Be a Chatterbox: Spanish Dialogues with Real-world Conversation Examples

It requires some give and take.

Going in prepared can relieve a lot of stress.

And a few tips can make things much easier.

No, we’re not talking about your relationship with your favorite Starbucks barista. We’re talking about Spanish conversations.

Getting ready for a Spanish conversation takes time and effort. If you jump in unprepared, you may make common conversation mistakes you’d rather avoid.

Luckily, Spanish dialogues can give you the skills and experience you need to hold a conversation and engage in small talk.

Dialogues are great learning tools because they show you how Spanish conversations work.

They let you see the back and forth between speakers and witness vocabulary you’ve studied used in context.

Plus, since they often cover common scenarios, they can prepare you for situations you’ll actually encounter and give you the confidence you need to communicate clearly.

While these nine great resources for Spanish dialogues may not pack the caffeine punch of your favorite cold brew, they sure do pack a learning wallop.

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How to Use Spanish Dialogues to Learn the Language

Spanish dialogues can help you become conversational if you use them correctly. Here’s a suggested list of steps for using these resources to improve your conversational skills:

• Do a preliminary run-through. If there’s audio, listen carefully and try to pick out any common Spanish phrases or words you already recognize. If only writing is available, read it completely once. If there’s both, read along as you listen to pick out individual words.
• Refer to supporting materials. Some Spanish dialogues are accompanied by a word list or activities. Use them! They’re there to help you.

  You can use these supplementary resources to memorize vocabulary words or get a clearer idea of what’s actually happening.

• Go through the dialogue again more carefully and pick out words you still don’t know. If there are a lot, you may want to jot them down to keep track of them.
• Finally, alternate between the supportive materials and dialogue as needed until you understand everything. Once you understand it fully, you might even read it out loud yourself to help practice Spanish conversation. Goofy voices to differentiate between characters are optional (but recommended!).

9 Spanish Dialogue Resources to Get You Speaking

123 Teach Me

This resource has many free dialogues, making it an irresistible learning option.

The site teaches you how to speak Spanish with over 500 dialogues at nine skill levels recorded in 13 different countries. Dialogues are divided between three novice levels, three intermediate levels and three advanced levels so you’ll be able to find exactly the right language level for you.

Lessons cover a wide range of scenarios, ranging from greetings to selecting the perfect outfit.

Each lesson contains several dialogues which usually consist of audio, a vocabulary list and a transcript with key vocabulary words highlighted. Additional resources are also included, like flashcards and quizzes.

FluentU

FluentU is the place to find authentic videos featuring native Spanish speakers. Videos include music videos, funny vlogs and skits, interviews, movie clips and trailers, news segments and much more.

These videos come with a list of key vocabulary words and a transcript, so you can prepare for the spoken dialogues before you dive into them.

Each video also uses annotated captions, giving you easy access to any word’s definition, example sentences and an associated image. Plus, you can even click any word to see example sentences and other videos that use it.

Save words as flashcards to custom flashcard decks and return to them when you’re ready to review.

FluentU has review quizzes use videos, images and example sentences to form engaging learning activities. The quizzes adapt to your learning, giving you questions based on what you’ve already studied.

Regardless of your learning level, FluentU can help you advance your skills. You choose what you watch and how quickly you progress. You can use FluentU in a browser or download the app for iOS or Android.

Fluency Prof

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could use dialogues to practice verb tenses? With Fluency Prof, you can.

That’s because each of Fluency Prof’s free dialogues is organized by verb tense, allowing you to select between the present, past, future, conditional and subjunctive tenses. There are some unique topics here, like horoscopes, dreams and more.

The conversations come with audio and many also offer a slower speech version in case full speed is too fast.

Rather than providing you with a full script, you’ll only find partial transcripts here. You’re tasked with filling in the missing words as you listen to the dialogue. This encourages active listening and better learning.

123dialogues

This YouTube channel has tons of language-learning content.

If you don’t want to peruse through the collection, you can just skip straight ahead to the Spanish dialogue playlists.

Dialogues are slow and easy to follow. Each line is spoken in English, followed by Spanish while the accompanying text appears on screen. The slow pace makes this one ideal for beginners looking to get conversational.

You’ll find a variety of scenarios here, including introductions, going on a date, car trouble and so much more.

Lingualia

Lingualia is a subscription-based option that comes with some useful Spanish dialogues.

Over 200 realistic dialogues are available, covering common topics that you’re likely to use, like travel.

Both audio and written transcripts are available in a form resembling a phone’s messages screen. The speech is authentic in its speed so beginners may have trouble keeping up. You can also play the audio one line at a time, though, allowing you to study each line more carefully.

Units start with a dialogue but also come with affiliated vocabulary and grammar lessons to help you get the most you can out of the experience.

ToLearnFree

While this website doesn’t have that many dialogue options, the ones it has are very useful and have a unique twist: they’re in the form of cartoons.

Speech bubbles show the interaction between characters by listing the Spanish phrase, followed by its English meaning. You can even print out the cartoons to keep them handy at your desk, bedside table or even bathroom mirror.

The website also offers supportive activities, like fill-in-the-blank style quizzes at the end of each dialogue.

Be wary: sometimes French creeps into the cartoons though, luckily, this is easy to spot.

Topics include shopping, being sick, rail travel and more.

SpanishBOOM

This site has six easy-to-use dialogues at three different learning levels from beginner to advanced.

Though the options are few, these conversations offer great targeted learning. Each one includes audio, the text in both English and Spanish and a vocabulary list.

The topics covered are relatively unique while still being incredibly useful, like free time, going to the hairdressers and even complaining about a mother-in-law.

Study Spanish Language

With 24 dialogues on four common, highly useful themes, this resource is perfect if you’re looking to travel abroad.

Each dialogue comes with audio as well as Spanish and English transcripts. There are also notes to help you understand the interaction in greater depth. 

Topics focus on getting to know people, getting around, shopping and eating out, so the material you’ll learn will be useful for getting conversational.

There are even exercises staggered throughout to give you speaking practice.

Medical Spanish

Whether you’re a healthcare professional or are concerned about the possibility of a medical emergency when you travel abroad, Medical Spanish is a useful resource to prepare you for several medical situations you might encounter.

The dialogues have audio that allows you to play one line at a time for easy studying. There’s also a full transcript of what’s being said along with the English translation.

Topics include a variety of medical issues, like abdominal pain, chest pain, headaches and much more. These conversations provide both what a patient and what a doctor might say in a Spanish conversation.

Check out these Spanish dialogue resources and give yourself a confidence boost. By following the examples, you’ll soon be having full Spanish conversations, too!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)