Learn Spanish Fast - Master Essential Words and Phrases for Quick Fluency

What you'll learn

• Master Spanish pronunciation and tricky sounds
• Learn 30 core survival words for daily life
• Use 35 essential phrases for greetings and shopping
• Order food and drinks at restaurants confidently
• Navigate cities with directions and transport vocab
• Engage in social conversations with proper politeness
• Handle emergencies with safety-critical vocabulary
• Build sentences using 25 reusable grammar patterns

Preview the flashcards

A sample of the 200 cards in this set — each with pronunciation and English meaning.

perro/ PEH-rro (strong tongue trill on rr) /

dog - Demonstrates the rolled 'rr' sound. The double r is a strong trill made by vibrating the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth.

carro/ KAH-rro (strong tongue trill on rr) /

car (Latin America) / cart - Another 'rr' trill word. Practice the strong vibration of the tongue tip. In Spain, 'coche' is more common for car.

joven/ HO-ven (throaty H sound, like clearing throat) /

young - The Spanish 'j' is a strong throaty sound, like the 'ch' in Scottish 'loch'. Never pronounced like English 'j'.

gente/ HEN-teh (throaty H before e/i) /

people - Before 'e' or 'i', the Spanish 'g' sounds like the throaty 'j' (like 'ch' in Scottish 'loch'). Before 'a', 'o', 'u' it sounds like English 'g' in 'go'.

calle/ KAH-lyeh (Spain) / KAH-yeh (Latin America) /

street - The 'll' in Spain (standard) is pronounced like 'ly' or the 'lli' in 'million'. In Latin America it often sounds like English 'y' in 'yes'. In Argentina it sounds like 'sh'.

pollo/ PO-lyo (Spain) / PO-yo (Latin America) /

chicken - Another 'll' word. Practice the 'ly' sound (Spain) or 'y' sound (Latin America). Do not confuse with 'polo' (polo shirt).

ano/ AH-no (plain n, no tilde) /

anus - Without the tilde, 'ano' means anus. This demonstrates why the tilde on 'n' matters critically. Compare with 'ano' (year), which is spelled with a tilde over the n.

niño/ NEE-nyo (ny sound, tongue on roof of mouth) /

boy/child - The 'n' demonstrates the palatal nasal sound, like 'ny' in 'canyon'. Made by pressing the middle of your tongue against the roof of your mouth.

vaca/ BAH-kah (v sounds exactly like b, not English v) /

cow - In Spanish, 'b' and 'v' are pronounced identically. At the start of a phrase or after 'n'/'m', both sound like English 'b'. Between vowels, both become a soft sound where lips barely touch. 'Vaca' sounds like 'baca'.

vivir/ bee-BEER (v sounds like b, not English v) /

to live - The 'v' is pronounced exactly like 'b' in Spanish. There is no English 'v' sound (teeth on lip) in standard Spanish.

nada/ NAH-tha (soft d between vowels, like 'th' in 'this') /

nothing - The 'd' between vowels becomes very soft in natural speech, almost like the 'th' in English 'this'. At the start of a word, 'd' sounds like English 'd'.

ciudad/ thee-oo-DAHD (Spain) / see-oo-DAHD (Latin America) /

city - The final 'd' in Spanish is very soft, almost silent. The 'c' before 'i' is pronounced 'th' in Spain (like 'thin') but 's' in Latin America.

cerveza/ thehr-BEH-thah (Spain) / sehr-BEH-sah (Latin America) /

beer - Demonstrates the c/z distinction. In Spain, 'c' before 'e/i' and 'z' are pronounced like 'th' in 'think'. In Latin America, they sound like 's'.

hacer/ ah-THEHR (Spain) / ah-SEHR (Latin America) - silent h /

to do / to make - The 'h' in Spanish is always silent. Never pronounce it. The 'c' before 'e' follows the th/s rule (Spain vs Latin America).

guapo/ GWAH-po (gw sound before a) /

handsome/good-looking - The 'gu' before 'a' sounds like 'gw'. But 'gu' before 'e/i' the 'u' is silent (just 'g' sound). To pronounce 'u' before e/i, it needs a diaeresis: 'gu'.

+ 185 more cards with full native audio in the complete set.