Shadowing practice
Pick a sentence. Play it slowly and listen; play it again and speak along; then press “Your turn” and say it alone in the pause. The rhythm hint shows the stressed syllables in capitals. The same techniques work in English; see our guides to public speaking and presentations.
Conversation starters and how to answer
Most first conversations follow the same few questions. Prepare an answer to each and you can hold a five-minute conversation from your first weeks. Each pair below shows the question and one model answer.
Always end your answer with a question back: ¿Y tú? (and you?). It keeps the other person talking while you prepare your next line.
Fillers and repair phrases
A filler is a word that fills a pause while you think, like English “um” or “well”. A repair phrase rescues a conversation when you don’t understand or can’t find a word. Native speakers use both constantly; using them makes you sound more fluent, not less.
Speaking tasks you can do alone
You don’t need a partner to practise. Record yourself on your phone, listen back, and repeat the task a week later to hear your progress.
| Level | Task | What it trains | Grammar you’ll use |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Introduce yourself in 30 seconds | Name, origin, job, one hobby. | Ser and estar |
| A1 | Describe your morning routine | Present tense verbs in sequence. | Present tense |
| A2 | Tell the story of your last holiday | Past tenses, time words, linking. | Preterite and imperfect |
| B1 | Give your opinion on one news story | Opinion phrases, reasons, examples. | The subjunctive |
| B2 | Argue both sides of a question for 2 minutes | Contrast and concession: aunque, sin embargo. | Por and para |
| C1 | Retell a podcast episode in your own words | Summarising, reported speech, register. | Idioms |
¿Cómo se dice…? Keeping a conversation going
When you are stuck, these phrases buy time or get help without switching to English.
¡Qué bien! Reacting like a native speaker
Short reactions show you are listening. Spaniards use them constantly, often overlapping the speaker.