39 Spanish phrases I used most in South America

Like many Brits, I have never been great with languages. It’s not for the want of trying. Over the years I’ve made sporadic attempts at learning German, French, Greek and even Swahili, none of which have been very successful.

When arriving in South America I was a little nervous to say the least. My meagre Spanish consisted of a few words I had learnt from Spanish friends back in London, and most of those would only be appropriate at a football match. Luckily, I had Kia whose Spanish is far more advanced than mine.

Of course, I couldn’t rely on Kia all of the time. There would be times when she wouldn’t be by my side and more importantly I didn’t want to spend several months in South America not interacting with the people I met. I set about practising Spanish on language app Duolingo, writing down a few phases here and there and testing them out on unsuspecting waiters and hotel staff along the way.

However, I soon learnt that popular resources often don’t prepare you for life on the road in South America. While they were clearly setting the foundation for longer-term learning, Spanish phrases like “the girl drinks milk” and “the boy reads a book” didn’t arm me with the phrases and words I really needed every day.

The phrases below are those I used on an almost daily basis. They also helped drive home a few basic verbs and their conjugations. Four months on, I feel a lot more comfortable with my Spanish. I won’t be discussing failures of the global economy over morning coffee, but I can order my meals, reserve hotel rooms and get from A to B on a bus or two.

Of course, never forget to couple all of the above with a friendly greeting (hola, como esta, que tal) and a por favor, muchas gracias and winning smile :)