Biologist
Explain a gene, an ecosystem, or natural selection in academic Spanish — out loud.
Advanced biology Spanish keeps genotype and phenotype apart: el genotipo is the genetic code, el fenotipo the observable trait, and blurring them is the classic error. Molecular processes are described in sequence — la transcripción before la traducción genética, carried by el ARN mensajero to build la proteína. Ecology has its own register: el ecosistema, la cadena trófica (though in daily Mexican speech it's la cadena alimenticia), el nicho ecológico, la biodiversidad. And frame evolution as outcome, not goal: la selección natural and la adaptación are results, not intentions — even if everyone summarizes it as el más fuerte sobrevive.
Below: the vocabulary lesson by lesson, where the everyday word drifts from the textbook one, the pitfalls — and a way to explain the science out loud, no flashcards, no drills.
Say this
Regional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
In the Biologist lessons you learn the vocabulary by explaining it, out loud, to Olivia. She sits in as a room of biology students and asks you to explain la expresión génica, la mutación and el ADN recombinante. Then she moves you to an ecology fieldwork briefing — describe the dynamics: la cadena trófica, la biodiversidad, el nicho ecológico. Finally an evolution seminar, where you discuss la selección natural, la adaptación and la especiación with real examples — talking, not memorizing.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Biologist is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
El genotipo is the genetic code an organism carries; el fenotipo is the observable trait it produces. Always specify which you mean — it's the most common mix-up in biology Spanish. In casual talk Latin Americans often say la herencia rather than el genotipo.
El ADN, pronounced letter by letter — a-de-ene, never spelled out in English. Messenger RNA is el ARN mensajero, said a-erre-ene-eme. Post-pandemic, la vacuna de ARNm entered everyday speech.
The textbook term is la cadena trófica, but in daily Mexican and Costa Rican speech people say la cadena alimenticia — the technical one sounds like a thesis. Related: el ecosistema, el hábitat, la biodiversidad.
La selección natural, described as an outcome, not a goal — species don't try to adapt. The popular shorthand el más fuerte sobrevive (the strongest survives) is catchy but imprecise; pair it with la adaptación and la especiación for accuracy.
The formal term is el organismo modificado genéticamente, but in everyday Latin American speech and the press it's overwhelmingly transgénico — as in el maíz transgénico or la soja transgénica, both loaded political topics.
