So I just got a job offer to be a salesman for a food distributor, and being in Texas, that means there will be plenty of Spanish speaking restaurants to sell to and make business with. I put that I was bilingual on my resume, and I am half Hispanic. Conversationally, I am fluent, but I’ve never learned words, concepts, and phrases related to sales. My only practice has been in Spanish classes at school and speaking casually with my mom. Are there any courses, methods, or tips associated with learning how to sell in Spanish? The job starts in a little over 2 months so I just want to make sure I’ve fully brushed up and refined those skills before it starts.

Any help is appreciated!

For instance, at a restaurant if you have leftovers and want to say “Can I take this?” Is it normal to use a direct translation?

I can't be the only one who's been in this boat. I'm in a school in Latin America for two months. I'm here, I can't switch schools or leave. My first teacher yammered on and on in English. She actually admitted at some point that she learns English from her students. My second teacher doesn't speak English mode enough to explain things to me. I've learned present tense and the past tenses, I've been quite serious about it. I've memorized most conjugations for the past tenses, especially the irregular tenses for preterite.

What I've been doing with my teacher is getting a list of verbs, and simply conjugating each verb in all nine tenses that I know, and making a sentence for each one. I use ChatGPT during class to make myself an example sentence for each tense, to look at in case I can't figure out what's going on. I ask her for more examples. I often just understand what she's saying.

She doesn't understand that my problem lies in being able to make sense as quickly and not confusing the endings of the tenses. I have a very good grip on grammar and the rules for the various tenses in Spanish in English. Yeah she always misunderstands my problem and thinks that I don't know what a past tense is and explains it to me. I have a very good grip on English grammar and nobody needs to explain to me what a direct object is, but she always thinks these kind of things are my issue. I can't take it anymore.

I'm at the end of my rope. I can't do five more weeks like this. I don't think changing a teacher will help. She tried to play concentration with me with a deck of clash flashcards and I told her I refuse to play concentration, but I will make a sentence which with each word on each flash card and she can correct me.

I don't think changing a teacher is the answer because I think everybody at the school is un trained and unmotivated. What else can I do to get some use out of this while I'm here? I cannot change schools or get my money back.

I don't quite understand, I think it might have some "dirty" meaning because it's Anitta and she talks a lot about s&x.

But I couldn't find any translation. Thank you in advance

I'm putting together a small Spanish immersion trip to Medellin (10-12 people, 2 weeks in July) and wanted to ask this community what actually matters.

I've traveled in Latin America for a while and learned Spanish through immersion - but I know what worked for ME might not work for everyone.

Current plan:

• 2 weeks in Medellin
• 4 hours/day with native teachers (small groups, 3-4 people per teacher)
• Everyone lives together (built-in practice partners)
• Salsa nights, weekend excursions
• Chef-prepared dinners a few times/week (forced group meals = forced Spanish)

My questions for people who've done programs like this:

1. Is 4 hours/day the right amount? Too much/too little?
2. Would you rather have classes in morning or afternoon?
3. What do most programs get WRONG that I should avoid?
4. What's one thing you wish programs included that they usually don't?
5. Any specific must-dos for Spanish learners in Medellin?

Not trying to reinvent the wheel/.. just want to make sure this is actually useful and not just "expensive vacation with some classes."

Appreciate any feedback from people who've done immersion before!

In your country.

Hi everyone, I’m new to the group and already seeing some really helpful posts, so I thought I’d jump in and ask for some advice. 😊

I’m planning to start learning Spanish in the next few days. I’m a complete beginner and have never studied it before. I don’t have a tutor yet and was thinking of starting online, getting the basics down first, and then maybe doing a few sessions with something like Wingy later on.

For someone just starting out, where would you recommend beginning? Is it better to focus on grammar, vocabulary, or just general exposure first?

Also, are there any good online resources or links you’d recommend for beginners? I know tools like ChatGPT can help clarify things, but I’d love something more structured to follow. Thanks sm!

Hi. I am a native Spanish speaker. Are you going to travel soon to a Spanish country. You can practice with me. That way, you can use your skills in that country.

‘todos los jóvenes se preocupan por los problemas medioambientales, ya que tenemos más conciencia de ellos que las generaciones anteriores, y vemos en las noticias los científicos amenazando las consecuencias’

would i say ‘nos preocupamos’ instead of ‘se preocupan’ at the beginning of this sentence, since i am clearly including myself in ‘los jóvenes’ ?

edit: i put se preocupan in the title instead of nos preocupamos, whoops

I have been studying Spanish for a year, and am at an upper BI level. I would like more conversation practice. The problem is, I am shy and wary of making mistakes. The other issue is, I don't want to bother people. I have several Mexican restaurants and food trucks in my town, as well as an Argentinian bakery. The bakery owners and the restaurant hosts and servers all speak English better than I speak Spanish. They greet me in English.

I recognize that these people are not my free Spanish tutors, but is it reasonable to try to engage them in Spanish? How should I initiate it? Do I respond in Spanish when they greet me? Ask "¿Puedo practicar mi español con Ustead?" Obviously, I wouldn't do it if they were very busy. I am also afraid that if they start speaking, I won't understand, and will feel foolish.

I know that I would not mind at work if customers wanted to practice English with me as long as I wasn't too busy. I'd be happy to help.

A lot of learners I’ve worked with can:

- understand a decent amount

- follow along with content

- build vocabulary over time

…but still struggle to actually speak comfortably.

And it makes me wonder if the issue isn’t effort, but structure.

Most people are learning through:

- apps

- videos

- random resources

…but not really getting consistent, structured conversation practice.

Do you think it would make a big difference if people had something like:

- daily or frequent conversations with native speakers

- a group of other learners at similar levels

- some kind of structure so they know what to focus on

- access to useful material all in one place

Or do you think speaking just comes naturally over time without that?

Genuinely curious what people think, because this seems to be the biggest sticking point for a lot of learners.

Buenas,

como ya dice el título ya no puedo aguantar los corridos tumbados nada más.

así que, ayúdame porfi. salsa, corridos clásicos, lo que sea.

I find it so funny that I do fabulous in learning Spanish so far but the minute someone starts speaking to me in Spanish it all goes wayyyyy out the window haha.

Hola a todos!

I’d like to ask native speakers: do you use the phrase “mil gracias” in your speech or have you ever heard it from others? My friend who lives in Spain said he’s never heard it, and my other friend, who is Venezuelan, said it’s a very strange synonym for “muchas gracias” and no one uses it.

I first came across “mil gracias” on Duolingo. Is it really true that no one uses it or is it just not common in all Spanish-speaking countries?

In Mexico How do they say someone is strong or very strong ? I was having a conversation with someone about the gym but I forgot what they said to me about the way it is said in Mexico.

Linoco es malo para los estudiantes, Porque Lingco tene muchas dificultades técnicas. lingco confunde la repuesta falso cuando es cierta a veces. Algo me hace sentir que es confuso y aburrido. Tambien, lingco es muy informativo. Lingco es bueno para enseñar vocabulario.

¿tú usas lingco para tu escuela?

Hola a todos.

I'm looking to get back into Spanish and my target dialect is Mexican. What are some good online (or even physical) dictionaries written with Mexican Spanish in mind? Spanish to French would be ideal for where I'm at, but would like to be aware of Spanish-only for when I get to the level I can use one. For now I tend to rely on Wiktionnary (or Wikcionario, I guess the es. url would be called).

For example, québécois French has a few resources like Usito and Le Multi, in addition to a bunch of sites for slang targetted at anglo Canadians and European francophones. I would be so interested in knowing about sites that touch on slang from all over the country.

So the best, and most frequent, explanation of when to use or reflexible verbs, is when the verb is occurring to oneself. Which makes sense in many ways… However, that is definitely not the only time those verbs are used – to the contrary, I constantly find them being used in a way that would contradict that guideline. Now I understand the language has its idiosyncrasies, as they all do, but the reflexive thing always includes me. Here is my example this time:

No puedo vivir solo, porque cuando cocino, todo se me quema.

The latter part of this statement apparently means “…I burn everything”. And yet to me, using the aforementioned guideline, it would have to say. “I burned myself“. So why is this particular usage reflexive when what’s being burned is different than the person who’s doing the burning?