The Spanish Dude

The Spanish Dude Fast, easy Spanish lessons from somebody who speaks your language.

02/10/2026

Fair warning: vulgar language ahead. 😂

I’m in Costa Rica right now for the first-ever Spanish Camp w/ The Spanish Dude.

And whenever I land in a Spanish-speaking country, one of the first things I do is listen for how people are actually talking.

There’s one word I’m ALWAYS listening for:

COGER

By the book, "coger" means “to take,” “grab,” “catch” or “pick up”.

I first learned Spanish in Spain, where "coger" is EVERYWHERE.

I was just in Colombia, too, and people use "coger" normally there.

But in lots of Latin America, "coger" has another meaning:

To f**k.

😂

I learned that lesson the hard way years ago in Argentina.

I was using "coger" left and right until a nice old man finally told me:

Acá no decimos "coger". Usamos "agarrar".
= We don't say "coger" here. We use "agarrar".

Thank you, nice old man. I still talk about you. 🙏

So when I arrived in Costa Rica a couple days ago, I was listening.

My driver, Wali, was talking and I could have SWORN I heard him use "coger" while talking about picking somebody up.

Perfect.

Mystery solved.

Costa Ricans use "coger" normally.

Then, a minute later, Wali was talking about his family.

And I suddenly realized his daughter was the person who picked me up the LAST time I was here.

So I looked at him and said:

Creo que tu hija me cogió la última vez.
= I think your daughter picked me up last time.

I KNEW this was potentially dangerous.

😂

But I had JUST heard him use "coger".

And I love "coger".

Who wants to say AH GAH RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAR?

I couldn't resist.

Wali didn't react.

No weird look.

Nothing.

So I went on with my life.

Then yesterday I told the people at Tico Lingo what I'd said.

Chris grimaced.

😂

Because here's the important part:

In Costa Rica, when you use "coger" with a PERSON, the sexual meaning is VERY real.

Nobody's going to think I f**ked a bus or a coffee.

But somebody's daughter?

Different story.

Then they asked me:

“Are you sure Wali didn’t say 'recoger'?”

Oh.

Yeah.

That's VERY possible.

Because "recoger" basically means the same thing as "coger" in this situation: to pick somebody up.

And that's when it hit me.

On the drive from the airport, I looked a man straight in the eyes and said:

Creo que tu hija me cogió la última vez.
= I think your daughter f**ked me last time.

😂 😂 😂

I don't know if Wali thought I said "recoger", just like I thought he said "coger".

Or if he was dying laughing inside.

Either way, he knew what I meant.

And "coger" has added another beautiful story to my life.

Thank you, Spanish.

Thank you, "coger".

Hasta luego,
Jordan

I’m so glad I learned Spanish before social media. No algorithms feeding me 37 videos about the “right” and “wrong” way ...
25/09/2026

I’m so glad I learned Spanish before social media.

No algorithms feeding me 37 videos about the “right” and “wrong” way to do it.

Nobody making me feel like crap every time an English word crossed my mind.

Because apparently one of the great Spanish-learning sins today is...

Thinking in English.

I hear it from my students all the time:

“I know my problem. I need to stop thinking in English.”

Wait, what?!?! ¿Cómo?

You know a word in English.

You’re trying to learn that word in Spanish.

So your brain uses the thing it already knows to retrieve the thing it’s learning.

And somebody convinced you THAT’S the problem?

Don't think in English???

Talk about putting the cart before the horse!

Of course the goal is to speak and understand Spanish without thinking in English.

But not thinking in English is the end, not the means.

It’s the result, not the strategy.

Think about “me gusta”.

In English, we say: I like it.

In Spanish, they say: Me gusta.

That’s weird.

Why is it “me”? Why not “yo”?

After learning Spanish for a while, though, “me gusta” isn’t confusing at all.

You’ve seen and heard it so many times that you automatically just know:

Me gusta = I like.

Heck, people who barely know any Spanish know what “me gusta” means.

Just like everybody knows “gracias” means “thank you”.

Nobody hears “gracias” and thinks:

“Okay... let me stop thinking in English so I can understand this directly in Spanish...”

They just know what it means.

Because they’ve seen and heard it so many times.

It’s the result, not the strategy.

Do we even think in English?

Of course when we consciously think in English, we think in English.

But that’s not what’s happening every time we understand something.

Research on bilingual language processing shows we can understand the idea behind a word or phrase without consciously putting it into either language.

In other words, most of the time... you don’t have to think about any of it.

You just know.

And THAT is the goal.

The goal isn’t to NOT think in English.

The goal is to NOT THINK at all about the words.

THAT'S what we do in our native language.

So how do you get to “not thinking”?

This is the part that seems almost insultingly obvious to me.

You’ve got to know the words and sentence patterns so well that you don’t have to think about them anymore.

What else could it possibly be?

If you hear a Spanish word and have to stop for three seconds to remember what it means, how could you possibly understand that word without thinking?

You don’t know it well enough yet.

If you hear a sentence and have to consciously work out the tense, who is doing what to whom, where the pronouns go, or why the verb changed... how could you possibly understand all of that without thinking about it?

You don’t know those patterns well enough yet.

That’s not an insult.

That’s learning.

So learn!
Flashcards.
Grammar drills.
Read.
Listen to podcasts.
Watch TV.
Sing songs.
Talk to yourself out loud.
Have conversations.
Spend six months living in Mexico.
Those are means.

Those are methods for learning the words and grammar patterns so well that you don’t have to consciously think about them.

THAT’S the end.
THAT’S the goal.
THAT’S the destination.

And that’s why “stop thinking in English” puts the cart before the horse.

It takes a result of learning the language and turns it into instructions for how you’re supposed to learn the language.

And it pi**es me off.

Because you don’t need a PhD in linguistics to figure this out.

You don’t need to be highly educated.

Heck, you don’t even need to know much Spanish.

You just have to stop for a minute and ask:

Does this make any sense?

Of course you can’t instantly understand a word you don’t know well enough to instantly understand.

Of course you can’t effortlessly recognize a grammatical pattern you don’t know well enough to effortlessly recognize.

And of course, once you know those things like the back of your hand, you stop having to consciously think about them.

That’s not some revolutionary theory of language acquisition.

It’s embarrassingly obvious.

And THAT is what bothers me.

Not that somebody can be wrong.

I’m wrong all the time.

What bothers me is how easily authority figures blindly repeat something without putting any thought into it... without stopping to ask whether it matches reality.

When we blindly repeat something without putting any thought into it, we become part of the problem.

Being wrong isn’t the problem.

Not thinking is.

Except in Spanish–when it’s the goal.

Life… so confusing 😂

So if you’re still thinking in English...

Good.

Translate if you need to.

Think about the grammar if you need to.

Stop and figure out why the words are in that weird order.

Use English to help you understand the Spanish.

That’s what learning looks like.

Then keep going.

Hear the word again.

See the pattern again.

Use it again.

Know it a little better each time.

Until eventually you know it so well that you don’t need the English anymore.

Then one day… you won’t need to think about the Spanish either.

You’ll just understand.

You’ll just speak.

Not because you stopped thinking in English.

Because you learned Spanish so well, you stopped having to think about the language at all.

That’s the goal.

Everything else is just how you get there.

Hasta luego,
Jordan

On my first day in Medellín, my landlord sent me this message:"Jordan, me acaba de informar la señora de la limpieza que...
24/09/2026

On my first day in Medellín, my landlord sent me this message:

"Jordan, me acaba de informar la señora de la limpieza que no había gas para la estufa.. Puedo enviar a la empresa de gas para que cambie el cilindro de gas en un momento? Mar o menos 30-50 minutos"

Basically: There was no gas for the stove.

Someone could bring a new propane cylinder in “30–50 minutes, more or less.”

Now, I’d already spent enough time in Latin America to know that “30–50 minutes” did not mean 30–50 minutes.

I figured I’d get a call or text sometime in the next couple hours and went back to unpacking.

Four hours later, still no gas.

I was just about to text my landlord and ask what was going on when, from four floors below, I heard:

“JORDAN!”

I stopped.

Was somebody yelling my name from the street?

“JORDAN!”

I walked out onto the balcony and looked down.

Sure enough.

Two guys were standing on the sidewalk with my propane cylinder.

Apparently this was my delivery notification.

So I went downstairs, let them in, chatted for a few minutes, and shortly afterward I had gas.

No app.

No tracking link.

No text saying, “Your technician is four stops away.”

No particularly accurate arrival time, either.

But my landlord had made a last-minute call and, four hours later, two Venezuelan guys showed up at my building carrying a big propane tank.

I’m still not sure whether that system is less efficient or more efficient.

I just know it’s different.

And that’s one of my favorite things about traveling this way.

On my last couple trips, instead of staying in the center of town or near the tourist areas, I rented an apartment in a normal neighborhood.

First Puebla. Then Medellín.

In both places, I was far away from the tourist zone. I barely saw another gr**go.

And that’s when you start learning things you would never learn on a sightseeing tour.

How people get propane.

How deliveries work.

How you get somebody’s attention when they live four floors above the street.

The little rules of everyday life that nobody thinks to explain to you because, to everyone who lives there, they’re completely normal.

You can learn more about life in a place trying to get your stove working than you can checking off items on a “Top 10 Things to Do” list.

And this is a big part of why I want people to learn Spanish.

It’s about a lot more than being able to order tacos.

Spanish gives you access to another layer of the world.

You can read the message from your landlord.

You can talk to the guys who show up at your door.

You can stay in a normal neighborhood instead of needing the entire country translated and packaged for you.

Sometimes that means having wonderful conversations.

Sometimes it means learning something profound about another culture.

And sometimes it means standing on a fourth-floor balcony while two guys in the street yell:

“JORDAN!”

Either way, you’re in it.

And to me, that’s the whole point.

Hasta luego,
Jordan

After last week's post about listening to podcasts, the most common question I got was: What are your favorite Spanish p...
19/08/2026

After last week's post about listening to podcasts, the most common question I got was:

What are your favorite Spanish podcasts for different levels?

Since starting Comprehension Club 18 months ago, I've featured more than 15 different podcasts and YouTube channels.

Part of the reason is obvious. I want to give you something useful to practice with that week.

Different people. Different countries. Different accents. Different speeds. Different topics.

But there's another reason too.

Hopefully, once in a while, I introduce you to something you like enough that you keep listening on your own.

And out of all of them, my #1 recommendation for almost every level is...

Dreaming Spanish.

It's not really a podcast. It's mostly video.

They have Superbeginner, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced content on tons of different topics.

There's plenty available for free.

Then they have a paid version with even more content, which I think is absolutely worth it.

So... before I say what I'm about to say... have I made this clear?

I like Dreaming Spanish.

I recommend Dreaming Spanish.

What they've built is a gift to Spanish learners.

But I think their philosophy about how you should learn Spanish is NUTS.

Dreaming Spanish comes out of the comprehensible-input school of language learning.

The basic idea is, you acquire Spanish by consuming Spanish content you can understand.

I agree with that.

Of course I agree with that.

Listening to a lot of Spanish is one of the most important things you can do.

Where they lose me is when they turn a very good idea into a religion.

Their method discourages studying grammar.

It discourages memorizing vocabulary and using flashcards.

And their preferred recommendation is that you wait until around 1,000 hours of input before deliberately practicing speaking.

1,000 HOURS!!! 🤯

Think about that number for a second.

If you somehow manage 10 hours every week, that's 100 weeks.

Almost two years.

That's two hours per weekday.

For most adults with jobs, families and lives, that simply isn't realistic.

Or fun.

If you only do five hours a week...

Almost four years.

So basically, Dreaming Spanish says:

Don't practice speaking for years.

Which I, obviously, totally disagree with.

I think listening is incredibly important.

But I also think avoiding grammar, vocab and speaking is the SLOWEST way an adult can get to conversational Spanish.

You're an adult.

You can learn when to use a verb tense in 10 minutes instead of hoping your brain eventually figures it out after another 200 hours of listening.

You can deliberately learn words you see or hear but don't understand.

You can practice talking to actual people.

Then you can go right back to listening and understand more because of it.

Okay… Rant over. 😇

Use Dreaming Spanish.

Their content is excellent, my #1 recommendation.

Just take the listening practice, and leave the dogma behind.

A few other favorites:

Spanish Language Coach
Different levels, with lots of interesting topics.

Maestra Miel
A good option if you need something really slow and easy.

Españolistos
Good around the intermediate level.

How to Spanish
One of my favorites once you're ready for more advanced listening.

One last tip.

Go to YouTube and search: slow Spanish

You'll find more material than you could ever listen to.

Hasta luego,
Jordan

12/08/2026

This still happens to me.

I’ll put on a Spanish podcast with a host I’ve never heard before.

New voice. New accent. Different rhythm.

And within the first few seconds, my brain says:

“Nope. I can’t understand this person.”

My first instinct used to be: do something about it.

Slow it down.

Find a different podcast.

And for a long time, that’s what I did.

But this year I’ve made listening comprehension a much bigger priority.

I’ve listened to a LOT of podcasts.

And I noticed something.

Those first few seconds are a terrible time to judge your Spanish.

Even the first minute can be misleading.

Sometimes I start an episode thinking, “There’s no way I’m going to understand this guy.”

Then two or three minutes later… I’m following him.

Not perfectly. But MUCH better.

My ears have adjusted to his voice.

I’ve picked up his rhythm.

Maybe it’s his country.

Maybe it’s his city.

Maybe it’s just HIM.

Whatever it is, your brain needs a little time to calibrate.

Before you slow the audio down, abandon the episode, or decide your listening isn’t good enough, give yourself a chance.

Not 10 seconds.

Not 30 seconds.

Give it a couple of minutes.

Let your ears settle in.

Because sometimes the problem isn’t:

“My Spanish isn’t good enough to understand this.”

It’s simply:

“I’m not used to this person yet.”

And those are two very different things.

Hasta luego,
Jordan

UPDATE: All sold out again!!A couple months ago, all 30 spots for Spanish Camp sold out within a week. Since then, a ha...
05/08/2026

UPDATE: All sold out again!!

A couple months ago, all 30 spots for Spanish Camp sold out within a week.

Since then, a handful of people have had to change their plans.

So, unexpectedly, five spots are available again:

Group 1: 3 spots
Group 2: 2 spots

I called this Spanish Camp for a reason.

At a typical immersion school, you take Spanish classes in the morning and stay with a local family.

Spanish Camp includes both.

You’ll get 20 hours of Spanish class, plus a homestay with a Costa Rican family where Spanish continues over breakfast, dinner and everyday life.

But the biggest difference is what happens between class and your homestay.

At most immersion schools, that part is left up to you.

At Spanish Camp, we plan it for you.

There are afternoon activities, evening activities, weekend outings and meals together, all designed to be fun and get you using more Spanish in real life.

And I’m there with you for all of it.

Think of me as your camp counselor, helping guide the experience, keep things moving and make sure you’re not simply handed an itinerary and left on your own.

So instead of going to class and hoping the rest of the day feels immersive, your entire experience is built around improving your Spanish.

Class.
Homestay.
Activities.
Meals.
Outings.
Conversations.

That is what makes Spanish Camp different.
👉 https://camp.spanishdude.com/

Once these five spots are taken, both groups will be full again.

Hasta luego,
Jordan

P.S. Not sure which group is right for you? Leave a comment or email me and we can figure it out together.

29/07/2026

I forgot how it was in Latin America.

But I was reminded before the plane even left Houston.

A young Colombian woman sat down next to me, reached into her bag, pulled out a pack of gum, smiled, and asked:

"¿Quieres un chicle?"
Do you want a piece of gum?

"Sí, gracias."
Yes, thank you.

It caught me off guard.

It had been a while since a complete stranger offered to share something with me.

A few hours later, somewhere over the Caribbean, I took out a bag of pistachios.

Without thinking much about it, I turned to her:

"¿Quieres?"
Do you want some?

"Sí, gracias."
Yes, thank you.

It wasn't a big deal.

Just two strangers sharing snacks on an airplane.

I’d learned something years ago.

In Latin America, when they offer you something, they aren't just being polite.

They actually want you to say yes.

That lesson came back to me on my very first day here in Medellín.

I was riding in a taxi when we stopped at a red light.

A woman was selling stuff from the side of the road.

The driver asked a couple questions then bought something.

I had no clue what it was, so I asked him:

"¿Qué es eso?"
What is that?

He rattled off an explanation I didn't quite understand, but then asked me:

"¿Quieres probar?"
Do you want to try it?

I looked at it.

He hadn't opened it yet.

I didn't want him to feel like he had to.

For a second, I almost said no.

Then I remembered…

They don't usually offer things just to be polite.

They offer because they genuinely want to share.

"Sí. Me encantaría."
Yes. I'd love to.

He smiled so big, opened it and gleefully handed it to me:

"Coges un trozo."
Grab a piece.

The texture surprised me, though.

It was sticky and gelatinous, so I accidentally tore off the tiniest little piece.

When he saw it, he laughed.

"¡No! Más."
No! More.

So I took a bigger piece.

It was sweet. Dense. Almost gummy.

Then he explained again what it was:

"Dulce de pata de cerdo."
Pig foot candy.

Ahhhh. So that’s the texture.

I don't particularly love pig's foot in any form, but that's not the point.

The point is, a man bought something for himself, then happily opened it so the stranger sitting in the back seat could try it.

Even though that meant putting my grubby little hands on what he was about to eat 😂.

Over the last four or five days, I've noticed little moments like that over and over… where strangers acknowledge one another.

People say "Buenos días." (Good morning.) when they walk into a room.

They tell strangers, "¡Que aproveche!" (Enjoy!) before a meal.

I know it's easy to romanticize another culture.

And I know there are generous people everywhere.

But I also know how I feel when I'm here.

It's almost like people instinctively treat the people around them as family.

And they inspire me to reciprocate.

In Latin America, I'm a more generous, more connected person.

Because that's the norm here.

To say hi.

To share.

Back on the plane, I normally wouldn't have offered pistachios to the person sitting next to me—for fear she'd think it was weird or gross.

But I knew she was Colombian.

I knew it was safe.

That's what I love about being here most.

I like myself better here.

Hasta luego,
Jordan

P.S. What do you think? Have you experienced the same? Or do you think I'm romanticizing things? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Good morning, Medellín!
29/07/2026

Good morning, Medellín!

13/07/2026

Confession: I still get nervous talking to strangers in Spanish sometimes.

Twenty-five years in.

I do this for a living.

And some days I’ll sit down at a restaurant in Mexico, or wherever, and I’m quiet.

Stiff.

Not making eye contact.

And the conversation never happens.

It took me years to realize that when I’m skittish, THEY get skittish.

The waiter keeps it short.

The guy on the park bench keeps reading his paper.

Nobody is being rude. They’re reacting to me.

I’m closed, so they stay closed.

I still don’t fully understand the difference between my “on” and “off” moments, in English or Spanish.

But I CAN tell you my #1 strategy for flipping the switch.

I ask a question.

A simple question that quietly says:

I’m not from here.
I don’t know something.
And I think you do.

For example, when I walk into a new food spot, I often don’t know how it works.

Do I sit down?
Do I order over there?
Where does the line begin?

I could probably figure it out myself.

But what a waste.

Instead, I use it to open things up.

“¿Cómo funciona?”
How does it work?

“¿Dónde pido?”
Where do I order?

“¿Dónde empieza la fila?”
Where does the line start?

Or, if we’re already waiting together:

“Es mi primera vez aquí. ¿Qué me recomiendas?”
It’s my first time here. What do you recommend?

Or just:

“¿Cuál es tu favorito?”
What’s your favorite?

The second I ask, the energy usually changes.

I’m no longer the nervous foreigner trying to pretend I know what I’m doing.

I’ve admitted I don’t know.

And I’ve given the other person a small gift:

The chance to help.

Suddenly, it’s not just food, order, pay, leave.

It’s two people having a moment.

Another example:

I love finding old men sitting on a bench in the central park or plaza.

I sit down.

Wait a minute.

Then say something about the weather:

“Hace mucho calor hoy. ¿Es normal?”
It’s really hot today. Is that normal?

Yes, talking about the weather is cliché.

I hate that crap too.

But it works.

Then, if the conversation feels good:

“¿Cuánto tiempo lleva viviendo aquí?”
How long have you lived here?

I listen, then follow up:

“¿Ha cambiado mucho?”
Has it changed a lot?

Those questions almost always ignite an opinion.

And if I’m feeling comfortable, I might ask:

“¿Qué piensa de ______?”
What do you think about ______?

Then I fill in the president’s name.

Oh my! 😳

Now, those are my questions.

They might work for you. They might not.

Try them, then find the ones that fit you.

But, no matter what, the pro move is:

Find a couple of questions that open people up, then keep using them.

On everybody.

It’s not cheating.

It’s reps.

And it’s GLORIOUS.

I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had over the years…

How many tables I’ve joined…

How many homes I’ve been invited into…

Because of one simple question.

And this works at every level.

I started doing it when I could barely string a sentence together.

As my Spanish got better, the conversations got better.

But you can get your reps at whatever level you’re at.

Even if it’s one question, one answer, and a smile.

Hasta luego,
Jordan

07/07/2026

As Spanish learners, we’ve gotta be ready for everything.

And one of the worst things we can do is blindly repeat things as fact just because a teacher, textbook, course, or native speaker told us.

Especially when we haven’t personally experienced it.

I’m not saying never trust your teacher.

I’m saying don’t turn secondhand information into religion.

A simple example: I was always taught that “coche” is “car” in Spain, but “carro” is “car” in Latin America.

But when I went to Puebla, Mexico recently, I kept hearing people use “coche”.

Not once.

Not as some weird exception.

Routinely.

A friend told me it was more of a recent thing.

Maybe that’s true. Maybe it isn’t. I can’t speak for all of Mexico. I can only speak for what I personally heard in Puebla.

But that alone was enough to show me the “Spain says coche, Latin America says carro” explanation was too clean.

Or maybe out of date?

The same thing happened with the word “castellano”.

I learned that “castellano” is what they call “Spanish” in Spain, and only in Spain.

Then I went to Argentina and heard people calling it “castellano” all the time.

Since then, I’ve watched people get strangely indignant when I mention this. Like it violates their religion.

“No, castellano is only Spain.”

Okay… Except I heard it with my own ears in Argentina.

And I’ve since learned “castellano” is used in parts of many South American countries.

Same thing with “vos” (the other “you”).

Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of “vos”. I hadn’t either.

And when I finally did, I was told it was an Argentina thing.

Then maybe Uruguay.

That’s where it supposedly stopped.

Except over the years, I’ve personally heard “vos” in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.

And I’ve since learned “vos” is used in parts of almost every Spanish-speaking country in Latin America.

Not everywhere.

Not always by the majority.

Sometimes only in certain regions or towns.

But it’s there.

And yet I’ve had native speakers, teachers, and other gr**gos argue with me like this was impossible.

“No way. That doesn’t happen.”

But it did happen.

I heard it.

The lesson here isn’t “never trust anyone”.

Though maybe 😂.

The lesson is: stay open.

Spanish isn’t some clean, fixed thing.

It often changes by country, region, city, age, class, family, and situation.

Your teacher can be wrong.

Your textbook can be incomplete.

A native speaker can confidently tell you something that’s only true in their city, their family, or their personal experience.

And you can be wrong too.

That’s why my favorite Spanish learners aren’t the ones who memorize the most rules, then argue with everyone.

They’re the ones who notice, listen, ask, test, and update.

Because if you dig in, deny what’s in front of you, and double down on something you only heard secondhand, Spanish will make a chump out of you.

Hasta luego,
Jordan

Dirección

50 Metros Sur Del Gimnasio De La Escuela De Barrio Fátima Entre Las Calles 8 Y
Heredia
40101

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