Learn How To Introduce Yourself in Spanish

Jesús and Rocío are experienced tutors from Madrid. In lesson 1 of this series of free beginner Spanish lessons, they teach you how to introduce yourself and talk to someone who you’ve just met.

Below is a transcript of the role play and explanation sections to help you:

The role play:

Jesús: ¡Hola!

Rocío: ¡Hola!

Jesús: ¿Cómo te llamas?

Rocío: Me llamo Rocío, ¿y tú?

Jesús: Me llamo Jesús. ¿Cómo estás?

Rocío: Estoy muy bien, ¿y tú?

Jesús: Más o menos.

Rocío: ¿De dónde eres?

Jesús: Soy de España, ¿y tú?

Rocío: Soy de España también.

Jesús: ¡Oh! Encantado de conocerte.

Rocío: Igualmente.

…

The explanation:

Rocío: Did you understand much of that? Don’t worry if you didn’t, because we’re now going to break it down for you. So the first word’s probably the one that even complete beginners know: “hola”. Hola means hello, right? Notice that there’s an “h” here and it’s silent, in Spanish we never pronounce it – “Hola”.

Jesús: OK, then I ask: “¿cómo te llamas?”. Cómo te llamas means “what’s your name?” Pay attention to this double “L”, that in Spanish is pronounced like “ye”. So the answer is “me llamo”, me llamo Jesús in my case, or me llamo Rocío in her case.

Rocío: And then I say “¿y tú?”.  “Y”, means and. “Tú” means you. ¿Y tú? – and you?

Jesús: The next question is “¿cómo estás?”. “Cómo estás” literally means “how are you?”. “Cómo” is “how”, and “estás” is the verb “to be” conjugated with the second person that is “tú” in Spanish or “you” in English.

Rocío: Then I say “estoy muy bien”. “Estoy” – I am. “Muy” – very. “Bien” means well or good. “Estoy muy bien”. Then he says: “estoy más o menos”, which literally means “more or less”. Then he’d be like “I’m so, so”.

Jesús: We continue the conversation with the question “¿de dónde eres?”. “¿De dónde eres?” means “where are you from?” So “de” is the preposition “from”. “Where” is dónde and “eres” is again the verb “to be” but the thing is that in Spanish we have two different verbs for the verb to be – “ser” and “estar”. But this is something that you will see in a different video.

Rocío: And then he says “soy de España”, I am from Spain. “Soy de España”, and then I say: “soy de España, también”. “También” means also, as well or too. I’m from Spain as well.

Jesús: We finish the conversation by saying “encantado” or “encantada de conocerte”. Which means: “nice to meet you”. “Encantado” or “encantada” depends on if you are a boy or if you are a girl.

Rocío: And then I say “igualmente”. “Igualmente” is the way we say: “you too”.

Jesús: And finally, we kiss each other twice, and it is something very typical here in Spain. Even if you don’t know the other person, you normally greet by kissing twice when you see that person, and two more kisses when you say goodbye.

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