„The Question to start all questions.“

Spanish for Beginners

You gotta ask the right questions.

Hola, ¿cómo estás? (Hello! How are you?) If this is all the Spanish you know and can’t progress past this stage, I’ve got good news for! By learning one useful question, three words actually, you can start speaking Spanish to Spanish native speakers immediately and improve your Spanish in record time.

What is this?

It’s ‘What is this?’ ¿Qué es esto [ke es esto]? Say it once, say it twice and point to any object around you. ¿Qué es esto?… ¿Qué es esto?… What you will hear afterwards will probably sound a bit Greek but try to repeat it and watch the smile on the other person’s face as they recognize their language coming out of your beginner mouth.

Yes, please impress!

‘Hello! How are you?’ is probably the-least-likely-to-impress phrase of all time in any language. It breaks no ice and the conversation dies before it even starts. If you have to choose which phrase you want to learn in a new language first, forget the greetings. ‘¿Qué es esto?’ will get you a whole lot further with pretty much any Spanish speaker you meet. Qualified and experienced teachers, strangers in the street, your friends’ parents and children, it doesn’t even matter.

Your confidence will go through the roof.

You can learn something from anyone who speaks Spanish. What you’ll learn in the process, apart from impressive vocabulary that is often hard to find in traditional textbooks, is how to engage with Spanish native speakers not only in the classroom but more importantly in the real world. Your confidence will go through the roof and your journey learning Spanish will be off to a fantastic start.

Remember, when you hear ‘hola’ say ¿Qué es esto? 🙂