How to practise Spanish with native speakers

The easiest way to practise Spanish with native speakers is a language exchange: find someone who speaks Spanish and is learning your language, then take turns. Half the chat happens in Spanish, half in theirs, and you correct each other as you go. It costs nothing but time, and it shows you quickly which parts of your textbook Spanish survive contact with a real person.

This guide is for English speakers from roughly A2 upwards. It covers where Spanish conversations usually wobble, which Spanish your partner is likely to speak, what's worth asking them, and the phrases that keep an exchange running.

What is a Spanish language exchange?

A Spanish language exchange (or tandem) is a free arrangement between two people: a Spanish speaker who is learning English and an English speaker who is learning Spanish. Neither of you is a teacher. You split the time roughly evenly between the two languages and help each other with corrections, vocabulary and the everyday phrasing textbooks skip. If you'd like a session plan, see how to structure a language exchange.

Where Spanish learners trip up in conversation

Reading Spanish and chatting in it are different skills. These are the spots where real conversations tend to go sideways.

Ser and estar

Both mean "to be". The classroom rule says ser is for permanent qualities and estar for temporary states. It's a decent start, but it leaks. The linguist Enrique Aletá Alcubierre points out that Spanish speakers say Pedro está muerto ("Pedro is dead"), with estar, about the least temporary state there is.

So rather than memorising exceptions, collect real sentences. When one of yours sounds off, ask your partner: ¿Aquí se usa ser o estar? ("Is it ser or estar here?"). A few weeks of that teaches more than a page of rules.

Tú, usted, vosotros and vos

Spanish has more than one "you", and which ones you meet depends on where your partner grew up.

• Tú and usted. Tú is informal, usted is formal. Between two adults chatting as equals, tú is usually fine. If you're not sure, ask: ¿Nos tuteamos? ("Shall we use tú with each other?").
• Vosotros. In most of Spain, vosotros is the informal plural "you". In Latin America, ustedes covers both informal and formal. A paper published on the Instituto Cervantes' Centro Virtual Cervantes notes that fewer than 10% of Spanish speakers use vosotros, and they're in Spain.
• Vos. Around the Río de la Plata, vos takes the place of tú in informal speech and comes with its own verb forms: vos tenés rather than tú tienes. Researchers at the Instituto Cervantes in São Paulo describe voseo there as part of the educated standard, above all in Argentina. It isn't slang.

None of this has to slow you down. If your partner writes ¿Querés?, it's the same question as ¿Quieres?, just from Buenos Aires or Montevideo. Learn to recognise the forms first; you can decide later which ones to use yourself.

Thinking in English, typing in Spanish

A lot of early mistakes are literal translations: English word order, English idioms, English politeness. You can't fix that with grammar drills alone. The cure is asking "how would you say this?" rather than "is this correct?". A sentence can be correct and still sound like nobody has ever said it.

Text chat is a kind place to start. You can reread a message, look up a word and reply once you've wrestled the verb into shape.

Spain or Latin America: which Spanish will you get?

Spanish from Madrid, Mexico City and Buenos Aires sounds different and uses some different everyday words, plus the "you" forms above. It's still one language, and people from all three talk to each other without subtitles.

If you already know where you'll use your Spanish (a move, family, a trip), look for someone from there. Otherwise, pick the person you enjoy talking to and ask them to point out words that are local to their country. On Talkabout, the language, level and country filters are free, so narrowing to Spanish speakers in Colombia or Spain takes a couple of taps.

What to ask a native Spanish speaker

Plenty of native speakers can't explain the grammar behind their own language, and that's fine. They know what sounds natural, which is the thing you can't get from a book. Good questions play to that:

• "Would people say it like this where you live?"
• "Can you rewrite my message the way you'd write it to a friend?"
• "Is this word formal, normal or something only your grandmother says?"
• "What's something people from your country say that learners never know?"
• "What was hardest for you in English?" (It helps you return the favour.)

For more on giving and receiving fixes without making it awkward, see how to correct someone kindly.

Good first topics

Start with things you both have opinions about and neither of you needs a dictionary for:

• What a normal weekday looks like where you each live
• Food: what they'd cook for a visitor, and what you would
• Music, series and football, in whatever order you care about them
• Places they'd recommend in their country, and why
• Why you're each learning the other's language

When those run out, what to talk about in a language exchange has topics by level. And if you haven't sent the first message yet, start with how to write your first message.

Useful Spanish phrases for the exchange

These use tú. Around the Río de la Plata you'll see vos forms instead, such as ¿Me corregís? and ¿Podés…?

FAQ

Is a Spanish language exchange free?

Yes. A language exchange is a swap of time and help, not a paid lesson, so nobody pays anyone. You teach a little English, your partner teaches a little Spanish, and you both correct each other.

Should I learn Spanish from Spain or Latin America?

Either works, and speakers from both understand each other. The differences you will notice first are accent, some everyday vocabulary and the forms of "you", such as vosotros in Spain and vos around the Río de la Plata. Pick the variety you are most likely to use, then ask your partner to flag regional words.

How long does it take to learn Spanish?

The US Foreign Service Institute groups Spanish with the languages closest to English and expects about 30 weeks of full-time study (around 23 class hours a week plus self-study) for its students to reach level 3 on the ILR scale in speaking and listening. Part-time learners take longer, which is why a regular exchange helps.

What level of Spanish do I need for a language exchange?

Less than most people think. At A2 on the CEFR scale you can handle simple, routine exchanges about familiar things, which is enough for a slow text chat. Below that, keep messages short and lean on your partner's English for the tricky parts.

Start practising

The best time to send your first ¡Hola! is before you feel ready. Find a partner on the Spanish exchange page, or sign up free and say hi. Talkabout is free, runs in your browser and is for adults only.