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Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol

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Estepona, Andalucía
Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol

Spanish Teacher, from Spain | Marbella to Sotogrande.

06/10/2026

Why everything is closed when you turn up 🕐

It isn't disorganisation. It's a completely different clock, built around avoiding the hottest part of the day.

09:00–10:00 — el desayuno. Coffee and toast, standing at the bar, five minutes.
14:00 — la comida. The main meal of the day. Not at one. Fourteen hundred.
17:00 — la merienda. Coffee and something sweet.
20:30 — la cena. Light. And this is when restaurants open — not before.
22:00 — el paseo o la serie. Everyone comes out once the heat has dropped.

Two things this explains:
· Why the shop was shut at 15:00 and you thought they'd closed down.
· Why you were the only table in the restaurant at 19:00.

And the vocabulary trap: la comida means both "food" and "lunch". "¿Ya has comido?" is asking whether you've had LUNCH, not whether you've ever eaten.

How long did it take you to adjust? Be honest 👇

Guárdalo 📌

Javier · Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol
Face-to-face Spanish lessons · Marbella · Estepona · Casares · Manilva · Sotogrande
Message me on WhatsApp and I'll tell you where to start.

04/10/2026

Seven small words that make you sound fluent 🔗

Fluency isn't more vocabulary. It's joining up the words you already have.

Right now you probably speak in separate little sentences. "Me gusta Marbella. Hay mucha gente. Prefiero Estepona." All correct — and it sounds like a list.

Add seven words and it becomes a conversation:

Añadir: además (besides) · también (also)
Contrastar: pero (but) · sin embargo (however)
Explicar: porque (because) · es decir (that is)
Concluir: así que (so)

"Me gusta Marbella, pero hay mucha gente, así que prefiero Estepona."

Same vocabulary. Completely different impression.

Start with three: pero, porque, así que. Use them today and you'll hear the difference immediately.

Which one are you going to try first? 👇

Guárdalo 📌

Javier · Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol
Face-to-face Spanish lessons · Marbella · Estepona · Casares · Manilva · Sotogrande
Message me on WhatsApp and I'll tell you where to start.

02/10/2026

How to say what you're doing right now ⏳

One of the easiest wins in Spanish, because the structure is the same as English: to be + -ing.

Estar + the verb ending in -ando or -iendo.

Estoy comiendo → I'm eating
Estoy trabajando → I'm working
Estoy aprendiendo → I'm learning
Está lloviendo → it's raining
Estamos esperando → we're waiting
Están hablando → they're talking

The rule is two lines long:
· -ar verbs → -ando (hablar → hablando)
· -er and -ir verbs → -iendo (comer → comiendo, vivir → viviendo)

One warning: Spanish uses this far less than English does. For the future, you say "mañana voy a Málaga", not "estoy yendo mañana". Keep it for what is happening right now, in this minute.

¿Qué estás haciendo ahora mismo? Contéstame en español abajo 👇

Guárdalo 📌

Javier · Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol
Face-to-face Spanish lessons · Marbella · Estepona · Casares · Manilva · Sotogrande
Message me on WhatsApp and I'll tell you where to start.

30/09/2026

Getting a doctor's appointment without panicking 🩺

The day you feel rotten is not the day to start translating. Learn this while you're well.

The five words that are basically the whole system:
médico de cabecera (your GP) · centro de salud (the local health centre) · tarjeta sanitaria (your health card) · urgencias (A&E) · receta (prescription)

Three ways to book: online, by phone, or at the desk. All three want your tarjeta sanitaria in your hand before you start.

The sentence:
"Quería pedir cita con mi médico de cabecera."

What they'll ask:
"¿Es urgente?" — say yes if it is, they usually find you a slot the same day
"¿Número de tarjeta sanitaria?" — photograph the front of your card today

And in the consultation, three sentences and the doctor already knows:
"Me duele aquí." (and you point — that's completely fine)
"Desde hace tres días."
"No soy alérgico a nada." (alérgica if you're a woman)

The one that surprises everybody: la receta. In Spain your prescription goes straight onto your health card. There is no paper. You walk into the farmacia, show the card, done. If you're waiting for a piece of paper — you already have it.

Save it now, while you're feeling fine 👇

Save it📌

Javier · Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol
Face-to-face Spanish lessons · Marbella · Estepona · Casares · Manilva · Sotogrande
Message me on WhatsApp and I'll tell you where to start.

28/09/2026

Asking is the easy part. Understanding the answer isn't 🧭

"¿Dónde está…?", you've got that one. Then they answer at full speed and point somewhere, and you nod and walk off in the wrong direction. We've all done it.

So learn the ANSWERS, not the question:

Sigue todo recto — go straight on
Gira a la derecha — turn right
Gira a la izquierda — turn left
Al final de la calle — at the end of the street
Está enfrente del banco — it's opposite the bank
Está a cinco minutos — it's five minutes away

Six sentences. That's genuinely most of what anyone will say to you.

And keep this one in your back pocket for when it goes too fast:
"¿Me lo puede repetir más despacio, por favor?"

Small tip that has saved me more than once: repeat back what you understood, "Entonces, todo recto y a la derecha, ¿no?" People will happily correct you, and you leave knowing you got it right.

Where do you always get lost? 👇

Guárdalo 📌

Javier · Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol
Face-to-face Spanish lessons · Marbella · Estepona · Casares · Manilva · Sotogrande
Message me on WhatsApp and I'll tell you where to start.

26/09/2026

The whole terrace conversation, in the order it actually happens ☕

You already know the words. What throws people is the ORDER, knowing what's coming next is what makes you relax.

So here's the real sequence, start to finish:

"¿Para cuántas personas?" → "Para dos, por favor."
"¿Dentro o en la terraza?" → "En la terraza, mejor."
"¿Queréis algo para beber?" → "Una botella de agua y dos cañas."
"¿Qué vais a tomar?" → "De primero, una ensalada para compartir."
"¿Estaba todo a vuestro gusto?" → "Todo buenísimo. ¿Puede traer la cuenta, por favor?"
"¿Podemos pagar con tarjeta?" → "Claro. ¡Hasta luego!"

Three things worth knowing:
· A caña is a small draught b**r. Ask for "una ce***za" and you'll get a bigger, warmer one.
· Bread and water are not automatic here, you ask for them.
· Nobody will bring you the bill until you ask. That's not bad service, it's politeness: the table is yours for as long as you want it.

Where are you having lunch this weekend? 👇

Guárdalo antes del próximo almuerzo 📌

Javier · Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol
Face-to-face Spanish lessons · Marbella · Estepona · Casares · Manilva · Sotogrande
Message me on WhatsApp and I'll tell you where to start.

24/09/2026

NIE, TIE, residencia: what's the difference? 🪪

Almost everyone mixes these two up, and it's the reason people get sent from one window to another.

NIE = a NUMBER. Your foreigner identification number. It is not a card. It never changes, you get it once and it's yours for life.

TIE = a CARD. The physical card you carry. It expires and it gets renewed.

So "the NIE card" doesn't exist. If you ask for one, you'll get a puzzled face. Ask for la TIE.

The vocabulary you'll actually hear:
número · tarjeta · renovar · caducar · huellas · resguardo

The sentence that gets you through the door:
"Vengo a la cita para la toma de huellas."
(toma de huellas = the fingerprints appointment, that's its official name, say it exactly like that)

And the sentence you'll hear on the way out:
"Le llegará en unas cuatro semanas. Guarde el resguardo."

Guard that resguardo with your life. It's your proof while you wait. Photograph it the same day.

Anyone been through the toma de huellas recently? How long did yours take? 👇

Save it 📌

Javier · Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol
Face-to-face Spanish lessons · Marbella · Estepona · Casares · Manilva · Sotogrande
Message me on WhatsApp and I'll tell you where to start.

22/09/2026

Nine words and you can ask for anything 🗝️

You don't need a big vocabulary to get by. You need these nine, plus a noun and a hopeful face.

¿Qué? — what · ¿Qué significa esto?
¿Dónde? — where · ¿Dónde está el baño?
¿Cuándo? — when · ¿Cuándo abren?
¿Cuánto? — how much · ¿Cuánto cuesta?
¿Cómo? — how · ¿Cómo se dice…?
¿Quién? — who · ¿Quién es el jefe?
¿Por qué? — why · ¿Por qué está cerrado?
¿Cuál? — which · ¿Cuál me recomienda?
¿A qué hora? — at what time · ¿A qué hora cierran?

Two things people get wrong:
1. In a question they all take an accent. Qué, dónde, cuándo. Without it they mean something else.
2. The ¿ at the start isn't decoration — it tells the reader to raise their voice from the beginning.

And the most useful of the lot, honestly: "¿Cómo se dice…?" It turns any stranger into your teacher.

Which one do you use most? 👇

Guárdalo y úsalo esta semana - save it and use it📌

Javier · Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol
Face-to-face Spanish lessons · Marbella · Estepona · Casares · Manilva · Sotogrande
Message me on WhatsApp and I'll tell you where to start.

20/09/2026

The one piece of paperwork that unlocks everything 📋

If you only sort out one thing this month, sort out this one.

El empadronamiento is simply registering at your town hall as a resident of your address. That's it. It is NOT a tax thing, it has nothing to do with Hacienda or your fiscal residency, and that confusion stops a lot of people from doing it.

What it unlocks:
· A doctor and a health centre assigned to you
· School places in your area
· Resident discounts — parking, pool, buses
· And nearly every other trámite, which will ask for it before anything else

The four words you need:
padrón · empadronarse · certificado de empadronamiento · volante

What to say at the counter:
"Vengo a empadronarme."
"Necesito un certificado de empadronamiento."

What they'll say back:
"¿Tiene cita previa?", and yes, you almost always need one. Book it before you go.

Take the original AND a photocopy of everything: passport, rental contract or deeds, and a recent utility bill. It saves you a second trip.

Which trámite is on your list right now? Tell me below 👇

Save it - guárdalo📌

Javier · Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol
Face-to-face Spanish lessons · Marbella · Estepona · Casares · Manilva · Sotogrande
Message me on WhatsApp and I'll tell you where to start.

18/09/2026

In Spanish you don't ARE hungry. You HAVE hunger 🍊

This is the one that gives away an English speaker instantly.

"Estoy hambriento" is grammatically possible and absolutely nobody says it. In Spanish these are things you HAVE, not things you ARE:

Tengo hambre — I'm hungry
Tengo sed — I'm thirsty
Tengo frío / Tengo calor — I'm cold / I'm hot
Tengo sueño — I'm sleepy
Tengo prisa — I'm in a hurry
Tienes razón — you're right
Ten cuidado — be careful

One verb, and suddenly eight everyday situations are covered.

The conjugation, because you'll need it: tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen.

Try one out loud today; "tengo hambre" before lunch is a very easy place to start 👇

Guárdalo - save it📌

Javier · Learning Spanish on Costa del Sol
Face-to-face Spanish lessons · Marbella · Estepona · Casares · Manilva · Sotogrande
Message me on WhatsApp and I'll tell you where to start.

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