Start with the buildings you'd actually look for. Spanish town words are easy to picture, and several are first cousins of English ones — la estación (lah es-tah-SYON) is the station, el parque (el PAR-keh) the park. Notice that each one comes with its little word for "the": el for masculine places, la for feminine ones.
| Spanish | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| la biblioteca | lah bee-blyoh-TEH-kah | the library |
| el parque | el PAR-keh | the park |
| la tienda | lah TYEN-dah | the shop |
| la estación | lah es-tah-SYON | the station |
| la plaza | lah PLAH-sah | the square |
| el museo | el moo-SEH-oh | the museum |
| el banco | el BAN-koh | the bank |
| el mercado | el mer-KAH-doh | the market |
Almost every Spanish town is built around a plaza — a central square, often called the Plaza Mayor ("main square"). It's where the market sets up, where people meet in the evening, and where you'll find the café tables out. If you're ever lost, head for the plaza; everything else points back to it.
The Spanish word banco means both "bank" and "bench" — the money kind and the park kind. They share a root: the first bankers in medieval Italy did business sitting on benches in the square. When a banker failed, his bench was broken — banca rotta — which is where the English word bankrupt comes from.
One tiny word lets you describe a whole town: hay (rhymes with English "eye"). It means both "there is" and "there are" — it never changes, whether one thing or many. Hay un parque — "there is a park". Hay dos museos — "there are two museums". To say something isn't there, just put no in front: No hay estación — "there's no station".
Hay una biblioteca. — There is a library.
Hay muchas tiendas. — There are lots of shops.
No hay museo. — There's no museum.
¿Hay un banco por aquí? — Is there a bank near here?
This is one of the kindest words in Spanish: hay stays exactly the same no matter what follows it. English makes you choose between "there is" and "there are"; Spanish just shrugs and uses one word for both. It's a gift — use it freely to describe anywhere.
The grand square at the heart of Madrid, the Plaza Mayor, has stood for over four hundred years. In its time it has held markets, bullfights, royal ceremonies and, less happily, public trials. Today it's ringed with cafés — and it's still exactly where Madrileños say "meet me" when they mean the middle of town.
To ask where a place is, you say ¿Dónde está…? (DON-deh es-TAH) — "where is…?" — and name the place: ¿Dónde está la biblioteca? The verb here is estar, the "to be" for where things are. The answers come in a small set of directions you can mix and match:
| Spanish | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sigue recto | SEE-geh REK-toh | go straight on |
| gira a la izquierda | HEE-rah a lah ees-KYER-dah | turn left |
| gira a la derecha | HEE-rah a lah deh-REH-chah | turn right |
| está al lado de… | es-TAH al LAH-doh deh | it's next to… |
| está enfrente de… | es-TAH en-FREN-teh deh | it's opposite… |
| está aquí / allí | es-TAH ah-KEE / ah-YEE | it's here / there |
Tap each card — the front is Spanish, the back gives the meaning and how to say it:
Derecha ("right") looks like the English word direct — and "right" is the straight-ahead, "correct" side in both languages. Izquierda ("left") is the odd one out — it doesn't come from Latin at all, but from Basque, the ancient language of northern Spain, which is unlike any other in Europe.
The g in gira sounds like a throaty English "h" — HEE-rah — because before e or i, Spanish g changes its sound. It's the same sound at the start of gente (people) and in the middle of colegio (school). Once your ear learns it, you'll spot it everywhere.
Here's a small map of a town. You're the dot at the bottom. Follow the directions written beside it, and you'll see how the few words you've met fit together into a real route — straight on, a turn, and "it's next to" at the end.
¿Dónde está la biblioteca? — Where is the library?
Sigue recto. — Go straight on.
Gira a la izquierda. — Turn left.
Está al lado del banco. — It's next to the bank.
The word izquierda (left) is one of the very few everyday Spanish words that came not from Latin but from Basque — ezker. Basque was spoken in northern Spain long before Latin arrived, and it's a "language isolate": related to no other language on Earth that we know of.
Tap any line to hear it spoken in Spanish, then say it back. These are the exact words you'd ask with, and the ones you'd hear in reply.
Everything here is spoken by your browser's built-in voice, so it works offline. If a Spanish voice is on your device it will sound Spanish; if not, you'll still hear the words, read in whatever voice is available.
Fresh one. To say there's no station, you add one word in front. Type the two words that mean "there isn't / there's no": ______ estación.
Put it together. Write three or four lines: say two things there are in your town (and maybe one there isn't), then give a short direction to one of them. Use today's words — Hay… · No hay… · ¿Dónde está…? · Sigue recto · Gira a la izquierda/derecha · Está al lado de… Three or four lines is plenty. Copy the accents and the ñ as best you can — getting close is the whole aim today.
strong You used hay to lay out what's in your town and then gave a real direction someone could follow — that's exactly the two halves of this topic working together. Leaving hay unchanged whether one thing or many shows the idea has landed.
try this Read your direction back and check it ends somewhere — a turn is clearer when you finish with está al lado de… or enfrente de… so the person knows when they've arrived. Say it aloud as you check; your ear will hear where the route stops.
to add When this feels steady, join two directions with y ("and"): Sigue recto y gira a la derecha. One small joining word, and two separate instructions become a route.
Sit down with Dad for any of these. You won't follow every word — you're not meant to. Let the sound of Spanish become familiar, and listen for the handful of words you now know. Heavier titles flagged for a chat first.
Two short films to watch alongside today's lesson — each shows you something the words and pictures can't.
You can name the places in a town, say what's there with the unchanging little hay, ask where something is, and give and follow a short set of directions. You met the "to be" for where things are, and learned that if all else fails, you head for the plaza. Say a direction aloud once more before you close the page. Florence, this is Spanish — and you're already in it.