Asking for Help / Pidiendo ayuda
Your first few days in Spain may be a little complicated for you as you start to settle in, and even more so when you have to go into town to carry out some type of daily chore. In this case, it is essential to know some expressions so that you can ask for help without struggling. You may even want to find someone who can talk to you in English at first, so that you can ask for what you want more clearly, before you have really settled into your Spanish lessons and started to learn enough to be able to talk in Spanish instead.
We have gathered onto this list some of the words and phrases that you may wish to use in order to help you to get around at first, so that you can refer back to them whenever you want to and so that you can start to learn them before you arrive for your lessons – as you may need to use them right from the moment that you step foot on Spanish soil. As you can see, there are not a huge amount of phrases to learn, but they are all very important and all of them might be able to get you out of a tight spot or at the very least give people the impression that you are polite and good natured. Sometimes it may be assumed that you are just being rude if you do not understand what is going on, so rather than giving the person who is talking to you a blank look, perhaps you should tell them that you do not speak Spanish and ask if they can use English to talk to you so that they know how things stand!
And you should not be the least bit embarrassed to use these phrases, either, as they are all signs of common courtesy which Spaniards will appreciate you taking the effort and time to learn. These simple expressions will become absolute life savers for you when you first arrive in Spain, and will help you to explore the city in which you will be spending your lessons as well as getting you to the school or to your accommodation in the first place. Even if you are shy, you should be able to ask without any problems once you have got these key phrases under your belt to concentrate on. You will soon see that Spaniards are always happy to help whenever you ask them for a little assistance!
| Excuse me, sir. | Perdón, señor. |
| Ma'am. | Señora. |
| Miss/Ms. | Señorita. |
| Do you speak English? | ¿Habla usted inglés? |
| Yes. | Sí. |
| No. | No. |
| I'm sorry. | Lo siento. |
| I don't speak Spanish. | No hablo español. |
| Please speak more slowly. | Hable más despacio, por favor. |
| Please repeat. | Repita por favor. |
| May I ask you a question? | ¿Puedo hacerle una pregunta?, por favor |
| Could you please help me? | ¿Podría ayudarme? |
| Where is...? | ¿Dónde está...? |
| Thank you very much. | Muchas gracias. |
f you are shy, you should be able to ask without any problems. You will soon see that Spaniards are always happy to help!