A rapid path to conversational Spanish
Stop studying Spanish. Start speaking it.
You know some words. You may even know the verb charts. Then someone speaks to you, and by the time you have built a sentence the conversation has moved on.
46 Moves starts from a different place: what you are trying to say.
- You want somethingQuiero un café.KYEH-roh oon kah-FEH · I want a coffee.
- You need somethingNecesito ayuda.neh-seh-SEE-toh ah-YOO-dah · I need help.
- You need someone to act¿Puedes ayudarme?PWEH-dehs ah-yoo-DAHR-meh · Can you help me?
- You need to find something¿Dónde está la estación?DOHN-deh ehs-TAH lah ehs-tah-SYOHN · Where is the station?
Read from the bottom step up. Each one is a pattern you can reuse.
You know the words. The conversation moves too fast.
Most courses hand you vocabulary and grammar and leave the assembly to you. Assembling a sentence from rules takes seconds. A conversation gives you about one.
Speaking draws on something else: a small set of ready patterns, each tied to a reason for speaking. You want something. You need help. You have a question. You want to say what you think, or what happened.
Those reasons are the moves. The book organizes everyday Spanish into 46 of them, and teaches each one as a pattern you fill with your own words.
How a move is learned
Five steps, the same in every unit
Understand
Start from the moment you need it, then see the one pattern that handles it.
Hear
Listen to it in a short scene. Every line plays clear first, then at natural speed.
Speak
Say it from a cue with nothing to copy, then say it before the tone.
Remember
It comes back in later units on a planned schedule, often at first, then further apart.
Use
Swap in your own words and take it into a real exchange.
Try it now, about one minute
Say it before the tone
Read the four lines on the staircase above once more. Then press Start. A situation appears. Say the Spanish out loud before the tone, and the answer follows. The order changes every time.
In the book this drill has recorded answers and runs on everything you have learned so far. A miss costs nothing. You hear the answer and go again.
What is in the book
Built to be used out loud
46 moves
The everyday reasons people speak, from asking for something to explaining why, each with its pattern.
Two Quick Starts, 26 units
Sound and spelling first, then your first conversation, then one or two moves per unit, each built on the last.
Audio on every line
Clear, then natural speed, in several voices, with a longer listening scene in every unit.
Speaking drills
Cold recall from a meaning cue, then timed responses you can slow down whenever you choose.
Planned repetition
Earlier lines return in later units, so what you learned in Unit 2 is still there in Unit 12.
Grammar when you need it
Short explanations at the point of use, with complete verb and pronoun references at the back.
Pronunciation guides
A plain respelling beside every new pattern, so you can say it before you have heard it.
One continuing story
A recurring cast in ordinary places: a café, a clinic, a car repair shop, a first apartment.
Latin American Spanish
Written for adults studying on their own.
Who it is for
- You studied Spanish before and still cannot hold a conversation.
- You know vocabulary and grammar and struggle to put them together in time.
- You want to talk with people when you travel, at work, or at home.
- You prefer one structured path to a pile of unconnected lessons.
- You are willing to practice out loud, a little at a time, most days.
You do not need any Spanish to begin. You do need to take part. This is a book you speak along with.
Ready to make your first move?
46 Moves is being written and tested now. Send a note and you will get one email when the first units open to readers. Nothing else.
hello@46moves.com