Speaking Spanish : Essential holiday words

Whenever you go abroad it’s always worth learning a few words of the local lingo to get by. Locals appreciate you making an effort to speak their language and not just assuming that everyone will speak English.

In the resorts in Spain, a fair amount of English will be spoken but it’s always fun to throw in a few words of the local language if you can. If in doubt, good old smiling and pointing usually works pretty well.

Greetings

Hello: Hola

Goodbye: Adios

Good morning: Buenos dias

Good night: Buenas noches

See you tomorrow: Hasta mañana (man-yan-a)

Thank you: Gracias

Where is?

Where is…: Donde esta?

Swimming pool: La piscina

Train station: Estación de tren

Restaurant: Restaurante

The shop: La tienda

Reception: Recepción

Food & drink

Ice cream: un helado (eh-la-doe)

Coffee: café

Tea: Té

Milk: Leche

Beer: Cerveza (ser-vess-a)

Wine: Vino

Bread: Pan

Butter: Mantequilla (mant-A-key-ya)

Useful to know

Open: Abierto

Closed: Cerrado

Danger: Peligro

No entry: No hay entrada

Numbers

Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez

It’s worth noting that some of the sounds in Spanish are different to English: v’s are pronounced as b’s, z’s as a th. Also in Catalan regions some of the words may vary and there may be a few x’s thrown in to words.