I enjoy dining out – me encanta cenar afuera – and here where I live in Barcelona there are several great restaurants close by. I don’t eat in the pricey eateries the tourists flock to, I enjoy eating in the restaurants where the locals go and they have a great way to establish if a restaurant is up to standard:

Un restaurante debería ser: bueno, bonito y barato – good, nice and cheap.

Bueno, now that you’ve located a nice eatery, let’s help you make a  charming impression with some useful Spanish phrases that’ll also ensure you receive good service.

You’ve no doubt had those occasions where you found it difficult to choose between two dishes and you’ve said:

“I’m in two minds, it’s either the steak or the chicken.” It’s so easy to say this in Spanish, por ejemplo:

Estoy dudando entre la lasaña y la hamburguesa – I’m deciding between the lasagne and the hamburger.

The next great Spanish phrase is one that I use regularly when I’m about to dine and it’s for those times when you have a craving for something, así:

Me apetece algo dulce – I fancy something sweet

Next up is another superb Spanish phrase that will bring an authentic flourish to your Spanish vocabulary. You’ve smelt the appetizing aromas coming from the kitchen and you say:

“Boy that stew is smelling fantastic!” To say this in Spanish – and this may surprise you – use this typically emotive phrase:

¡Huele de muerte! – It smells of death!

Don’t ask me why this is used but it most certainly is and it’s a cracking Spanish phrase that most non-native speakers hardly use and you’ll make a knockout impression with it!

Vale, you’ve just eaten a fine meal and you’d like to express your enjoyment. Here’s another vibrant Spanish phrase that’ll separate you from the guiris and gives more punch to commonly used expressions just by adding a nice easy extension, like this:

La paella está como Dios manda – ¡Qué deliciosa! – The paella is just how it should be – it’s delicious!

To finish, a Spanish phrase that’s sure to come in handy for those times when you don’t want to eat too much of the main course so you can enjoy desert:

Me reservo para el postre – I’m leaving room for desert

Play around with these brilliant Spanish phrases, they’ll make learning to speak Spanish fun and win you respect and admiration from native speakers – y ¡buen provecho!

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Day-To-Day Jobs – Choose an activity you perform regularly and get the equivalent Spanish phrases. Such as: Working on your computer, tidying up the house, going to the supermarket, cooking, terms for your automobile/motorcycle, working out, or choose your favorite sport: Soccer, cycling and basketball are especially well-liked throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Each of these will add fun to your Spanish studies as well as helping you build-up your vocabulary.

Time For A Chat – The most important thing of all is for you to talk in Spanish frequently. Resolve to converse in Spanish for around half and hour every day. And with the power of the Internet, it doesn’t matter where you live in the world, you’ll be able to find someone to chat with. Do a search for online Spanish tutor, chat en español, international pen pals and Spanish chat rooms. You’ll probably need to install SKYPE, the voice over IP Internet telephone software which is free.

Game On – I believe it’s crucial to have fun when you’re learning Spanish and one thing I enjoyed – and still do – is to play games. Amazon offers scores of games books but you’ll find lots of free games by searching the Internet. Useful search terms include Spanish hangman, Spanish crosswords, Spanish word search and Spanish quiz and these kinds of games are an enjoyable, effective way to build your Spanish!

Starry-Eyed – Here’s a surprisingly very simple way to discover key Spanish phrases and build your vocabulary quickly. Read your horoscope in Spanish every day. Go to your favorite search engine and type-in: “horóscopo español” and remember, it’s about familiarizing yourself with Spanish not the validity of the predictions!

Off The Page – Finally, a quick, easy one. Do you read a magazine every week or every month? Why not try and find the Spanish version of it?

There you have five methods showing you how to learn Spanish quickly. Give them a try and have fun!

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To rent a car is very easy. Just say:

Quisiera alquilar un carro – I’d like to hire a car

You can then add one of these phrases according to your preferences:

De marchas for manual gearing or automático for automatics. In addition to your payment, you’ll also have to produce your pasaporte and your driving license – carnet de conducir.

Traffic – tráfico – in the main cities can be heavy, with rush hour – la hora punta – seeing levels peak so be prepared for traffic jams – atascos – at these times. As well as being packed with cars, look out for scooters  – motos – which are absolutely everywhere, complete with pillion passengers. To ride pillion is called “ir de paquette”, and as you continue to learn how to speak Spanish, it’s a very cool phrase to sprinkle into your streetwise vocab.

Roads are called “los caminos”, highways “las carreterras” and motorways “las autopistas”. And just like everywhere else, you’ll find lots of roundabouts – islas – and of course plenty of traffic lights – semáforos.

Be mindful about the speed limits as speed cameras – los radares – proliferate the highways and if you’re caught speeding – velocidad excesiva – you’ll be punished with a not inconsiderable fine – una multa. Sometimes a ban – una prohibición de conducir – will accompany the fine so it’s worth sticking to the limit.

Driving long distances – conducir distancias largas – will involve negotiating toll roads – carreteras de peaje – so you’ll be paying for the pleasure of your journey.

Finally, if you’re staying in a city, parking can be an absolute nightmare. I live in beautiful Barcelona, and like most main cities, there  are plenty of car parks – aparcamientos – especially underground ones – aparcamientos subterráneos – but finding a place to park your car on the streets requires awareness, particularly in residential areas – zonas residenciales – as parking is restriced to residents only. In addition to receiving a fine for illegally parking your car – una multa de aparcamiento – your car will be towed away – quitar el coche – by the tow-truck – la grúa – and before you can retrieve it, you must have paid your fine in full. An unpleasant event I’m sure you’ll want to miss!

Just use this Spanish phrase to find good places to park:

¿Dónde está el aparcamiento más cercano?  – Where is the nearest car park?

If you do take the risk of parking in una zona de residencia and somebody shouts:

¡Viene la grúa! – here comes the tow-truck!

Get your car moved and pronto!


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3. Learn to Speak Spanish – Teach Yourself Spanish

Many people are forced to learn to speak Spanish – for school or college, for example. For example, I grew up in Ireland, and all children were required to study Irish. Ireland has two official languages. English is the language everybody uses.  But there is an Irish language also, and they are trying to keep it alive. One of the ways they used to do that was to require you to pass an Irish exam in order to graduate, and in order to attend university. If only Spanish had been the second language – now that would have been useful. Instead, I have had to seek out “teach yourself Spanish” resources.

For work also, learning to speak Spanish can have great value. Many businesses conduct business internationally now, whether by selling their products outside of the home country, or by sourcing supplies in other countries, or outsourcing labor to other countries. Accordingly, if you teach yourself Spanish, it can be an advantage to be able to communicate with vendors, contract employees, and customers, some of whom may only speak very rudimentary English, if any at all. The Latin American markets are opening up now, and many large companies see the advantages of having bilingual employees, so it can be good for career advancement. So if you teach yourself Spanish……

Vacations take on a whole new level when you can converse in the local language, and this is another reason why many people learn to speak Spanish. Nobody would argue that being able to speak the local language is very helpful. Simply being able to ask for directions, or hold basic conversations can open up the vacation to a whole new level. So again, demand for “teach yourself Spanish” resources is increasing as people strive to learn to speak Spanish.

Some people learn to speak Spanish just because they want to. Others do it to discover their roots – perhaps their ancestors emigrated from another country a generation ago, or many generations ago. You, or your ancestors, came from somewhere else if you are now living in the United States. As you discover your roots, sometimes the desire to visit the old country is strong, and many people learn to speak Spanish in preparation for the eventual trip to discover their roots.

No matter why you want to learn to speak Spanish, it is easier than ever. If you want to teach yourself Spanish, there are still the traditional classes. These have been the way that people have learned a new language for many years. There are limitations to only spending an hour a week, especially with others who don’t speak the language either. Think about it – the pace of the class is determined by the slowest student, and you are really dependent both on the quality of the teacher and the quality of the other students. Many local schools and colleges offer language classes in the evenings. Not the best alternative anymore, although many have used this option.

A private tutor is an option – an expensive one. And again – you are on a limited schedule. If you see the tutor once a week, or twice a week, you still need to practice and study in between, and you rarely have the tools to help you, so your level of self-motivation comes into play to a huge extent. Yes, you want to learn to speak Spanish, but you have work, family, social commitments….

Teach yourself Spanish software and on-line programs are becoming increasingly popular. These have come a long way over the past few years. Originally comprised of largely audio courses, on CD or DVD, they have evolved into interactive programs which attempt to simulate immersion in the language. And immersion is the only way you are going to successfully teach yourself Spanish. For test purposes, you can get by with just learning vocabulary, tenses, and some verbs. You will not be able to hold conversations. So if you can’t move to Spain or Latin America for a month to immerse yourself to learn to speak Spanish, then you really should look at the many on-line programs available.

A word of caution – many of the established language software companies have old products at this point. Some of them have been diligent in updating their products and incorporating great interactive tools and features. Others have treated their product as a cash cow, milking an out of date product as much as they can. These companies typically prefer to spend their money on marketing and advertising to get as many customers as possible instead of spending on product development. In other words, they prefer to reel in more customers instead of developing the best product possible.

So you need to carefully evaluate the components of any program you are considering. Let the buyer beware, as they say!!

The author operates Language-Fast.com and you are welcome to review his learn to speak Spanish recommendations.

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