Figuring out what to learn when you’re first starting out can be difficult because there’s so much you recognize that you need to learn. To help with this, I’ve compiled a list of ten categories that you should learn first to boost the number of Spanish words you’ve got under your belt.
This post is focused specifically on people who are learning Spanish, however, if you are learning a different language these categories would still be a great place for you to start as they’re beginner friendly, seen often in your daily life, and quick to learn.
I encourage you to focus on the following ten areas to improve your Spanish.
Now let’s get started and go learn some Spanish words!
One: Fruits and veggies
Learning my fruits and veggies early on really helped me to participate in conversations, at least a little more than I was before. Why is that so? Because we eat every day. You can easily find a way to introduce food into your daily conversation, especially if you’d like to use it to improve your collection of Spanish words.
My husband and I will make a point to discuss food with questions like:
- What do we want to cook this week?
- Do we want to buy smoothies?
- Oh, what fruits do you want in it?
- Did you buy the veggies?
These can easily be answered with simple sentences mostly made up of fruits and vegetables that I’ve already learned the Spanish words for.
We fit food conversations easily into daily life because A) we like to eat, okay? And B) it’s great for practice and again, quite easy to pick up! This should be pretty easy for you too!
Here are six examples of some words you can learn.
- Avocado: Palta
- Carrot: Zanahoria
- Sweet potato: Camote
- Apple: Manzana
- Banana: Platano
- Strawberry: Fresa.
If you need more tips about fruits, veggies and Spanish check out this post, 12 Ways To Improve Your Language Learning which talks about ways to learn the Spanish words for all your groceries.
Two: Animals
Learning Spanish words for animals is another great place to start. If you’re a meat eater, knowing your animals is incredibly helpful in your day-to-day life, especially when ordering off the menu.
You should try to learn some more animals, beyond dog and cat, so you never have to get into a situation where you’re driving down the road with a Spanish-speaking only friend or family and you see a cow and casually are like, “Oh, como se dice…” and you point to the cow and they have no idea what you’re talking about…so you say, “Esto…uh…moo, moo.” It’s just…it’s just not an attractive position to put yourself into, okay?
My general thought when learning a Spanish word is if the little kids know these things, then A) they are great to learn from. Kids know all the answers without passing any judgment on you and they’re almost always happy to share. And B) if little kids know these words, I should start with learning these things first as well. Little kids don’t start off by learning all the big, hard words! So don’t pressure yourself to either.
Some animals to get you started:
- Rooster: Gallo
- Horse: Caballo
- Monkey: Mono
- Cow: Vaca
- Pig: cerdo
Three: The kitchen
The kitchen is full of items that you most likely not only see daily but use daily. These should be a quick learn!
These are great to know in case you ever plan to share how you prepare recipes or ask someone how they prepare one. And to help you…I’m having a hard time finishing that sentence, I don’t remember the last time I had a riveting conversation about refrigerators. However, several times a week I do ask, or am asked, to hand something in the refrigerator to someone or to put something in the oven.
So…yeah, I knew I could come up with something to say about the importance of learning common household items. Basically, if you use it or see it daily, you should learn the word for it.
Some kitchen items to get you started:
- Blender: Licuadora
- Spoon: Cuchara
- Knife: Cuchillo
- Pot: Olla
- Oven: Horno
Four: The calendar
You should know not only the days of the week, for your scheduling needs and if someone is asking when you work. But you should also know how to say Spanish words like, “this week,” “next year,” “the month” and all the important date-related things in between.
To get you started:
- Date: Fecha
- Monday: Lunes
- March: Marzo
- Year: Año
Five: The body
To help me remember the words for different body parts, I try to make a point to practice them daily. Try to create as many sentences as you can and bring that into your conversations with your person.
You could say something like, “Mi pancita duele porque yo tengo hambre.” (My stomach hurts because I’m hungry.)
I also like to ask my husband to give me his hand when we’re walking. Or if we’re at a restaurant I can specifically order the pierna (leg) of the chicken with my meal.
You can refer to this post about 10 Spanish Questions/Phrases You Need To Learn Immediately to help you build more sentences like the two mentioned above.
Some words to get you started:
- Hand: Mano
- Fingers: Dedos
- Leg: Pierna
- Foot: Pie
- Lips: Labios
Six: Colors
This will probably be the easiest thing you learn all day–so why not learn it now and move on to the next thing? Nothing can hold you back–you’re on your way to knowing all the Spanish words!
That being said, no pressure to learn it all perfectly, I still get the word for purple and the word for brown confused. There’s no shame here.
Some colors to get you started:
- Black: Negro
- White: Blanco
- Blue: Azul
- Red: Rojo
- Yellow: Amarillo
Seven: Clothing
If you’re like me, learning a new language, and are into fashion and/or are currently creating your own wardrobe, (Check out our sewing tutorials here!) you may not be able to pick what is more fun about saying a sentence like, “Mira! Mi vestido!” (Look! My dress!)
My question is, is a sentence like that more fun to say because your outfit is fabulous and/or you created it yourself?
Or is the sentence better because, OMG–you said that in Spanish?!
I mean, sure, you can learn how to talk about your clothes in Spanish so you can add “Wash the clothes” (Lava la ropa) to your to-do list, or for a dozen other reasons…totally up to you!
But hey, I’m just saying, if you’re into learning Spanish and Sewing things like the overalls in the picture above (Which I made by the way! I mean, come on, mira mi ropa!), let’s chat in the comments!
Some clothes to get you started:
- Shirt: Polo
- Dress: Vestido
- Socks: Medias
- Underwear: Ropa interior
Eight: Family
These ones are mui importante to learn, especially if you have a Hispanic family that you’re joining. I have never in my life used formal terms for family members more than I do now that I moved to Perú.
To get you started on your name-calling (In the most appropriate and nicest way):
- Mother-in-law: Suegra
- Brother-in-law: Cuñado
- Niece: Sobrina
- Cousin: Primo/Prima
- Husband: Esposo
Nine: Numbers
I have learned that if you learn the word for the first 15 numbers in Spanish, you’re mostly set for the next hundred, with the exception that every tenth number, e.g. 20, 30, 40, etc. is pronounced a little differently.
- 15: Quince
- 100: Cien
- 45: Cuarenta y cinco
- 90: Noventa
You should start with your first one hundred. I learned these really well by counting at the gym, my husband and I would count reps in groups of 25 and I got a lot of practice in that way.
I would also recommend you learn a few numbers up in the 1000s because those come up often when you’re discussing money.
And of course–learn the number for your age! Even if all the other numbers take you a minute to do the math for when you’re at the checkout line at the store, make sure you can, at the least, respond flawlessly with how old you are.
Ten: The alphabet
And finally, I encourage you to learn your Spanish alphabet. Learning your alphabet will greatly increase your understanding not only in your verbal communication, but it will help you if you ever need to spell something out loud or write a text or note in Spanish.
If I’m being honest, this is an area I’m still working on. I’ve learned some random letters here and there, which I use when I need to communicate something that I’m really struggling to get across or understand. But I haven’t learned it all yet. I’m working on it!
With the letters I have learned, I usually use them to clear up any confusion I have when I’m chatting with people. So for example I’ve said before, “Con H?” or “Con X?”
I realize that my example does not really clear things up for you, but I know how these two letters are specifically pronounced, so they’ve been quite useful to me before in the past.
If I ask someone how to say a particular word but I’m having a hard time pronouncing it because I can’t picture how the word might be spelled, I can ask them to clarify by asking what letter is in the word by saying something like, “Con H?” This small clarification sometimes is the only piece of information I needed to get over what was tripping me up when trying to learn how to pronounce the word before. Which is usually my confusion between a “G,” “J,” or an “H” in Spanish.
Also, you should know that the letter “I” in Spanish is pronounced as the English letter “E.”
I hope you found this post helpful and that you can use it to grow your collection of Spanish words. Learning a new language is a long journey, but I believe if you’re here reading this, then you’re going to make it one day. Buena suerte! (Good luck!)
Need more language learning tips? Check out our other blog post about 12 Ways To Improve Your Language Learning-Without An App.
Let me know in the comments what language-learning tips you want to read next!
