En Ruta
Buy the ticket, find your line, and get off where you meant to — out loud.
Getting around runs on two structures: ir en + transport (voy en autobús, voy en metro — but a pie on foot) and the route question ¿Qué línea tomo para ir al centro? Buy un boleto in Latin America, un billete in Spain — and always tomar the bus, never coger, which is vulgar in much of Latin America. The bus itself changes name at every border: el camión in Mexico, el colectivo or el bondi in Argentina, la guagua in the Caribbean, la micro in Chile. In the En Ruta lessons there are no flashcards — you learn all of it by saying it, out loud, mid-journey.
Below: the words lesson by lesson, what riders actually say to the driver, the regional traps — and a way to rehearse the whole trip out loud.
Say this
Regional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| bus | el camión | el colectivo / el bondi |
| metro / subway | el metro | el subte |
| transit card | la tarjeta del metro | la SUBE |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
No flashcards, no route maps to memorise. In the En Ruta lessons you talk, and Olivia puts you in transit: you're at the stop and need to know which línea goes to your destination — so you ask. At the taquilla you buy ida y vuelta. On board, you work out where to bajarse and say it the way locals do: me bajo en la próxima. Then a taxi: give the dirección, ask ¿cuánto cuesta?, and land aquí, por favor — every phrase spoken, not studied.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 5 lessons and En Ruta is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
The textbook word is el autobús, but locals rarely use it: it's el camión in Mexico (not a truck!), el colectivo or el bondi in Argentina, la guagua in the Caribbean, la micro in Chile, la buseta in Colombia.
La parada is a stop — buses and trams. La estación is a station — metro and trains. Chile adds its own twist: a bus stop there is el paradero.
Ask for un boleto (Latin America) or un billete (Spain) at la taquilla — ida y vuelta for round trip, solo ida for one way. In many cities you instead recargar la tarjeta: Mexico's metro card, Buenos Aires' SUBE.
Avoid it — coger has a vulgar meaning in many Latin American countries. Say tomar el autobús instead; it's what everyone expects to hear.
Me bajo en la próxima — note the reflexive: me subo (I get on), me bajo (I get off). In Colombia you call out ¡la parada, por fa!; in Argentina, a polite permiso, voy a bajar.
