{"id":143533,"date":"2023-10-28T13:32:49","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T17:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/how-to-understand-spanish\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T03:17:33","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T07:17:33","slug":"how-to-understand-spanish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/spanish\/how-to-understand-spanish\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Tips for Understanding Spoken Spanish"},"content":{"rendered":"

What if the native Spanish speaker throws down words so fast or\u00a0has an accent<\/a> that you’re totally unfamiliar with? What if they whip out slang from a country you’ve never visited or what if you just forget everything and freeze?<\/p>\n

At times we’ve all felt a little less than confident when speaking our second language. So in this post, I’ll share my 6 go-to tips that helped me understand Spanish speakers better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

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1. Learn more about the Spanish culture<\/h2>\n

There’s much more to communication than just words.\u00a0While the dictionaries and vocabulary lists do teach a lot of real Spanish, it’s nearly impossible for them to keep up with all of the\u00a0extrinsic influences on them which can definitely affect the way they’re used and understood.<\/p>\n

There’s just so much to the language that you simply need to read into the culture to learn.<\/p>\n

That being said,\u00a0Spanish is the official language in the highest number of countries around the world<\/strong> (with more than 500 million speakers!) so this step is especially<\/em> important when learning to understand it.<\/p>\n

For example, in Spain, a crosswalk is often referred to as paso de cebra,\u00a0<\/em>which translates to something like “zebra crossing.” They also pronounce some letters differently than most other Spanish-speaking countries, such as the\u00a0c <\/em>or z, <\/em>which you may think sound similar to a lisp.<\/p>\n

Another thing to consider is how much cultural references come into play<\/strong>. Think about how much your own country’s culture comes up in your everyday conversations, from its history to its foods to its traditions.<\/p>\n

That’s why, even if you know Spanish, you may not know what a\u00a0quincea\u00f1era\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0flamenco\u00a0<\/em>is.\u00a0Quincea\u00f1era,\u00a0<\/em>literally “fifteen year old,” can be used in reference to a huge party that girls have on their 15th birthdays, which is very traditional in Mexico and other Latin American cultures. Meanwhile,\u00a0flamenco\u00a0<\/em>is a dance that’s very popular in southern Spain.<\/p>\n

Whether you’re traveling to Ecuador<\/a>, Peru<\/a>, Cuba<\/a>\u00a0or Spain, learning about the area’s culture will definitely help your comprehension skills of the local language and how it’s used in everyday conversations.<\/p>\n

Researching the foods, history and traditions, as well as learning the slang and listening to the accents<\/strong>, will greatly expand your understanding.<\/p>\n

Here’re some of the resources you can use to learn more about the culture of Spanish-speaking countries:<\/p>\n