Me, me, me! Let’s get personal. How to talk about yourself in Spanish.

There comes a time when you have to think about yourself more!

In linguistic terms this might mean you have to talk about yourself more!

It’s a proven fact that when learning languages, you remember more vocabulary,  syntax,  and expressions if it all means something to you personally.

There’s no better way to starting off a conversation, than asking someone about themselves. And people will ask, believe me!

We have all had to do this sort of thing, on a bus, train, at an event, a wedding, a party, in our native language .

Now you are hoping to strike up a conversation, or at the very least a unit of  communication with a Spanish speaker.

The greatest myth

The greatest myth new language learners believe is that they will seem stupid or silly in the eyes of a native speaker if they don’t speak their ‘target’ language well.

The opposite is probably true! It in fact COULD seem as if you haven’t been bothered to try to learn a few basics! See how bad THAT looks?

Native Spanish speakers will admire you so much for trying to speak in their language.

In fact it will most likely be taken as a sign of respect!

Now is the time to commit a few phrases to memory so you don’t blank out when you need to put them into action!

Don’t worry about the why and the wherefore in these sentences at the moment.

Just TRUST in the fact they will be very useful at sometime in your linguistic journey.

Below, I have recorded in Spanish a few phrases that I personally could use in MY circumstance, striking up conversation with a native Spanish speaker, here in Spain conversation

Speaking out loud, fill n the blanks with your VERY OWN details if you can.

I have used my own details as way of example.

USE YOUR OWN DETAILS.

NOT MINE! 

My name is………(Marie)

MI NOMBRE ES ….(MARIA)

There is a high probability that your name is NOT Maria. Please insert YOUR OWN NAME!

 

I’m… English

SOY… (INGLESA)

[You may not be English and female….so you’ll need to find

a) your nationality, and

b) tailor it to your gender (masculine/ feminine) ]

Note that it’s hard for me to tailor my recordings to your exact requirements, but I can do so easily and make a recording for YOU in your circumstance if you leave me a comment below. 

You’re welcome!

---

I’m…a teacher

SOY…. PROFESORA

I love my job, but I really understand ALL my readers may not be female teachers. It happens. Please let me know how I can tailor your circumstance to fit this conversation.

For more information on the joy of SOY , see To Be or not To Be………… in Spanish

---

I’m at home

ESTOY… EN CASA

You could be ANYWHERE! Where are you? Ask me about making this relevant to YOU

---

I’m well

 ESTOY…BIEN

You may not want to say you are well, of course.

You may want to say you’re ill, or tired or married or divorced. Let me know so I can personalise this for you!

More information on the verb ESTAR on a previous post Are you tired?

---

I speak …English

HABLO… INGLÉS

You may speak another language or languages. Let me know in comments below which languages you would want to say you speak.  I will make recordings for your personal circumstance.

---

I live …in Spain

VIVO …EN ESPAÑA

Chances are you may not live in Spain. Let me know what YOU would like to say in your first basic conversation about where you live.

 

I’ve got…a red car (in Spanish :CAR RED)

TENGO UN COCHE ROJO

You may not have a red car. It might be green. You may not have a car at all.

But you may have a small flat/a big house/ 3 children/ a dog/ 2 cats….I really don’t know yet, till you tell me.

So tell me what exactly  YOU think would be logical for YOU to say in your first, general, chatty conversation with a Spanish speaker.

For more on TENGO, see a previous post I’ve got a small house!

---

If you don’t want to go public and use the COMMENTS section, the send me an e-mail directly to  marieryanc@gmail.com    and I will be happy to tailor your first Spanish conversations on the lines described above.

This will give you the confidence you need to get started…

I really hope this helps…