Debate Champ
Build a thesis, refute without attacking, and hold the formal register under pressure — out loud.
Formal Spanish debate is won on register as much as logic. You open by naming the room — muy buenas tardes, estimado moderador, respetable jurado y digno oponente — and you attack premises, never people: rechazo categóricamente la premisa sobre la que se construye todo su razonamiento. The contrafactual subjunctive is your scalpel — si aceptáramos su premisa inicial, llegaríamos a conclusiones francamente absurdas — and the connectors mark your level: rotate sin embargo, no obstante, ahora bien and antes bien instead of leaning on pero. One slip into la neta or o sea and the jury hears it.
Below: the phrases that open, argue and close a formal round, the register slips that cost you the jury — and a way to debate a live opponent out loud, with a moderator who publicly corrects every fallacy.
The warm-up pack
The formal lines that build, defend, and close an argument — without ever attacking the person across the podium.
01 · The ceremonial opening
Muy buenas tardes, estimado moderador, respetable jurado y digno oponente.
Good afternoon, esteemed moderator, respected jury and worthy opponent.
Naming everyone in the room, in this order, is the ritual that tells the jury you belong on that podium.
02 · Setting the terms before you argue
Antes de entrar en materia, permítanme delimitar con precisión los términos del debate.
Before getting into the matter, allow me to precisely delimit the terms of the debate.
Define the ground you're arguing on first — it stops your opponent from moving the goalposts later.
03 · Stating your thesis with conviction
Sostengo, con absoluta convicción, que la afirmación que defendemos se sostiene por sí sola.
I maintain, with absolute conviction, that the claim we defend stands on its own.
One sentence, no hedge — the jury needs to hear exactly what you're defending before the evidence arrives.
04 · Backing it with real evidence
Mi primer argumento se apoya en evidencia histórica difícilmente rebatible.
My first argument rests on historical evidence that is difficult to refute.
Naming the type of evidence up front tells the jury this isn't opinion dressed as argument.
05 · Naming the attack before it lands
Anticipo que la parte contraria invocará argumentos ya ampliamente desacreditados.
I anticipate that the opposing side will invoke arguments already widely discredited.
Calling the opponent's move before they make it takes the sting out of it entirely.
06 · Pre-loading your counter-data
Preveo la objeción clásica, y precisamente por eso traigo datos que la desactivan.
I foresee the classic objection, and precisely for that reason I bring data that neutralizes it.
Shows the jury you did the work of thinking past your own argument, not just building it.
07 · Naming a fallacy without name-calling
Lo que acabamos de oír constituye, francamente, una falacia de composición manifiesta.
What we just heard constitutes, frankly, a clear fallacy of composition.
Attacks the structure of the reasoning, in formal terms — never the person who made it.
08 · Countering with a specific fact
Los datos que invoca mi oponente han sido desmentidos en múltiples ocasiones recientes.
The data my opponent invokes has been disproven on multiple recent occasions.
A specific, checkable claim beats a general accusation of being wrong, every time.
09 · Putting the burden of proof back on them
¿En qué evidencia concreta se apoya para formular semejante aseveración?
On what concrete evidence do you rely to make such an assertion?
A courteous demand for proof — it reminds the room that assertions aren't arguments.
10 · Claiming the win, argument by argument
He demostrado, argumento por argumento, por qué la posición contraria resulta insostenible.
I have demonstrated, argument by argument, why the opposing position is untenable.
Summarizing point by point instead of just asserting victory is what makes the claim credible.
11 · The closing appeal to the jury
Confío en que el jurado sabrá distinguir la retórica vacía del argumento sustancial.
I trust the jury will know how to distinguish empty rhetoric from substantial argument.
Ends on trust in the room's judgment, not a demand — the confident way to ask to be believed.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/debate-champRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
Watch out
The part no phrase list can do
Isabella
Your conversation teacher for this pack
In the Debate Champ pack, the final lesson is the last round of an inter-university tournament — raised podiums, jury at the front, an audience in silence — and Isabella chairs it: a professor of rhetoric, ceremonious, exacting, allergic to logical fallacies and to any slip out of the formal register. She rings a small bell to mark your transitions (refutación, por favor), and mid-rebuttal she may stop you and demand you restate your opponent's view in its strongest form before continuing. Thesis, refutation, close. Out loud. Every word weighed.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Debate Champ is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
With ceremonial courtesy that never drops: estimado oponente or digno oponente. Even head-on disagreement stays wrapped in respect: con el debido respeto a mi estimado oponente, me veo obligado a disentir frontalmente.
Attack the premise, not the person. Instead of usted no entiende, say esa premisa no se sostiene or go for the foundation: rechazo categóricamente la premisa sobre la que se construye todo su razonamiento. Then demand the missing proof — no basta con afirmar vehementemente; hace falta demostrar con argumentos sólidos.
Repeating pero at every turn flattens your register. Rotate sin embargo, ahora bien, no obstante and antes bien, and reach for elegant reversals like lejos de: ese ejemplo, lejos de fortalecer su tesis, termina inadvertidamente respaldando la mía.
Yes — conceding a peripheral point signals confidence, as long as you immediately re-anchor the discussion where you're strong: permítanme insistir en este punto, porque constituye el eje de toda la discusión. What loses debates isn't concession; it's letting the concession redefine the thesis.
Recap, synthesize, thank: permítanme recapitular brevemente los puntos clave de mi intervención de hoy, then the ceremonial hand-back — agradezco sinceramente la atención prestada y cedo con gusto la palabra. Dropping register at the end (pues ya, eso es todo) is the classic way to undo thirty good minutes.
