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How can you speak Spanish in a more conversational, everyday way?
Spanish textbooks can be surprisingly unhelpful in this regard. They might teach you useful grammar and vocabulary, but it's often presented in an unnatural, forced way that doesn't reflect how people actually speak in real world Spanish conversations.
“What are the days of the week?” “What colour is your shirt?” “How many rooms are there in your house?” These questions might be helpful in the classroom, but they're not much use if you want to speak Spanish in the real world.
With that in mind, in this article I'm going to cover some realistic Spanish conversation starters and phrases you can use in a real conversation.
This is a Spanish-focussed follow-up to this previous article about general tips on meeting strangers and starting conversations, and this one with more tips on social and conversational skills.
The English idiom “to break the ice” can be translated literally into Spanish: romper el hielo. But how do you do it? What's the perfect line to start a simple Spanish conversation? After decades of trial, error, and dedicated practice, I've settled on some favourites. For example, here's one that usually works well for me:
“Hola, soy Benny.” (Hi, I'm Benny.)
I know: revolutionary, isn't it?
If you feel like that one is too advanced for you (perhaps because your name isn't Benny), here's another one you could try:
“Holo, ¿cómo te llamas?” (Hi, what's your name?)
Where do I get these ideas from?
The truth is, it doesn't matter what you say to start a conversation. What matters is how you say it. Most people like to be sociable, and as long as you're not rude or inappropriate, people will probably respond well to you. And if they don't, it’s their issue, not yours. They're probably just having a bad day; don't take it personally. Move on to chat with someone else.
If you’re still stuck, here are some more Spanish conversation starters you could use:
Some people think that so-called “small talk” bores people and should be avoided. On the contrary, small talk has its time and place. I’ll explain why in a second, but first, let’s have a look at some of the typical “small” questions for Spanish conversations:
Note: for simplicity's sake I'm using the tú form of verbs for all the examples in this article. In a formal setting you might want to use usted instead, and in some countries they say vos. Be sure to use the right “you” for your specific situation.
So, what are the benefits of small talk? Firstly, it’s safe and easy. Most people take a while to “open up” and feel comfortable when talking to a stranger, and small talk helps to bridge the gap. Secondly, small talk provides valuable information about who the other person is and how they relate to the situation you’re in – an instinctive priority everyone feels when meeting a new person.
Don’t be afraid to engage in small talk!
Small talk only gets boring when you linger on it for too long. Conversation is about exchanging energy, not information, so don't stand there grilling the other person with questions like they're at a job interview. Think of small talk as the launchpad that will get you to a more stimulating topic.
What will that topic be? It's up to you! What are you interested in? Hopefully you and your Spanish speaking conversation partner can find some common ground.
Here are some questions that might get the ball rolling, grouped by category:
Once you've learned a little bit about the other person, how can you expand the discussion on the current topic? As well as offering your own insights and opinions, you can drill deeper and find out more of the other person's. People do love to talk about themselves, after all.
What if the well runs dry? Fear not. In any long conversation, the topic will naturally change over time. Once again, it's the energy that matters, not the information being shared. Unless the other person has something that they're absolutely desperate to say on the current subject, they won't mind (or perhaps even notice) if you make a smooth transition to something else.
You might be able to have a conversation in Spanish, but are you conversational? If you’re a native English speaker, you no doubt pepper your English with, like, y’know, little expressions and turns of phrase (and stuff like that) that kinda make you sound more natural, know what I mean? Y’see, every language has stuff like this, but it’s not really taught in textbooks.
These little verbal sprinkles are a big part of the difference between speaking naturally and merely speaking correctly. Here are a few you can use in Spanish:
If you want someone to repeat themselves in Spanish, a normal, polite thing to say is “¿Cómo?”, like saying “sorry?” in English.
Also note that if you're texting someone in Spanish, laughter is written as “jajajaja”, not “hahahaha”!
In casual English you might address someone as “dude”, “buddy”, “mate”, “man”, and many other alternatives depending on your dialect. Spanish has many such words. In Spain it's very common to call people tío/tía (uncle/aunt). In Colombia, men might address each other as guevón, and in México there are many words, like mano or morro. It varies massively from country to country, so be sure to find out what your local equivalent of these words is!
The word bueno literally means “good”, but it's commonly used in Spanish as a filler word, in the same you might start a sentence with “well…” in English. Likewise with pues (“well” in English).
I hope you find the above Spanish conversation tips and phrases helpful. They’re just the beginning – keep practising your Spanish skills, and you’ll find that your general conversational skills should develop alongside them. In my experience, Spanish speakers tend to be a friendly bunch, so what have you got to be afraid of?
Founder, Fluent in 3 Months
Fun-loving Irish guy, full-time globe trotter and international bestselling author. Benny believes the best approach to language learning is to speak from day one.
Speaks: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Esperanto, Mandarin Chinese, American Sign Language, Dutch, Irish
