How much Spanish you need before you arrive in Spain

Key rules

• Target: A1 survival Spanish is enough before you fly.
• Study time: Plan 1–3 months of regular study, roughly 30–60 hours.
• After arrival: Join a local Spanish class once you land, rather than adding more study at home.
• Addresses: Learn to read an address from street to town, since you will need it from day one.

What to aim for before you fly

Aim for A1, the survival level. A1 usually takes 1–3 months of regular study, roughly 30–60 hours. You do not need more than this before you arrive.

What A1 covers

Learn these, and you can handle your first weeks:

• Politeness: hola, buenos días, por favor, gracias, perdone.
• Numbers and prices, plus days and times.
• Ordering food and drink.
• Two rescue phrases: "No hablo mucho español, ¿habla inglés?" and "¿Puede repetir más despacio?"
• Reading an address and common signs and forms. Words to recognise: calle, piso, puerta, código postal, empadronamiento, cita previa.

Reading a Spanish address

An address runs from street to town: street type and name, number, floor, door, then postal code and town. For example: Calle Mayor, 12, 3º B, 28013 Madrid (Madrid).

• Street types: C/ or Calle, Av. or Avda. (avenida), Pza. or Plaza, Paseo, Camino, Ctra. (carretera).
• 3º means third floor. Planta baja, written PB or Bajo, is the ground floor.
• The door is a letter, a number, or a word: izda. (left), dcha. (right), centro.
• s/n means "no number".
• A postal code has five digits. The first two show the province, such as 28 for Madrid and 08 for Barcelona.

Why not study more at home

More study before the flight pays off less than learning in Spain. Fast regional speech, real conversations and official vocabulary improve fastest when you use them every day. Once you have the basics and decent pronunciation, enrol in a local class when you arrive.

Hours vary with your learning habits and your first language. If you already speak another Romance language, you may need fewer. If you need a higher level for work or study before you arrive, this target is too low for you.

What to do next

Use the decision below to set your target for your own situation. The timeline and checklist below cover the order of study and what to set up on your phone before you fly. The questions below answer common doubts about studying and addresses.

How much Spanish do I need in my situation?

How much Spanish should you aim for before and soon after you arrive?

• Survival phrases (A1): You stay a few weeks to a few months, you are based in a big city or tourist area where English is common, and you will rarely deal with public offices.

• Working Spanish (A2 to B1): You stay a year or more, live in a small town or inland area, or will often use the public health system, town hall registration (empadronamiento), Extranjería appointments, schools or tax offices, which usually run in Spanish.

• Exam-ready Spanish (A2 or higher): You plan to apply for naturalisation, which requires a DELE A2 exam and the CCSE civic knowledge test, unless you are exempt.

Start from survival A1 as your pre-move target. Move up a level for each of these that applies: a stay of a year or more, a small town or inland location, English not available with landlords and offices, heavy use of public services. In Catalonia, Valencia, the Basque Country, Galicia and the Balearics, expect a regional language too. Only pick a higher level if your study time matches it: intensive classes or immersion can reach A2 in a few months, while casual study takes much longer.

Timeline and deadlines

• Study the survival basics: greetings, numbers, ordering food, and reading addresses and common signs: 1–3 months of regular study before you fly

• Check your pronunciation of the phrases you will use first: in the last weeks before you fly

• Enrol in a local Spanish class: soon after you arrive, once the basics are in place

Spanish to set up before your flight

• Download Spanish and English offline in your translation app on Wi-Fi before the flight: in Google Translate, tap your profile icon and choose Offline translation; in Microsoft Translator, open Settings and Offline languages; on iPhone, use Settings, Translate, Downloaded Languages.

• Test the translation app in airplane mode, because camera and voice translation work only partly offline.

• Save an offline map area for your arrival city in Google Maps.

• Write your accommodation address in Spanish format, from street to town, for example: Calle Mayor, 12, 3º B, 28013 Madrid (Madrid).

• Learn the address short forms you will see: C/ for calle, Av. for avenida, Pza. for plaza, Ctra. for carretera, PB or Bajo for ground floor, izda. for left, dcha. for right, and s/n for no number.

• Save your booking confirmation, check-in time, and your host or landlord's name and phone number as text and as a screenshot.

• Save your arrival flight number and time, your passport and visa details (or NIE), your insurance policy number and the emergency number 112.

• Save the address of the nearest pharmacy and a note on allergies or dietary needs, such as 'Soy alérgico/a a...'.

• Save the lines 'Voy a la calle..., número..., piso..., puerta...' and 'Mi casero/anfitrión se llama... y su teléfono es...' with your details filled in.

• Save the key phrases 'No hablo español', '¿Puede repetir más despacio?' and '¿Dónde está...?'.

• Save the taxi lines 'A esta dirección, por favor' with the address ready to show, and 'Llevadme a esta dirección, por favor' for a driver.

• Learn the taxi phrases '¿Va con taxímetro?', '¿Se puede pagar con tarjeta?', 'Pare aquí, por favor' and '¿Me puede dar un recibo, por favor?'. Tipping is not required; rounding up is common.

Frequently asked questions

Should I keep studying Spanish at home once I know the basics?

No, once you have the basics and your pronunciation is comfortable, a local class after you arrive usually helps you more than extra home study.

What do PB, izda., dcha. and s/n mean in a Spanish address?

They are short forms for where you live in the building: PB means planta baja (ground floor), izda. means left, dcha. means right, and s/n means sin número (no street number). In 'Calle Mayor, 12, 3º B', the 3º is the third floor and the B is the door.

What does a Spanish postal code tell me?

A Spanish postal code has five digits, and the first two show the province. For example, 28 is Madrid and 08 is Barcelona. In an address it comes before the town, as in '28013 Madrid'.