The Lead · Method
The 80/20 Rule: How to Learn Spanish by Speaking Only 1,000 Words
The minimum viable vocabulary for real Spanish conversations.
From the editors
We started this publication because the internet is full of Spanish lessons and short of Spanish as it's actually spoken — by a Paisa in Medellín, a chilanga in CDMX, a porteño at midnight. Our brief is simple: write the guide we wish we'd had when we first arrived.
Katherine Prieto & Gabriela Celis, editors
Sections
Departments
Real-world Spanish, organized by the situations our readers tell us they actually face.
- 01
Beginner Spanish Conversations
Thirty high-frequency questions to start speaking from the first lesson.
- 02
Travel Spanish
Airports, hotels, taxis, directions — the exact phrases you need on the road.
- 03
Daily Routine & Small Talk
Weather, weekend plans, hobbies — the conversational glue of real fluency.
- 04
Business Spanish
Mock interviews, meetings, networking — professional Spanish that holds up.
- 05
Medical Spanish
Describe symptoms, run patient intake, talk to doctors with confidence.
- 06
Mexican vs Iberian Slang
Side-by-side vocabulary so you sound natural in either hemisphere.
From the practice book
Saturday morning in Mexico City
Two friends meet for coffee in Roma Norte.
We publish one short dialogue a week, transcribed from the kind of conversations that actually happen on the street — with the slang, the contractions, and the rhythm intact.
Open the full set- A
¿Cómo amaneciste?
How did you wake up?
- B
Cansado, me acosté tarde. ¿Y tú?
Tired, I went to bed late. And you?
- A
Bien. Salí a correr a las siete.
Good. I went running at seven.
- B
Qué disciplina. Yo apenas voy abriendo el ojo.
What discipline. I'm barely opening my eyes.
- A
¿Pedimos un café de olla?
Should we order a café de olla?
- B
Va. Y unos chilaquiles, porfa.
Sure. And some chilaquiles, please.
The Brief
Recent dispatches
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Seven days to break the silence and start speaking.
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100+ Common Spanish Phrases for Daily Conversations
The everyday phrases textbooks don't teach.
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How to Practice Spanish Speaking Alone: 7 Proven Techniques
Build real spoken fluency — no partner required.
№ 09·10 min read
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Survival Spanish for Nicaragua: A 7-Day Expat Guide to Granada and Managua
What to say in your first week in Granada, León or Managua — without sounding like a tourist..
The Atlas
Country guides for the eight LATAM nations our readers move to most
Slang, register, food vocabulary, and the small civic vocabulary you need — bank, doctor, landlord — by country and by city.
Open the atlas