At a glance
What will be easy
Spanish is written the way it sounds: learn a few rules (j, ll, ñ, c and g before e and i) and you can read any word aloud. When the stress breaks the rule, an accent shows it: café, canción.
Thousands of words share Latin roots with English, and endings map neatly: -tion becomes -ción (nación), -ty becomes -dad (ciudad), -ly becomes -mente (rápidamente).
Subject, verb, object, just like in English: Ana compra pan. A question can keep the same order and simply rise in tone: ¿Ana compra pan?
What will be hard
Each person has its own ending: hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis, hablan. Add two past tenses, comí (I ate) and comía (I used to eat), and irregular verbs like ser, ir and tener.
Every noun is masculine or feminine, and articles and adjectives agree with it: el coche rojo, la casa roja. The ending usually gives the gender away, but not always: el día, la mano.
Two verbs mean “to be”: soy inglés (identity), estoy cansado (a state). And the subjunctive, rare in English, is everywhere: quiero que vengas, “I want you to come”.
Your first 10 phrases
| Phrase | How to say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ¡Hola! | OH-lah | Hi, hello |
| Buenos días | BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs | Good morning |
| Gracias | GRAH-syahs | Thank you |
| Por favor | por fah-VOR | Please |
| Perdón | pehr-DOHN | Sorry, excuse me |
| ¿Cuánto cuesta? | KWAHN-toh KWEHS-tah | How much is it? |
| ¿Dónde está el baño? | DOHN-deh ehs-TAH el BAH-nyoh | Where’s the toilet? |
| No entiendo | noh ehn-TYEHN-doh | I don’t understand |
| ¿Puede hablar más despacio? | PWEH-deh ah-BLAR mahs dehs-PAH-syoh | Could you speak more slowly? |
| La cuenta, por favor | lah KWEHN-tah, por fah-VOR | The bill, please |
From A1 to B2: what to learn at each level
- A1
Articles and gender, ser and estar, the present tense of regular verbs, me gusta, numbers, around 1,000 common words.
- A2
The preterite and the present perfect, reflexive verbs, object pronouns (lo, la, le), the future with ir a.
- B1
Preterite versus imperfect, the present subjunctive, the conditional, commands, around 3,000 words.
- B2
The imperfect subjunctive (si tuviera…), conditional sentences, reported speech, idioms, 3,500 words and more.
How long it takes to learn Spanish
According to the US Foreign Service Institute (FSI), a native English speaker needs about 30 weeks of intensive study to reach professional working proficiency in Spanish. The closer a language is to your own, the faster the road.
More on timing: How long does it take to learn a language to B1 and B2?.
Your first month, 15–20 minutes a day
Pronunciation rules and the 100 most common words. Every day: 10 minutes of flashcards and 5 minutes of reading aloud.
Ser and estar, articles and simple sentences about yourself. Start listening to short dialogues.
The present tense of -ar, -er and -ir verbs, plus tener, ir and hacer. Write 3 sentences a day about your day.
Your first A1 stories and 300 words in review. Try five minutes of conversation with a native speaker or in a chat.
Typical mistakes and how to avoid them
It means “I’m pregnant”, not embarrassed: say me da vergüenza. Likewise, actualmente is “currently” and éxito is “success”.
Age takes tener: tengo 30 años, literally “I have 30 years”.
Gustar works like “to please”: me gusta el café, literally “coffee pleases me”. With plurals: me gustan los libros.
Keep vowels short and pure: no is not “know”. Tap the r in pero and roll it in perro: one is “but”, the other “dog”.
Did you know?
- Questions and exclamations open with upside-down marks: ¿Qué tal? ¡Qué bien! The Royal Spanish Academy recommended them in 1754.
- More native Spanish speakers live in Mexico than in any other country: over 120 million, more than twice as many as in Spain.
- Nearly eight centuries of Arab presence in Iberia left words like aceite (oil), azúcar (sugar) and ojalá, “hopefully”, from Arabic for “if God wills”.
Spanish exams
The main international certificates: DELE, SIELE. Many of them map their levels to the CEFR scale from A1 to C2.
→ DELE B1 and B2: how many Spanish words you need and how to pass
How NewLexi helps you learn Spanish
- Words on your topics. Spanish cards are generated on request or added from the translator, text, a photo or a file.
- Spaced repetition for every word and four mastery levels.
- Stories and dialogues in Spanish at your level, written with your words; tap any word for a translation.
- Spanish grammar from A1 to C2, a writing trainer with AI correction and a chat.
- Lock Screen cards and iPhone widgets to review words on the go.
→ The best app to learn Spanish words in 2026
FAQ
Is Spanish hard for English speakers?
It’s one of the easiest languages for you: regular spelling and plenty of familiar words. Most of your effort will go into verbs, ser and estar, and the subjunctive.
How long does it take to reach B1?
A common benchmark is 350–400 hours of study, about a year at an hour a day.
Which certificate should I take?
DELE, from the Instituto Cervantes, is the classic choice and never expires. SIELE is taken on a computer and is valid for five years.
Should I learn Spanish from Spain or Latin America?
Either: the differences are like British and American English. Spain uses vosotros and, in most regions, pronounces z, and c before e or i, like the English th; some words differ (coche and carro, “car”). Pick the variety you’ll hear most.
