01 · The one line that gets you connected
¿Cómo me conecto al wifi?
How do I connect to wifi?
The exact question that gets someone to just hand you the password instead of explaining a setup menu.
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Tech Savvy
Name the device, describe what's broken, follow the fix — out loud, in Spanish.
State the device first, then the problem: no funciona works everywhere, but locals get more specific — a frozen screen se trabó or se colgó in Mexico, se tildó in Argentina, se ha quedado pillado in Spain, and in Colombia el wifi no jala. The first fix is universal — reinicia y avisame — and asking for help sounds warmer as ¿me echas la mano con esto? (Mexico) than the textbook ¿puedes ayudarme?
Below: the device, wifi and file words you'll actually need, how tech Spanish shifts between Latin America and Spain — and a way to rehearse the whole support call out loud, no flashcards, no fill-in-the-blanks.
The warm-up pack
The sentences you actually say when something won't connect — not a specs sheet.
01 · The one line that gets you connected
¿Cómo me conecto al wifi?
How do I connect to wifi?
The exact question that gets someone to just hand you the password instead of explaining a setup menu.
02 · Clave beats the textbook word
¿Cuál es la clave del wifi?
What's the wifi password?
Contraseña is correct everywhere. Clave is what actually gets said across Mexico and Latin America.
03 · Making sure there's a signal at all
¿Hay señal?
Is there signal?
Three words that save you troubleshooting a phone that was never the problem.
04 · Voseo for borrowing a charger
¿Me prestás un cargador? Me quedé sin batería.
Can I borrow a charger? I'm out of battery. (Argentina, voseo)
The reigning line for this exact moment — say it and someone will just hand one over.
05 · What actually comes out of your mouth first
El teléfono. Está congelado.
My phone. It's frozen.
Not a full grammatical sentence — because that's not how you'd actually blurt it out mid-panic either.
06 · What gets said in Mexico instead
Se trabó.
It's stuck / frozen up. (Mexico)
Está congelado is the textbook line. Se trabó is what a friend actually says about a laptop.
07 · Bogotá and the Caribbean's version
No jala.
It's not working. (Colombia/Caribbean)
No funciona is correct everywhere. No jala is what gets said on the ground in these regions specifically.
08 · Voseo for a quick file request
¿Me pasás el archivo?
Can you send me the file? (Argentina, voseo) — ¿me pasas el archivo? elsewhere.
The line that actually gets things forwarded, not just a request logged and forgotten.
09 · Buenos Aires office shorthand
Bajame el archivo.
Download the file for me. (Argentina)
Bajar instead of the formal descargar — this is the day-to-day office version, no formality attached.
10 · The fast way to send it
Pásamelo por mail.
Send it to me by email.
Enviar por correo is the textbook phrase. This is what actually gets typed in a chat.
11 · A hand, not a favor
¿Me echas la mano con esto?
Can you give me a hand with this? (Mexico)
Warmer than ¿puedes ayudarme?, and just as easy to say once it's in your mouth.
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/tech-savvyRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina | Spain |
|---|---|---|---|
| cell phone | el celular | el celu | el móvil |
| the wifi password | la clave del wifi | el password | la contraseña |
| it froze | se trabó | se tildó | se ha quedado pillado |
| to download | bajar | bajar | descargar |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
You won't flip a single flashcard in the Tech Savvy lessons — every term comes out of your mouth mid-problem. Olivia plays IT support and your laptop won't connect: you explain what's wrong — no funciona, está congelado — answer her questions about la conexión and la red, and follow her steps: reiniciar, check the wifi, try again. Then the chairs swap and you talk a colleague through a setup yourself. The vocabulary sticks because you needed it.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Tech Savvy is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
No funciona is understood everywhere. For a freeze, use the local verb: se trabó or se colgó in Mexico, se tildó in Argentina, se ha quedado pillado in Spain — and in Colombia and the Caribbean, no jala.
¿Cuál es la clave del wifi? — that's what wins in Mexico and most of Latin America; Spain sticks with la contraseña. Colombia has the playful regálame el wifi (nobody's literally gifting anything).
La computadora in Latin America — la compu in everyday talk — and el ordenador in Spain. Argentina calls a laptop la notebook (feminine).
Los audífonos in Latin America; los auriculares sounds like Spain. For big over-ear ones, Mexico and Colombia also say los cascos.
Descargar is the textbook word and holds up in Spain, but Latin America says bajar — lo bajé del internet, or in Argentina bajame el archivo. And sending it on? Mándamelo por WhatsApp has all but replaced enviar por correo.