r/Spanish

I dont use this but my dad when talking with his friends he always uses “bolas” example being “eso me costo casi 250 bolas” he is Salvadorian but him and his friends are really the only people ive heard use this term? Can anyone tell me where it comes from or any other slang words for money that may come from yout country?

For example, in Portuguese, you wouldn't say "escrevamos!" you'd say "vamos escrever!" does the same happen in Spanish? Do you say "vamos escribir!" instead of "escribamos!"

So my high school Spanish teacher always pronounces the letter “ll” (idk what it’s called) with an (English) J sound and not what she taught us as a Y sound. Shes from Spain (idk what region) so maybe it’s a dialect thing, but I was wondering if this is a regional pronunciation or what? I know it’s not just her that does it, I heard a guy on YouTube do it too. does anyone know of this happening and if so, why?

im so confused an online friend that speaks Spanish posted a happy birthday thing for someone (I could translate the happy birthday part myself) but after that it said "a mi piojo" and I translated that and it said "my louse". what does that mean i cannot figure out why youd call someone a louse??

Learning any language as a subject to get good grades is a different ball game from learning a language to ‘Speak/write/read/listen like a native’.

One helps the other but I guess when the goal is different, different approaches and different outcomes are bound to happen.

And apps like duolingo, language transfer, anki etc, all have different approaches, ways, goals; so the different outcomes are inevitable.

Just pondering upon the this thought yet to learn any language, the destination everyone wants is the same. To be able to communicate effectively via writing and speaking, and to be able to understand via reading and listening.

I teach Spanish as a foreign language and I've been thinking about this a lot lately. We as teachers tend to assume we know which topics are the hardest (subjunctive, ser vs. estar, the preterite/imperfect distinction) but I wonder how much that matches what learners actually experience.

So I wanted to ask directly: what's the grammar point that has cost you the most, whether it's something you struggled with early on or something that still trips you up now? Any level, any background.

It doesn't have to be a "big" topic either. Sometimes it's something small and specific (a particular verb, a pronoun rule, a preposition) that just never quite clicked.

Every time I ask this I end up surprised, there's never one obvious answer.

What does it mean, mexican slang

I'm curious about what HASN'T worked for people here.

- Which app, course, book, or method did you try?

- How long did you stick with it?

- At what point did you realize it wasn't working?

- What specifically frustrated you the most?

I feel like everyone talks about what works but nobody talks about what doesn't. Let's be honest about it."

I work customer service, and there's a lot of latino customers. Our card reader is shit and tap doesn't work half the time. Neither does the chip. So I usually ask people to switch it around. How do I say "try the chip" or "try using tap"?

Hi everyone, I’ve been learning spanish for a couple of months now, to be more ready to move from London to Malaga and it’s been going well. I’ve covered a range of topics so far including but not limited to:

Regular & irregular verb conjugations in the preterite, present & future tenses, direct & indirect object pronouns, reflexive verbs, and many many more.

It’s not that my learning is plateauing, but I’m unsure where to go now as I am not following any concrete steps and am just going through beginner topics.

I’m wondering how to get to the point where I can understand and speak relatively conversationally (I can have basic conversations as of now but do not have the vocabulary to express myself as I’d like). I wondered if there are people who were in a similar position to me that could share some words of wisdom on how to achieve not fluency, but a better understanding of the language and eventually conversational. Thank you.

Los hablantes del inglés = angloparlantes

Los hablantes del español = hispanohablantes

Los hablantes del chino (mandarín) = ???

There’s no magic app, no secret trick, and no “be fluent in 30 days” shortcut. Some weeks you’ll feel like you’re improving fast… and other weeks you’ll forget words you already knew.

A lot of people quit because they think they’re “bad at languages” when honestly, they just weren’t consistent long enough.

Learning a language is repetition.
It’s hearing the same words over and over.
It’s feeling awkward speaking sometimes.
It’s making mistakes.
It’s slowly training your brain to think differently.

And the truth is… if you study a little bit consistently for months, you’ll get much further than someone who studies hard for one week and disappears for two months.

For most people:
Basic conversations can take a few months.
Feeling comfortable can take a year or more.
Actually sounding natural can take years.

But every little conversation adds up.

One day you realize you ordered food without translating in your head.
Then you understand a joke.
Then you catch yourself thinking in the language for a second.

That’s how it happens. Slowly… then all at once.

Hello, I am 18 years old, and my first language is Spanish. I live in a Mexican household, so I picked it up and am able to completely understand the language. The problem is, I am more proficient in English. I have never studied Spanish in my life, so sometimes I struggle to communicate with native speakers. I want to master the language, but since there are so many dialects of Spanish (Caribbean, Mexican, European), I don't know how to accomplish this. Has anyone had a similar experience, or have any tips on how to learn?

Not sure if it is a solid observation.

I have been working with some Spanish colleagues and I also have a few language exchange friends from Latin America (Peru, Agentina). I have noticed that they commonly mix up "he" and "she" when speaking English. It feels weird to me given that in Spanish you assign the genders to all nouns, and even the adjectives need to comply. So I am assuming it should not be hard for Spanish speakers to be mindful of the genders?

Curious why is it the case?

Hola a todos. He estado practicando español desde hace muchos años, pero durante los últimos siete meses he mejorado muchísimo y he tomado muy en serio el idioma. Puedo entender películas, series, videos de youtube y libros, pero cuando hice un examen de gramática, mi nivel fue aparentemente A2. Sé que necesito pasar más tiempo hablando, pero realmente solo quiero enfocarme en la gramática porq creo que va a mejorar mi fluidez más que nada.

Los sitios web son aburridos y ya tengo una profesora, así que necesito algo nuevo y realmente útil. Graciassss

But honestly, I have a question.

I have an electric hotplate listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace titled "Estufa Eléctrica - 2 Quemadores"

A person messaged saying "Oye qué tal jala luz"

I am so confused. My interpretation is 'jalar luz' is asking if the hotplate connects to electricity. However, the title is electric stove. In which case, if my interpretation is correct, the answer to this person's question seems pretty obvious.

Instead of assuming, I thought I'd come to Reddit and ask you lovely people for clarification.

Any Mexicans/people familiar with this expression here that can help me make sense of what's actually being asked??

And if you aren't, are there any other Spanish expressions that you've heard that really just didn't make sense to you at first? (Bonus points if now you've come to love it)

Recién estaba hablando con una amiga que es ecuatoriana pero se ha criado en los EEUU por un poco más que la mitad de su vida así que es bilingüe de inglés y español, y ahora habla inglés un poco mejor porque no tiene muchos chances de hablar en español hace unos años (también hablamos en Spanglish).

En cambio, yo lo hablo como tercera lengua entonces claro que me falta un montón de vocabulario en español. Por lo cual corrijan lo que he escrito aquí, incluso los errores o las expresiones raras porfa, me ayudaría bastante, gracias! Normalmente escribo con un poquito de ayuda de un diccionario para ciertas palabras pero el gramático y todo son míos.

Pues bien, una vez le quise decir 'I clocked you' pero en español entonces le dije 'Te he clockeado' y me entendió ella pero me puse curioso si solo fue porque fuera angloparlante o no jajaja

Digamos que ella fuera una latina joven pero no criada en los EEUU, se le habría entendido lo que dije o no?

En otra ocasión dije 'tapear' como 'to tap (a link)' a un amigo mexicano, pero él es nacido y criado en mexico así que es mexicano de huesos colorados, aunque sí hable bastante bien el inglés también. De hecho no estuve seguro que tuviera sentido incluso cuando lo dije, pero a mí se me hace útil y a él se le entendió.

Yo les dije esas palabras sin saber si se dice así, entonces me pregunto si hay una forma de saber, o sea adivinar si una palabra se puede cambiar en un anglicismo jaja

También quiero que me enseñen otras jergas como así que se use igual en español, pues ya conozco un poco de las mas comunes como 'checkear', 'parquear', 'googlear', etc. Yo hablo más de palabras bien nuevas que se acabaran de hacer por el internet.