Path: Travel Spanish

Who this path is for

You have a trip booked. Two weeks in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, or anywhere in between. You don't have time for a full grammar course. What you need is the absolute minimum: enough Spanish to greet people, ask for directions, order food, count money, find a bathroom, and not embarrass yourself when a stranger says hello. That is exactly what this path covers. Fifteen topics. None of them are deep. All of them are immediately useful from the moment you land.

The path

1. Vowel Sounds

Five sounds. That's all there is. Get these right and even broken Spanish will be understood.

2. Stress Rules

Knowing which syllable to emphasise will make you understandable on day one. Skip the theory — just learn the two basic rules.

3. Greetings and Goodbyes

Hola, buenos días, buenas tardes, hasta luego, nos vemos. The first words you'll need.

4. Polite Expressions

Por favor, gracias, perdón, con permiso, disculpe. Use these constantly. Locals will forgive almost any grammar error if you say gracias sincerely.

5. Tú vs Usted

When in doubt, use usted. Travellers should default to formal — it is safer with strangers, shopkeepers, and older people.

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The single most important phrase for travellers: ¿Hablas inglés? (or, more politely, ¿Habla usted inglés?). Memorise it before everything else. It will save you many times.

6. Cardinal Numbers 0–30

You need numbers for prices, room numbers, ages, and directions. Start with 0–30 and add more as you go.

7. Cardinal Numbers 31–100

For larger prices and quantities. Hundreds of pesos, hundreds of metres.

8. Telling Time

¿Qué hora es? — Son las tres. You will need this to confirm bus departures, restaurant openings, and meeting times.

9. Tener in the Present

You will need tengo and tiene constantly: "I have a reservation", "Do you have a table?", "I have a question".

10. Tener Expressions

Tengo hambre, tengo sed, tengo frío, tengo sueño. Critical for ordering and finding shelter.

11. Ir in the Present

Voy, vamos. You'll use these to talk about destinations: "I'm going to the museum", "We're going tomorrow".

12. Hay

The single most useful word for travellers. ¿Hay un baño? — Is there a bathroom? ¿Hay habitaciones? — Are there rooms available?

13. Question Word: Dónde

¿Dónde está el baño? The most repeated question of any traveller's life. Memorise the pattern ¿Dónde está...? and just plug in nouns.

14. Question Word: Cuánto

¿Cuánto cuesta? — How much does it cost? You'll ask this in every shop and market.

15. Yes/No Questions

Just lift your voice at the end of a sentence. No extra words required. The easiest grammar rule in any language.

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You don't need full sentences to be understood. Single nouns with a question intonation work fine: ¿Baño? will get you pointed to the bathroom. ¿Cuánto? will get you a price. Travel Spanish is brutal but effective.

16. Time Expressions

Mañana, ahora, después, esta noche. The handful of time words that come up in nearly every conversation about plans.

17. Weather Expressions

Hace calor, hace frío, está lloviendo. Small talk lubricant. Useful in markets, taxis, and queues.

A short survival kit

Beyond grammar, memorise these phrases as fixed units:

  • ¿Me puede ayudar? — Can you help me?
  • No entiendo. — I don't understand.
  • ¿Puede repetir, por favor? — Can you repeat that, please?
  • Más despacio, por favor. — Slower, please.
  • La cuenta, por favor. — The check, please.
  • Quisiera... — I would like... (the politest way to ask for anything)
  • ¿Acepta tarjeta? — Do you accept card?
  • Estoy perdido / perdida. — I'm lost.
  • Soy de... [your country]. — I'm from...
  • Me llamo... — My name is...
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Print your survival kit on paper and keep it in your wallet. When you're tired, jet-lagged, or in a stressful situation, pulling out a paper card is faster and calmer than scrolling a phone.

Next step

If your trip goes well and you fall in love with the language (it happens often), come back home and start Path: A1 Starter properly. The travel survival kit you built will give you a head start on every topic there.

Related Topics

  • Greetings and FarewellsA1 — How Latin Americans say hello, ask how you are, and say goodbye.
  • Polite ExpressionsA1 — Please, thank you, excuse me, and softer phrasings for polite requests.
  • Cardinal Numbers 0–30A1 — Learning to count from zero to thirty, with attention to the unique forms and spelling
  • Telling TimeA1 — How to ask and answer what time it is
  • Tener in the PresentA1 — The present indicative of tener, its irregular forms, and the many tener expressions.
  • Ir in the PresentA1 — Conjugation and key uses of the irregular verb ir in the present indicative.
  • Hay (There Is / There Are)A1 — Hay is the impersonal form of haber, meaning there is or there are — singular and plural alike.
  • Dónde (Where)A1 — Ask about location with ¿dónde?, direction with ¿adónde?, and origin with ¿de dónde? in Latin American Spanish.
  • Cuánto (How Much/Many)A1 — Use ¿cuánto? in all four gender and number forms to ask how much or how many, and as an invariable adverb.
  • Tú vs UstedA1 — The informal (tú) and formal (usted) singular 'you' and when to use each