Family Tree
Name your parents, siblings, grandparents and in-laws — and answer questions about them out loud.
In family vocabulary, gender does the work: el hermano / la hermana, el tío / la tía — and the masculine plural covers mixed groups, so los hermanos means siblings, not just brothers, and los padres means parents. Real families rarely stick to the formal words: across Latin America mi vieja and mi viejo are tender ways to say mom and dad, and abue is the universal soft form for a grandparent. Keep descriptions simple — one detail per person, an age or a role. And these words don't stick from flashcards; they stick the first time you talk someone through your own family tree out loud.
Below: the family words lesson by lesson, what mom, dad and grandma are actually called in Mexico versus Argentina, the gender slips to avoid — and a way to rehearse describing your own family in a real conversation.
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Regional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| mom (affectionate) | mi jefa | mami |
| dad (affectionate) | mi jefe | papi |
| grandma | abuelita | la nona |
| grandpa | abuelito | el nono |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
No flashcards, no matching pairs — in the Family Tree lessons you talk through your actual family with Olivia, as if you were showing her photos. She asks about los padres, whether you have el hermano mayor or la hermana menor, what los abuelos are like — and she asks back about hers, so you practise both sides: describing your people and asking politely about someone else's. One detail per person, out loud, until the words come without translating.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 5 lessons and Family Tree is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Both — the masculine plural includes mixed-gender groups, so los hermanos means siblings unless context says otherwise. The same logic gives you los padres (parents), los abuelos (grandparents) and los primos (cousins).
Across Latin America, mi vieja / mi viejo sound tender, not disrespectful. In Mexico, mi jefa and mi jefe are the affectionate slang among friends, and in Argentina adults say mami and papi too — it's not just for kids.
La abuela and el abuelo — but the affectionate forms are what you'll hear: abue everywhere, abuelita / abuelito in Mexico, la nona / el nono in Argentina (Italian heritage), and tata or mamita in traditional Chilean families.
Los suegros are your parents-in-law, el cuñado / la cuñada your brother- and sister-in-law. In Mexico a beloved cuñada can even become mi cuñis — and la suegra is the star of an entire genre of jokes.
It's a contraction of mi hijo / mi hija (my son / my daughter). In Mexico and Central America it's used warmly with almost any younger person, not just your own children.
