Side Hustle
Pitch a client, quote your rate, and chase an invoice — confidently, out loud, in Spanish.
Start by dropping the textbook label: almost nobody introduces themselves as el trabajador autónomo — across Latin America it's simply soy freelance (in Spain, soy autónomo). The money question is ¿cuánto cobras? — how much do you charge — and the confident answer starts mi tarifa es…. A quote is la cotización in Mexico (te paso una cotización) but el presupuesto in Argentina, and the hustle itself has a local name everywhere: agarrar chambitas in Mexico, hacer changas in Argentina, el rebusque in Colombia and Venezuela.
Below: the vocabulary from pitch to payment — proposals, contracts, invoices — what a side gig is actually called country by country, and a way to rehearse the whole client conversation out loud. No flashcards, no drills: you learn the words by negotiating with them.
Say this
Regional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| a side gig | agarrar chambitas | hacer changas |
| a quote | la cotización | el presupuesto |
| let's sign | firmamos y ya | ¿lo firmás vos? |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
No flashcards, no vocab drills — in the Side Hustle lessons you learn the words by doing the freelancing in Spanish. Olivia plays the other side of the table: you pitch your service, define el alcance del proyecto and el plazo de entrega, and when she asks ¿cuánto cobras? you state your rate without flinching — mi tarifa es…. Then the part every freelancer dreads: the invoice is overdue, and you have to follow up on el cobro — polite, firm, and out loud.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Side Hustle is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Formally el trabajador autónomo, but in Latin American speech soy freelance wins; Spain says soy autónomo. The gig work itself is el trabajo independiente — or colloquially chambitas in Mexico, changas in Argentina.
¿Cuánto cobras? is the everyday way — far more natural than asking for 'la tarifa'. When it's your turn, answer with confidence: mi tarifa estándar es… — underquoting is the classic freelancer mistake in any language.
Both mean a quote. Mexico says te paso una cotización; Argentina asks ¿me pasás el presupuesto? (with voseo); Chile clips it to la cotiza. Whichever you use, pin down el alcance del proyecto — the scope — in the same breath.
The invoice is la factura, the verb is facturar, and sending it colloquially is pasar la factura. To chase payment, Mexicans ask ¿ya te cayó el depósito? — did the payment land yet? — and a firm follow-up leans on el plazo de pago, the agreed payment term.
In Colombia and Venezuela, el rebusque is the side hustle you run to make ends meet. Every region has its version: Mexico agarrar chambitas, Argentina hacer changas, Chile pololear con un proyecto — casually seeing a freelance gig on the side.
