🇪🇸 Learn Spanish · For your trip

Order the tapas. Ask for the bill. Sound like you belong.

You don't need fluent Spanish for a great trip — you need about a dozen phrases, said with confidence. Here are the ones that actually get used, plus a couple of things locals wish tourists knew.

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8 Spanish phrases every traveler needs

No conjugation tables. Just what you'll actually say at a table, a counter, or a front desk.

HelloHolaOH-lah
PleasePor favorpor fah-VOR
Thank you (so much)Muchas graciasMOO-chahs GRAH-see-ahs
Excuse meDisculpedees-KOOL-peh
Do you speak English?¿Habla inglés?AH-blah een-GLEHS
I would like...Quisiera...kee-see-EH-rah
The check, pleaseLa cuenta, por favorlah KWEN-tah por fah-VOR
Where is the bathroom?¿Dónde está el baño?DOHN-deh es-TAH el BAH-nyoh
Two things worth knowing

Dinner starts later than you think, and plates are meant to be shared

Dinner doesn't really start until 9. Many restaurants in Spain won't even open their kitchens before 8pm, and 9 or 10pm is a completely normal time to sit down. Show up at 6 expecting dinner and you'll mostly find closed doors — that's the moment to have a coffee and watch the evening start.

Tapas are a social contract, not appetizers. Ordering several small plates for the table to share — rather than one entrée each — is the actual local custom, not a tourist gimmick. Order two or three at a time, see how it goes, and order more.

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If you want to go further

Reading tips is one thing — actually being able to say them out loud is another. Voxolo builds a full speaking plan around your trip dates, with an AI tutor that plays the waiter, the vendor, the local — so you land ready, not just informed.

See how Voxolo works