Survival Spanish: Andalucía part 1

As I wave goodbye to Andalucía (only one of Spain’s seventeen regions – wow!), I thought I would pass on some of the common, short Spanish expressions I have picked up.

Textbooks and online learning are, often necessarily due to international audiences, laden with generic phrases which you hardly ever hear in everyday spoken language.

Disclaimer: my Spanish is very much a work in progress and I don’t know how far all of this goes for the rest of Spain. But I hope it will help you get over some initial hurdles :)

Hello, goodbye

Okay, so we’re working with the good old 80:20 rule here. In fact, it’s more like 90:10 – you’d be amazed at how far nailing the absolute basics gets your confidence and helps break down barriers. No need to worry about hypothetical conversations in the subjunctive mood for a while yet.

Standard greetings used across the board (with rough meanings):
Hola, buenos días! (“hello, good morning”)
Hola, buenas! (“hello, good afternoon/evening” – note that the word tardes is dropped)
Hola, buenas noches! (“hello, good night” – used later in the evening as a greeting, not actually when you go to bed!)

Interestingly, a lot of Spanish phrases sound a little “impolite” to the English-speaking ear, however this is one area where I’ve noticed it’s the other way around.

For people you are familiar with:
Hola, qué hay? (“hello, what’s happening?/what’s up?”)
Hola, qué pasa? (“hello, what’s happening?/what’s up?”)
Hola, todo bien? (“hello, how’s it going?”)
Hola, qué tal? (“hello, how’s it going?” – not so common around here)

Note that cómo estás? is out. One of the first things we learn in textbooks, but I must admit I don’t think I have ever heard this spoken in Andalucía day-to-day. Also, the questions are very often rhetorical, similar to the way we’d say things like “alright mate?” in English. Typically after these greetings another question will follow, and of course the conversation will flow!

Saying goodbye:
Hasta luego (“see you later” – by far the most common, and not literal)
Hasta ahora (“see you soon/in a bit”)
Buen viaje (“have a good trip”)
Buena suerte (“good luck”)
Nos vemos (“see you later/soon” – more literal than hasta luego, often used among friends)
Adiós (“goodbye/farewell” – a bit more formal and usage seems to vary town to town)

There are also those delicious indescribable words like venga, which are difficult to translate directly but are very common. Venga means something like “alright then” at the end of a conversation and you will hear venga, hasta luego all over the place.

Don’t be surprised to hear hola immediately answered with hasta luego. This is simply said in passing when there is no time or intention to have a conversation, similar to those ironic and awkward “hi, bye” situations in English. But somehow it sounds more natural here.

OK, José

Vale (“OK” – agreement or confirming understanding)
Claro (“sure/of course”)

I recall “OK” the most common word in the English language – I wonder if the same applies to Spanish?

Commands

Spoken Spanish is much more direct and, often, literal than English is. Another barrier to get over is the brusqueness and loudness speech is delivered with, as well as the lack of airs and graces in the vocabulary. Don’t be offended or intimidated; this is just the way people speak here. It does take some time to adjust to (even for a Scotsman :)

Common commands:
Mira (“look/look here/look at this”)
Diga (“speak” – a more reasonable translation would be “yes?”, for example on the phone or at a counter)
Espera (“wait”)
Ven (aquí) (“come here”)

More indescribables

Bueno…
Pero bueno…
Pues…
Pues nada…

Lovely phrases which almost act as conversation “fillers” to give you time to think or end a sentence if you have nothing better (the technical term is muletilla, which can also mean a cane or a walking stick).

Note that bueno on its own doesn’t necessarily mean “good”. It’s perfectly possible to be talking about a bad situation and start a sentence with Bueno…

Clipping

The letters “s” and “d” are often dropped in Andalucía, along with entire words!

Common examples:
Buena (buenas tardes > buenas > buena)
Nada (de nada > nada – “it’s nothing” in response to a service, help, etc.)
Ha luego (hasta luego > ha luego)

General tips

1. Adjust to your surroundings: listen out for common phrases around you and try to repeat them in your speech. There will be lots of variation, even down to village level.

2. Experiment: Spanish is a nice and flexible language, in terms of word order and endings (-ito and –ita a particular favourite to describe something small). This can make it difficult for some people to learn by patterns, but if you haven’t heard something said in a certain way, don’t worry and just give it a try! The meaning will almost certainly get across and people often correct you if it’s way off. Expect to be met with occasional misunderstanding though: for example out on a limb I kept ordering cervezitas (small beers) one day, which was fine for a while until I received a confused Qué? Cerveza? from one barman. But as far as I understand it’s a reasonable thing to say.

3. Persist: Related to the above, you just have to stick with your Spanish, no matter how basic or poor you think it is. People really appreciate the effort and will be more friendly towards you, give you more advice, etc. and will often give you language pointers. In hotels/guest houses/hostels/restaurants/stations/tourist info particularly you will encounter people determined to speak English to you – whether to practice themselves, or just through resigned familiarity with tourists. Resist the temptation: this can lead to some ridiculous stand-offs with both of you speaking the other’s language, however they will soon get the message. Trust me, it’s worth it!

Coming soon: the important stuff – cafés, bars, and supermarkets!

[Have I misunderstood something? Suggestions and corrections are most welcome!]