Mi Barrio
Name the places around town, ask where they are, and catch the answer — out loud.
Open politely: Disculpe, ¿dónde está la farmacia? — though in much of Latin America you'll hear ¿dónde queda…? instead, and both work. Keep the answers you give (and expect) to phrases you can actually catch: está cerca, está lejos, al lado de. The place names themselves shift by region — the little corner shop is la tiendita in Mexico but el almacén in Argentina, and the sidewalk is la banqueta in Mexico but la vereda in Argentina and Peru. You won't get this from flashcards: asking where something is only becomes automatic once you've asked a real voice and understood what came back.
Below: the places and direction words lesson by lesson, how street vocabulary changes between Mexico and Argentina, the mix-ups that trip beginners — and a way to rehearse asking your way around, out loud.
Say this
Regional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| corner shop | la tiendita | el almacén |
| sidewalk | la banqueta | la vereda |
| turn at the corner | da vuelta en la esquina | doblá en la esquina |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
There are no flashcards in the Mi Barrio lessons — you use the words the way you will on the street. Olivia plays the stranger you stop for the nearest pharmacy, then flips it: now a lost tourist is asking you for the bus station, and you're reaching for la esquina, el semáforo, está cerca — or the wonderfully local aquí a la vuelta and derechito. Two steps at a time, out loud, until directions stop being scary in either direction.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 5 lessons and Mi Barrio is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
They mean the same thing. ¿Dónde está el banco? is the textbook form; in many countries ¿dónde queda el banco? is what people actually prefer in casual speech. Understand both, use either.
Lead with disculpe: Disculpe, ¿dónde está…? Then expect (and give) short answers — está cerca, está lejos, al lado de — one or two steps at a time.
La biblioteca is the library — books you borrow. La librería is a bookstore — books you buy. Spanish shop names love the -ería suffix: la panadería (bakery), la carnicería (butcher), la frutería (fruit shop).
La acera is the general word, but locals rarely say it: it's la banqueta in Mexico and la vereda in Argentina and Peru. Traffic light is el semáforo — though in the Caribbean you'll hear la luz.
Use a for going somewhere and en for being there: voy a la farmacia (I'm going to the pharmacy) but estoy en la farmacia (I'm at the pharmacy).
