64 lessons, Beginner (A1) to Upper intermediate (B2)
Learn Spanish in short chat lessons
The Spanish course runs 64 lessons, from beginner to upper intermediate. It starts with the five vowels that never change and goes as far as reporting what happened without saying who did it.
What the course covers
Pronunciation first, so a written word comes out of your mouth right. Then ser and estar, stem-changing verbs, the two past tenses and when each one fits, the perfect tense for what you have done lately, and the passive. The reply under each answer explains the choice, which is where most Spanish mistakes live.
Which Spanish?
Peninsular Spanish, the Spanish of Spain, written with every accent and both question marks. Most of it carries straight over to Latin America; where the two differ, the lesson says so.
How a lesson works
A few lines in a chat, then a question. New words appear on cards before a lesson asks about them, and the ones you miss come back sooner. Every word and line can be played aloud.
Variety taught: Peninsular Spanish, the Spanish of Spain, with every accent and both question marks.
Every lesson in the course
Beginner (A1), 16 lessons
The five vowels that never change
Say any Spanish vowel the same way every time, so a written word comes out of your mouth the way it looks.
Spell your own name
Spell your name and email out loud when someone asks for them.
Survive a class in a language you don't speak
Ask what a word means, ask for it to be repeated, and ask how to say something in Spanish.
Say who you are
Give your name and say who you are when you meet someone new.
Ask the other person something back
Turn any statement you can make into a question you can ask someone else.
Two ways to say 'you'
Choose between tú and usted so you sound friendly rather than rude, or polite rather than stiff.
El or la, and why it matters
Name the things around you with the right little word in front of them.
Where you're from
Say what country you come from and what nationality you are, and ask someone the same.
Numbers you'll need on day one
Give your phone number, catch a room number, say how many, and count past your own age.
Your age and the people at home
Say how old you are and who is in your family, and ask someone about theirs.
What you do for a living
Say what your job is and ask someone what theirs is.
An ordinary day, an ordinary week
Describe what you do on a normal day and say which day of the week you do it.
Is it here, and is there any
Ask where something is and understand the answer, and say what there is around you.
When there's more than one
Talk about several things at once instead of naming them one by one.
What you like
Say what you like and how much, ask someone else, and agree or disagree with them.
Why you're learning Spanish
Say what you want to do with the language and ask someone else why they're here.
Elementary (A2), 16 lessons
What you'd rather be doing
Say what you want, prefer, can and start doing, using verbs whose middle vowel shifts.
Your morning, start to finish
Describe your daily routine from waking up to going to bed.
The bits that trip you up
Say which parts of Spanish come easily to you and which ones you struggle with.
Yesterday happened
Tell someone what you did yesterday and last weekend.
When the rules change
Talk about where you went, what you did and how it went, with the past forms that refuse to behave.
Big numbers and the calendar
Say prices, years and the date out loud.
The story of you, so far
Tell the story of your life in the order it happened, with the years attached.
What's yours, what's ours
Say whose house, room or things you are talking about.
This one or that one
Point at things near you and far from you and say which one you mean.
Where everything ended up
Describe a room by saying what sits where.
What's going on right now
Say what you and other people are in the middle of doing.
Say it without repeating yourself
Answer a question about a thing or a person without naming it again.
Asking someone for a favour
Ask a shop assistant, a friend or a stranger to give you, pass you or tell you something.
Making a plan for Saturday
Suggest something to do, agree on a time and arrange to meet.
What people eat around here
Describe how much of something goes into a dish and how it is normally made.
Was it any good?
Give your verdict on a trip, a meal or a film you experienced.
Intermediate (B1), 16 lessons
So, what have you been up to?
Tell someone what you've done lately when the exact day doesn't matter, and say what you still haven't got round to.
The way things used to be
Describe what your life, your town or your routine was like years ago.
Setting the scene, then the surprise
Tell a short past story where you say what the situation was like and then what suddenly happened.
Things you can't get out of
Say what you have to do, what people in general are supposed to do, and what nobody needs to bother with.
What the sign on the wall means
Read and explain the rules of a building, a beach or a job: what's allowed, what's forbidden, what's expected.
You'll never guess what happened
Open, build and land a story about something that happened to you, and keep the other person hooked while you tell it.
And then he goes to me…
Drop other people's exact words into a story the way friends actually tell one.
This one or that one?
Weigh two flats, two phones or two cities against each other out loud.
The best coffee in the neighbourhood
Single one thing out as the best, the worst or the most anything in a group.
Showing a friend how it's done
Give a friend clear instructions and friendly advice, step by step.
Instructions for someone you don't know
Give directions, product instructions or polite orders to a stranger or a customer.
Asking people to change something
Say what you want, need or are asking another person to do, when it's their action and not yours.
Enough is enough
Complain, object and tell someone firmly to stop doing something.
She says she'll call you back
Pass on a message somebody has just given you, out loud, while it's still fresh.
What they told me yesterday
Report a conversation that happened earlier, and get the details right when you retell it.
By the time I got there
Explain that something was already over before the moment you're talking about.
Upper intermediate (B2), 16 lessons
When it wasn't your doing
Report what happened to someone or something without saying who was behind it.
The way it's reported
Write about events the way a newspaper does, keeping every person out of it.
Reading the day's headlines
Tell a piece of news with the background, the event and what had already happened, all in one go.
What you make of it
State an opinion and say when you doubt or deny something.
Not letting it go
Disagree with somebody politely and hold your ground.
What you'd do in their place
Say what you would do about a situation that is not yours.
If things were different
Talk about something you would change if the situation allowed it.
How it's done where you're from
Describe a custom of your own country and how it strikes an outsider.
What the change left behind
Say what somebody was left with after something changed.
The place you'd want to end up
Describe an ideal place you have not found yet and say what it would have to offer.
Telling someone why to go
Recommend a place you know and give a full description of it.
Writing to somebody you've never met
Apply for something in writing, in the register the reader expects.
How you look after yourself
Talk about health, stress and what a system does or fails to do for people.
How it'll turn out
Say what will happen and guess at what is going on right now.
The promise they made
Report at length what somebody told you days ago, including their plans and their requests.
Before it's too late
Say what has to happen first, and why you are doing what you're doing.