01 · The words you actually need
¿Qué? ¿Quién? ¿Dónde?
What? Who? Where?
Three of the seven question words that carry almost every conversation. Get comfortable with these before the rest.
andbefluent.com/spanish/journalista
Journalista
Open with a question, dig deeper, and confirm what you heard — all out loud.
Spanish runs on seven question words: ¿qué?, ¿quién?, ¿dónde?, ¿cuándo?, ¿por qué?, ¿cómo?, ¿cuál? — and the skill is matching the word to the information you need: cuándo for time, dónde for place, cuál for a choice, instead of defaulting to ¿qué? for everything. Ask one question per turn, then build on the answer with a probe like cuéntame más or ¿y qué pasó después?. Before you change topic, paraphrase what you heard with entonces… or o sea que… — that confirmation step is what makes a conversation feel like listening instead of interrogation.
Below: the question phrases lesson by lesson, how they change in Mexico and Argentina, the mistakes that flag a beginner — and a live interview to practise the whole flow out loud.
The warm-up pack
The words that make you sound curious instead of stuck — how to open, dig deeper, and confirm you were listening.
01 · The words you actually need
¿Qué? ¿Quién? ¿Dónde?
What? Who? Where?
Three of the seven question words that carry almost every conversation. Get comfortable with these before the rest.
02 · And the other four
¿Cuándo? ¿Por qué? ¿Cómo? ¿Cuál?
When? Why? How? Which?
The seven question words split cleanly by what you're asking for — time, reason, method, choice. Match the word to the answer you need.
03 · Build with a probe
Cuéntame más.
Tell me more.
The single most useful phrase in the pack — it invites more without you having to think of the next question.
04 · When the answer's too short
¿Cómo por ejemplo?
Like what, for example?
For when someone answers with 'fine' or 'good' and you want the real story. It buys you the details.
05 · Keep the story going
¿Y qué pasó después?
And what happened next?
The probe that turns a one-line answer into an actual story. Works after almost anything.
06 · Ask them to explain
¿Puedes explicar?
Can you explain?
Simple and polite, and it works even mid-conversation when you've lost the thread.
07 · Confirm you got it
Entonces, si te entiendo bien, trabajas desde casa.
So, if I understand correctly, you work from home.
This is the pattern, not the exact sentence — swap in whatever they just told you. Paraphrasing before moving on is what makes it feel like listening.
08 · The other way to confirm
O sea que…
That means… / so you're saying…
Locals use o sea constantly as a filler, so leaning on it to confirm sounds completely natural, not stilted.
09 · The one-line intro
Para empezar, ¿a qué te dedicas?
To start, what do you do?
The mini-interview opener — professional enough for a stranger, casual enough for a classmate.
10 · Ask for the good stuff
¿Tienes algún consejo?
Do you have any advice?
Turns any interview into something useful — people love being asked this, and it's an easy question to answer back to.
11 · Close it warmly
Gracias por compartir eso.
Thanks for sharing that.
The mini-interview's natural close — it leaves them feeling actually heard, not interrogated.
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/journalistaRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| what do you do for work? | ¿en qué chambeas? | ¿a qué te dedicás? |
| where do you live? | ¿dónde vives? | ¿dónde vivís? |
| really?! | ¿neta? | ¿en serio? |
| hold on, wait | a ver, a ver | pará, pará |
Watch out
The part no phrase list can do
Isabella
Your conversation teacher for this pack
In the Journalista pack, the final lesson is a live interview — and Isabella plays a classmate just back from a long weekend, sitting with you on the steps after class. She's an enthusiastic storyteller who says pues before every answer, but she gives short ones until you press: your job is to get the where, the when, the who and the why out of her, dig into the vague bits with cuéntame más, and paraphrase the whole story back with entonces… before she'll let it go. One question per turn, out loud — and she talks back.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 5 lessons and Journalista is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
There are seven: ¿qué? (what), ¿quién? (who), ¿dónde? (where), ¿cuándo? (when), ¿por qué? (why), ¿cómo? (how) and ¿cuál? (which). They all carry a written accent when they're asking something.
Qué asks what in general; cuál asks which one of a set: ¿cuál es tu favorito? — which is your favorite? Beginners default to ¿qué? for everything; matching the word to the information you want is what makes questions sound natural.
Three probes carry most conversations: cuéntame más (tell me more), ¿cómo por ejemplo? (like what, for example?) and ¿y qué pasó después? (and what happened next?). Even ¡no me digas! works as a probe — it invites the other person to keep going.
The polite standard is ¿a qué te dedicas?; en qué trabajas is more casual. In Mexico you'll hear ¿en qué chambeas? — chamba means work.
Paraphrase before moving on: entonces… (so…), o sea que… (that means…), or si te entiendo bien (if I understand correctly), then close with ¿es correcto? Locals use o sea constantly as a filler, so it sounds completely natural.