In your first attempt to learn Spanish, the first thing you will be taught about is greetings. What do you know if you don’t know how to say “hello?” Learning the greetings will help you to learn Spanish in its simplest form because you don’t have to worry about too many verb agreements or word orders. The greetings are taught in simple phrases. No extra words need to be looked up or added. As I said before, as you learn Spanish the first phrase you need to know is “hello.” In order to say that in Spanish, you would say, “Hola.”

“Hola” can be used formally or casually to say hello to anyone you might run into. If you are trying to say hello on the phone, you might use “bueno” or “diga. ”

If you would like to say “goodbye” in Spanish, you would say, “Adiós.”

If you would like to say, “How are you?” you would say, ” ¿Cómo estás?” To say, “Good afternoon.” you would say, ” Buenas tardes.” To say, “Good morning” or “Good day,” you would say, “Buenos días.” “Good night” in Spanish is buenos noches, and to ask what someone’s name is, you would say, “¿Cómo te llamas?”

Once you get these down, you will think it’s a breeze to learn Spanish, but you are in for some more complex terms a bit later on down the road. Other basics that you can start mastering are numbers, the alphabet, telling time, asking directions, gender, color, body parts, and family.

Learning these types of everyday terms will help you learn Spanish faster because you will able to practice these words everyday. People say hello and good night all of the time so you will feel comfortable practicing your Spanish often.

Later on, you will be able to form more complex greetings such as, “Hello, how are you are you doing?” or “Hi, the weather is pleasant today, isn’t it?”

You can begin to get a little more advanced by asking “What’s up?” or “What’s new?” To say that in Spanish, you would say “¿Qué hay?” If you want to say, “How’s it going?” you would say, “¿Qué pasa?” If you would like to say “nice to meet you” you would say “Mucho gusto.”

Those are just a few of the more intermediate level greetings that you will help you to learn Spanish while getting to know many different people.

In Spain, it’s often a common thing for people to kiss each other on both cheeks when they meet. However, men will usually shake hands. Even though people kiss each other often when they meet, they don’t do it all of the time. For instance in the context of a business meeting, you would not catch people kissing each other on the cheeks.

If you are in America, you may not want to try kissing anyone as you learn Spanish, even if it’s another Spanish person. Most people of different cultures have gotten used to the American culture, and American’s usually don’t kiss when they first meet. However, should you visit Spain, you may want to try this. It will add to the fun as you learn Spanish.

It’s nice when you get a chance to take a trip abroad. If you are going to a Spanish speaking country, it might be a little intimidating to get off the beaten path and explore. Just making yourself at home in hotels and restaurants can be quite a task if you’re unprepared. That’s why it’s good to learn Spanish phrases to get you by.

Of course, if you have time to take a full Spanish course, that’s preferable. Learning to speak conversational Spanish will make your stay among the local people much more pleasant. You can communicate most ideas if you learn Spanish in this way.

However, you may not have the time to learn Spanish thoroughly. You may have been invited on the trip unexpectedly. You may have won the trip and have to take it in a short amount of time. Or, perhaps you had plenty of notice, but had too busy of a schedule to fit in a full course to learn Spanish properly.

It doesn’t matter why you’re in this position; the crux of the matter is that you need to learn Spanish enough to handle your basic needs. You will probably find English speaking people somewhere on your journey to speak with. However, there will be times when you must depend upon Spanish speaking people to answer important questions.

You can find phrasebooks to help you find the words to ask for basic needs. They will tell you how to introduce yourself and say please and thank you. You will learn Spanish phrases for asking the time and weather.

More importantly, these books will tell you how to ask where the restroom is. You will learn Spanish phrases like “Ayudame!” meaning “Help me!” Most of the books will also tell you how to ask where you can find a doctor or dentist.

Phrasebooks can also be helpful with the hotel you’re staying at. They can tell you how to ask for clean linens. You can learn Spanish phrases that make it easier to order room service. You will also know how to check into and out of your hotel.

The books will tell you the basics of how to order food in a restaurant. They will tell you any number of words to use in different situations. A book like this should also contain valuable information like how to ask where the US embassy is.

If you are concerned about your pronunciation, you can get the same type of phrase manuals on CD’s. Just pop them into your CD player and repeat after the speaker. You can do this in your car, at your computer, or in your living room. Wherever you find comfortable will do.

A book or CD like this can help you learn Spanish phrases. What it can’t do is help you understand the answers. You will have to rely on a lot of pointing and gesturing. Also, never forget, if you think you might be able to understand the person, if they would speak slower, just say, “mas despacio.”
It works wonders.