la mini-lección: El imperativo A2 We will cover the tú (you informal) form of imperative mood.  The imperative is used to give orders and commands, to make an offer or to apologize.    Por ejemplo: Abre la puerta. (Open the door.) Si quieres hablar, llámame. (If you want to talk, call me.) Perdóname, lo hice […]

Let’s get the obvious answer out of the way first.   The single best way to learn to speak Spanish is to move to a Spanish-speaking country and get lost in it.  Order your coffee in Spanish.  Get mildly confused by a landlord in Spanish.  Fall in love, or at least fall in like, in […]

Here’s a scene that plays out constantly and that most of us never stop to think about.   You’re at a coffee shop.  Someone comes up to you and says, “Excuse me, where is bathroom?”  No “the.”  Wrong verb tense, maybe no verb at all.  And what happens in your brain?   Nothing about grammar.  […]

Short answer: no. Longer answer: also no, but let’s talk about why, because this is one of those worries that makes people way too picky about who they’ll take a class with. You’re planning a trip to Mexico, or Spain, or Colombia, and suddenly you’re convinced you need a teacher with a passport from that […]

If you’ve ever sat through years of Spanish classes and still fumbled through a simple conversation, this one’s for you. I Made This Mistake Twice. First in English. Then in French.   Here’s a confession from someone who runs a Spanish conversation school: I’ve been the student who did everything wrong.   I grew up […]