subject: Spanish Words [print this page] Spanish Words Spanish Words
This article is going to cover some of the most common Spanish Words that are used both by Spanish speakers from Spain and also from the Latin American countries.
You could say these are essential words that everybody who wants to learn Spanish needs to know and practice in conversation.
In fact, let's run through a conversation you might have with a Spanish speaker and cover the basics.
Let's give you a Spanish name: Juan. It doesn't matter if you're a girl, this is just to make-believe! Juan, you'll be speaking with Misael.
Juan: Hola! (Hola means hello and is a very friendly and accepted way to greet somebody in any Spanish speaking country.)
Misa: Hola, qu paso? (Que paso? Means what happened? But when you're greeting somebody with "que paso?" it just means "what's up?" It's used mostly by central American Spanish speakers.
Juan: Todo bien! ("Todo" means "everything" and "bien" means "well", so you're saying "everything's well!" which is the same thing as just saying "everything's great")
Misa: Vas a la fiesta? ("vas" means "you're going"; "a la" means "to the"; "fiesta" means "party". So all together: "you're going to the party?")
Juan: Claro que si! ("si" means "yes" and whenever you put "claro que" in front of a word, it makes it stronger like "Of course I am!")
Misa: Que bueno. (Bueno means "good" so Misa is saying how good it is that Juan is going to the party, presumably because he'd like to see him there or is simply happy that he's going to have fun at a party).
Juan: Ya. Hasta luego! ("ya" means "ok" in this context. And "hasta luego" means see you later!)
Misa: Nos vemos! (Nos means "us" and vemos means "we'll see". So it means that we'll be seeing one another soon. Kind of like the English "seeya!" It's quite informal but not at all rude.)
The problem most of us have with language learning is the fact that we tried languages when we were in high school and college and for most of us, very little actually stuck.
Language learning is done best when there is a deep emotional connection to the language, its people and its culture.
The best way to REALLY learn Spanish is to travel and live in a Spanish speaking country, hear Spanish Words and Spanish Phrases. If that's not really an option for you, the next best thing is to use language learning software like the Rocket Languages Rocket Spanish course to SIMULATE a native environment at home.
