to improve your Spanish even more, you can download the audio for the entire series as well as the transcripts and the accompanying …
It’s not uncommon for my Spanish students or Spanish conversation group members to ask me what’s the difference between ven aquí and ven acá, so that’s exactly what I’m going to address today. But before we try to figure out what the differences are between them, we should probably talk about what they mean first. What does ven aquí and ven …
I remember when I first started traveling to Spanish speaking countries I was foolish enough to think that all the Spanish I needed to know for staying in a hotel was how to check in and check out. Silly me. I had learned a few expressions and set off to travel Mexico and Latin America without even realizing just how …
You’ve been taught that the verb tener means to have, but there’s so much more your Spanish teacher left out. If you really want to know how to use it like a native speaker, listen to this podcast and learn 10 of the most common uses of the verb tener. If you enjoyed the podcast and want to improve your …
If you’re wondering why I created a list of Spanish movies, it’s because I get asked for recommendations about movies in Spanish all the time and nothing ever comes to mind when the question comes up. So I figured why not make a list I can point people to and not have to reveal that my memory is awful. The …
Tarde o temprano (sooner or later) the time will come when you need to give someone your condolences in Spanish. Thankfully it hasn’t been something that I’ve needed to do often, but not having the words to do it makes that situation even more uncomfortable, so today I’m going to share with you some of the basic vocabulary and phrases …