01 · Stop someone and ask
Perdón, ¿dónde queda el museo?
Excuse me, where's the museum?
Perdón up front flags the stranger politely before you launch into the question — never skip it.
andbefluent.com/spanish/navigator
Navigator
Ask for the route, follow the turns, and confirm before you set off — out loud.
Three openers cover almost every case: ¿dónde está…?, ¿dónde queda…? (preferred in Colombia for fixed places) and ¿cómo llego al centro? — how do I get downtown. The answer will come as turns and blocks: sigue recto, gira a la derecha, a dos cuadras — and note that a block is cuadra everywhere in Latin America but manzana in Spain. The habit that saves you from walking the wrong way: echo the route back before you set off — entonces a la derecha, ¿verdad?
Below: the direction phrases lesson by lesson, how the turns change in Mexico and Argentina, the left-right slip everyone makes — and a street-corner conversation to rehearse out loud before you're actually lost.
The warm-up pack
The phrases for asking, following, and echoing back directions — so you actually end up where you meant to go.
01 · Stop someone and ask
Perdón, ¿dónde queda el museo?
Excuse me, where's the museum?
Perdón up front flags the stranger politely before you launch into the question — never skip it.
02 · Or ask for the whole route
¿Cómo llego al centro?
How do I get downtown?
Use this when you want the full route, not just a location — it invites turn-by-turn directions instead of a single answer.
03 · If you're already lost
Estoy perdido. ¿Me puedes ayudar?
I'm lost. Can you help me?
Two short sentences, no shame in either. People respond well to directness here.
04 · What you'll hear back
Sigue recto dos cuadras y gira a la derecha.
Go straight two blocks and turn right.
This is the shape most directions take — straight, a distance, then a turn. Listen for that pattern and the rest is vocabulary.
05 · The other turn
Gira a la izquierda.
Turn left.
Derecha and izquierda trip people up under pressure — practice them with an actual hand gesture and the word sticks to the direction.
06 · Landmarks, not street names
Al lado del banco. Frente al parque.
Next to the bank. Across from the park.
Locals navigate by landmarks far more than street names — knowing al lado de and frente a unlocks most directions you'll get.
07 · How far is it
¿Está muy lejos?
Is it very far?
Worth asking before you commit to walking — the answer is usually just está cerca (nearby) or está lejos (far).
08 · What you're told to do
Camina cinco minutos. Toma la segunda calle.
Walk for five minutes. Take the second street.
Directions often stack two instructions like this — a duration, then a turn. Listen for both.
09 · When they talk too fast
¿Puedes repetir, por favor? Más despacio, por favor.
Can you repeat, please? Slower, please.
No one minds saying this twice — it's normal, not embarrassing, especially for someone giving directions to a stranger.
10 · Echo it back before you go
Entonces a la derecha, ¿verdad?
So, to the right, right?
The habit that actually prevents getting lost — repeating the key turn back and waiting for confirmation before you walk off.
11 · Close it warmly
Muchas gracias, muy amable.
Thank you so much, very kind of you.
A little warmer than a plain gracias — it acknowledges that a stranger just went out of their way for you.
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/navigatorRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| take this street | agarra esta calle | agarrá esta calle |
| can you repeat that? | ¿me lo dice otra vez? | ¿me lo repetís? |
| just around the corner | aquí a la vuelta | a la vuelta |
| stopping a stranger for help | oiga, ¿me echa la mano? | che, ¿sabés dónde queda…? |
Watch out
The part no phrase list can do
Isabella
Your conversation teacher for this pack
In the Navigator pack, the final lesson drops you lost on a busy street corner — and Isabella plays the friendly local you stop, standing by a pharmacy and a small plaza. She points with her whole arm and says mira before every turn, but she navigates by landmarks, not street names, and she talks fast — so you'll need más despacio, por favor, and when construction blocks the obvious route you'll have to confirm the detour turn by turn. Before she lets you go, she makes you repeat the whole route back from memory. 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 Navigator is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
¿Dónde está el baño? — where is the bathroom — works everywhere; for fixed places like stations you'll also hear ¿dónde queda la estación?, which Colombians prefer. For a route rather than a location, ask ¿cómo llego al centro?
Two blocks away. Cuadra is the Latin American word for a city block — Spain says manzana. Distance answers usually come as está cerca (nearby) or está lejos (far); the reassuring diminutive está cerquita means it's really close.
Gira a la izquierda (left) and gira a la derecha (right). Mexicans often say das vuelta a la derecha instead of gira, and Argentines use the voseo imperative doblá a la izquierda.
Estoy perdido (or perdida); casually, me perdí — I got lost. Follow it with ¿me puedes ayudar? and most people will walk you halfway there.
Ask ¿puedes repetir, por favor? or más despacio, por favor — slower, please. Then anchor yourself: request a landmark with ¿hay algún punto de referencia? and echo the key turn back — entonces a la derecha, ¿verdad? — before you start walking.