Eight weeks will not make you fluent. It is enough to handle greetings, food, transport and simple problem-solving, which is what most trips require. This plan assumes about 20 to 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
Weeks 1–2: sounds and survival phrases
- Learn the Spanish alphabet and the five vowel sounds. Spanish spelling is far more regular than English.
- Memorize greetings, please, thank you, excuse me and I don’t understand.
- Learn numbers 1–100 so you can understand prices and times.
Weeks 3–4: food, transport and directions
- Learn the phrases for ordering, asking for the bill and dietary needs (see our restaurant guide).
- Practice ¿dónde está…? and the basic directions: left, right, straight, near, far.
- Learn to ask for and understand times: ¿A qué hora sale el tren?
Weeks 5–6: real conversations in small doses
- Pick five situations from your itinerary (hotel check-in, taxi, market, museum, pharmacy) and write the two or three sentences you will need for each.
- Listen to slow Spanish audio for the country you will visit. Do not try to understand every word; listen for the ones you know.
- Practice with a tutor or conversation partner for 30 minutes a week if you can. Speaking is the skill most people skip.
Weeks 7–8: review and rehearse
- Role-play your itinerary out loud, from airport to hotel to restaurant.
- Review the phrases you forget. Keep a short list on your phone.
- Download an offline translation app as a backup, not a replacement.
Choosing a course or app
Self-study works if you stay consistent. A structured course helps if you tend to drop plans without a schedule. When you compare options, look at these points:
- Does it teach speaking and listening, or only reading? For travel, speaking and listening matter most.
- Does it use audio from native speakers, and which accents?
- Is there a refund policy or a free trial? Test before you pay.
- Does the lesson length fit your day?
Next: restaurant Spanish.