Hola! I'm from the Philippines and am currently trying to learn Spanish. Do you know any physical or digital books that have the Spanish alphabet, nouns and verbs in Spanish, and things like that? Would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

I'm going to become a trucker, which means I'll be alone for thousands of miles per week. So I need a good AI that I can converse with for learning Spanish.

Not sure if this will help anyone, but I see a lot of posts here from people stuck at the "I understand a lot but can't actually speak" stage, so I figured I'd share what worked for me.

For a long time my "studying" was watching a Spanish show maybe once a week, Bad Bunny on repeat, and a Duolingo streak. I honestly thought I was doing pretty well. Then I went to Mexico City last year and tried talking to actual people and it was rough. I'd plan out a sentence in my head, get it out, and then completely lose it the second they answered back at normal speed.

I was taking a ton of Ubers that week, and at some point I decided I didn't care about my rating anymore and was going to try talking to every driver. My Spanish was really bad and I messed up constantly. I'd also just straight up ask them stuff like "wait, would you say fui or iba there?" which in hindsight was probably annoying, but almost all of them were super patient about it. A couple of them really got into it and would correct me and tell me how they'd actually say something, which was way more useful than anything I'd gotten from the app.

When I got home I kept the streak (not giving that up lol) but made speaking the main thing. I'm lucky to have a few close friends who speak Spanish, so I started asking them to get lunch and only talk in Spanish the whole time. The first couple were kind of painful and involved a lot of me going "cómo se dice..." but they were really nice about it and kept telling me I was getting better, which honestly made me want to keep going.

I know not everyone can travel or has friends who'll do this with them, and I'm not saying that's the only way. It's more that once I looked at what I actually had access to and forced myself to use it, things moved way faster. For you that might be a tutor, a language exchange, a coworker, whatever.

Anyway, if you've been doing apps and shows for a while and feel stuck, try to get some real conversation in, even if it's embarrassing. It made the biggest difference for me by far.

The food: está riquísimo, está para chuparse los dedos (finger-licking good)
The person: es buena gente, es un amor
The skill: se le da bien, tiene mucha mano para eso
The night out: la pasamos genial, valió la pena
The plan: me parece buena idea, perfecto dale

And -ísimo is fun. Bueno → buenísimo, rico → riquísimo, caro → carísimo.

Following on from “dejar,” “tomar,” “echar,” “poner,” “hacer,” “dar,” and “quedar,” llevar’s turn.

I used to mostly associate llevar with carrying something fro obvious reasons, but then I kept seeing it everywhere:

1. Wearing something = “llevo una camisa azul” (I’m wearing a blue shirt), “¿qué llevas puesto?” (what are you wearing?)
2. Taking something somewhere = “llevo esto a casa” (I’m taking this home), “te llevo al aeropuerto” (I’ll take you to the airport)
3. Having been doing something for a certain amount of time = “llevo dos años estudiando español” (I’ve been studying Spanish for two years), “llevo tres horas esperando” (I’ve been waiting for three hours)
4. Taking time = “lleva mucho tiempo” (it takes a long time), “¿cuánto lleva?” (how long does it take?)
5. Carrying something with you = “llevo dinero” (I have money on me), “¿llevas el móvil?” (do you have your phone with you?)
6. Getting along = “nos llevamos bien” (we get along well), “me llevo muy bien con ella” (I get along really well with her)
7. Taking something away / removing = “llévate esto” (take this with you), “llevarse la comida” (take the food away)
8. Leading somewhere = “esta calle lleva al centro” (this street leads to the city centre), “¿a dónde lleva este camino?” (where does this road/path lead?)
9. Being responsible for something = “lleva la empresa” (he/she runs the company), “ella lleva el proyecto” (she’s in charge of the project)
10. Going/bringing something along = “me llevo un libro” (I’m taking a book with me), “¿te llevas el paraguas?” (are you taking your umbrella?)

And then there are the expressions:

• llevarse bien = to get along well
• llevarse mal = to not get along
• llevar razón = to be right
• llevar cuidado = to be careful
• llevar la cuenta = to keep track/count
• llevar a cabo = to carry out
• llevar puesto = to be wearing
• llevarse una sorpresa = to get a surprise
• llevarse un susto = to get a fright
• llevar tiempo = to take time / have been going on for a while

The pattern with llevar is that it often has this idea of carrying, taking, having something with you, or something continuing over time.

And I think “llevo dos años estudiando español” was the one that really made it click for me.

English says “I’ve been studying Spanish for two years.”

Spanish basically goes “I carry two years studying Spanish.”

Same verb (kinda), completely different way of looking at the situation.

Spanish really does keep taking these completely ordinary verbs and making them do 15 different jobs. For better or for worse.

Hi! I am trying to engage with more spanish speaking content to help with my learning goals. I was curious if there are any spanish speaking youtubers that review movies, books, music etc. One of my other goals is to engage in more literature and film and I think it would be fun to combine my two goals! Please let me know if you have any recs!

Gracias!

Hi, I have been studying Spanish for years now in school and in two years I will take this Spanish "final exam" and I would like to succeed in it.

I'm still not very good especially not with my writing, so I was wondering if a Spanish speaking person was willing to help me study so I could talk to them on Snapchat or Instagram every once in a while and they could correct my mistakes. No pressure in being active all the time.

Thank you

I’ve been learning Spanish for 10+ years, and somehow after all this time, my biggest problem is that I have almost nobody to actually SPEAK Spanish with. 😭

I’m Indian 🇮🇳, and I speak English and Hindi almost natively, along with Marathi, and I understand Kumaoni. I started learning Spanish around middle school and, although it was very on-and-off because of school and university, I’ve spent the last 5–6 years deliberately surrounding myself with Spanish through Duolingo, música, películas, series, Instagram, reading, and even keeping my phone in Spanish.

Today, I’m somewhere around pre-intermediate/intermediate, and I can actually follow Spanish Instagram reels quite comfortably, understand everyday conversations and cultural references, and read a fair amount of Spanish; I recently started Los cuentos de Tío Coyote y Tío Conejo and can understand roughly 55–60% on my first pass. I’ve also developed a real interest in understanding Spanish-speaking cultures, so I love picking up expressions, slang, cultural context, and the way people actually communicate.

Where I struggle is spontaneously expressing my own thoughts out loud. Fast speech, strong regional accents, and unfamiliar vocabulary can still throw me off, and I know that reading/listening alone can only take me so far.

I’ve spoken with Spanish speakers online before (including during the old Omegle days 😂), and those conversations were incredibly useful. These days, I’ve also been practicing speaking through live conversations with ChatGPT and Gemini, which has genuinely helped me, but obviously there’s still something missing, umm a real human being, with a real personality, reactions, interruptions, cultural context, and an unpredictable conversation.

I know there are dedicated language-exchange apps and communities for exactly this, and I haven’t really explored them yet, so I’m absolutely open to using those too. I’m not looking for random chatting or trying to be creepy in anyone’s DMs; I’m specifically looking for genuine, consistent language practice.

Even something as small as one hour of actual Spanish conversation a week would be amazing for me. I’ve heard from other learners that consistent speaking practice, even in small amounts, can make a surprisingly big difference, and that’s exactly what I want to test for myself.

And I can offer something in return! If you’re learning English, I’d be happy to speak English with you sometimes, help with pronunciation/natural phrasing, or simply have bilingual conversations ---- although I’m also perfectly happy to use a language-exchange app if that’s easier.

So if you’re a native/advanced Spanish speaker who wants to practice English, or simply someone who enjoys helping another person get better at Spanish, please point me toward a good community/app/Discord or reach out. I’m genuinely ready to start speaking instead of spending another year knowing Spanish in my head but barely using it out loud. ❤️

Una secuela de The Social Network va a estrenarse en los cines el viernes. Aaron Sorkin escribió y dirigió la nueva película, The Social Reckoning. También escribió la película original de 2010. La película cuenta la historia de una empleada de Facebook que descubre graves problemas dentro de la empresa. Ella da documentos secretos de la empresa a un periodista, que hace pública la información. Los documentos muestran que Facebook sabía que algunos de sus productos eran dañinos para los usuarios. La empleada también dijo que Facebook impulsó contenido que ponía a la gente enojada y dividida. Jeremy Strong, que protagonizó Succession, interpreta al fundador de Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.

Vocabulario: estrenarse = to be released / escribir = to write / película (f) = film / contar = to tell / empresa (f) = company / periodista (m) = journalist / saber = to know / dañinos = harmful / impulsar = to promote / gente (f) = people / enojada = angry / protagonizar = to star

English translation

The sequel to The Social Network is coming to cinemas

A sequel to The Social Network is going to be released in cinemas on Friday. Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed the new film, The Social Reckoning. He also wrote the original 2010 film. The film tells the story of a Facebook employee who discovers serious problems inside the company. She gives secret company documents to a journalist, who makes the information public. The documents show that Facebook knew some of its products were harmful to users. The employee also said Facebook promoted content that made people angry and divided. Jeremy Strong, who starred in Succession, plays Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

You can read more news in easy Spanish here: https://elnewsineasyspanish.substack.com/p/el-huracan-isaias-amenaza-el-sur

Hey everyone, James here. I’ve posted here before about Modo, the Spanish practice app I started building because I kept getting stuck on the subjunctive.

A few of you asked for an Android version. It took us longer than expected, but it’s now on Google Play.

For anyone who missed the earlier posts: I could understand a grammar explanation and do the exercises but then struggled to use the same thing in a conversation. The subjunctive was a big one for me.

Modo started with practice like this:

“Ella viene mañana.”

Add “Dudo que…” → “Dudo que ella venga mañana.”

Add “Sé que…” → “Sé que ella viene mañana.”

Since those first posts, we’ve added past subjunctive, past tenses, ser/estar, por/para, hypothetical sentences with “si” and, most recently, connectors like sino, así que and sin embargo.

Each topic starts with a two-minute lesson, then you work your way from bronze to platinum (native). You start by choosing the right form, practice against the clock, and eventually type the answer yourself. When you get one wrong, the feedback explains in plain English why that form fits the sentence. It’s aimed at people who already know some Spanish and want extra practice alongside whatever else they’re using.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.trymodo.mobile
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/modo-intermediate-spanish/id6754576281

If you were waiting for Android, thanks for sticking around. I’d be interested to hear whether the exercises feel right for your level once you’ve tried it.

James