Understanding Natives in Conversations
¡Hola, amigos! Today, I’ve got a very short video for you, just about 5 minutes long. In it, I’m going to talk about a problem many of you have: understanding native Spanish speakers better. That’s why I want you to learn Spanish colloquial phrases like ‘Mira que’.
This is a phrase you’re likely to hear at some point, and it will probably confuse you. ‘Mira’ means ‘Look’ and ‘que’ can mean ‘that, what, which’. ‘Look what?’ ‘Look which?’ What is this? Yes, you already know: there are many phrases that can’t be translated literally, they won’t make sense, and this is one of them.
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Master Spanish Phrases to Sound Like a Local
We’ve talked before about how to improve this, right? How to talk like a native Spanish speaker. Well, it’s not easy; it requires time, consistency, a lot of observation, and, of course, memorization. Here’s the tough part: to memorize something, you need to repeat it, and I know many of you don’t have the chance to speak with native speakers often, which is why you come to my classes.
Regarding this, I don’t have many secrets to reveal. Of course, you’ll find plenty of articles, videos, and social media posts promising that you’ll speak like one of us in no time. I’m not saying that there aren’t special people who can do it, but the average person, including myself, unfortunately, doesn’t have this gift.
Therefore, the ‘cure’ I suggest is to watch my video and then practice a lot with this colloquial formula, ‘Mira que’.
Sound More Native in Spanish Conversations with ‘Mira Que’
‘Mira que’ means ‘a pesar de que’ I know, you’re probably thinking, ‘How can that be, Carmen?’ But yes… I promise it is. It’s usually followed by a ‘and’ later in the sentence, as you’ll see in the examples I’ve included in the video. So, the meaning isn’t too mysterious; it’s simple, as you’ll observe.
It’s very common to hear words we recognize when a speaker is talking, and if they speak quickly, the mind doesn’t have time to process everything, so it starts identifying and using the resources you already have in your mind. For example, ‘mirar’ and ‘que’. Of course, when the speaker finishes talking, the information you have might not be confusing to you because you understood something else that is actually incorrect, but it makes sense to you, haha. And other times, you’re in a great deal of confusion because what your brain has been translating doesn’t make sense. It’s normal.
So I just did the colloquial Spanish explained that you were expecting, but, of course, now you need to see it in context in the video, and practice with it.
I just remember another with ‘Mira’ complicated to translate as well, and very colloquial, here it is.
Tips for Learning Colloquial Spanish
Are you expecting me to reveal the great secrets of the universe? Well, there are just a few: Observe native speakers, imitate, repeat, practice, practice, practice.
I’m not sure if you knew about my website, or if you’ve searched for information related to Spanish idioms and colloquial expressions, or improving your Spanish like a native today. The point is, you’ve ended up here. I hope this video has been useful to you, of course, as it’s made for you. If you want more, I want to let you know that you’re on a site with a lot of free content, and I’m Carmen, a Spanish teacher since 2002. On this site, you’ll find articles, videos, as you’ve seen, and podcasts. The podcasts cover a wide range of topics and include many grammatical explanations. They always come with a side-by-side transcription and translation, a vocabulary list at the end, and sometimes, when I have more time, I add exercises with solutions at the very bottom, so you can’t cheat! Haha. I’m leaving the links for all of them here: