✋🏻⛔️ SPANISH People DON’T Say HOLA 🤯 - USE These Instead!

Stop saying hola and use the Spanish native greetings instead. Venga, vamos. Hola. Did you notice that? Yeah, that tiny awkward pause? It's because even though hola is the first thing we learn in Spanish, it can sometimes sound a bit off-putting. Too formal, I would say. Sometimes. It isn't wrong. I'm with you, okay? Lo admito. Perfectamente correcto. But if you only say it, if you only say hola, it can feel too neutral, stiff, like you're reading from a textbook. I don't want you to sound like that. As you can hear, there are some better greetings that you can use. El primero, ya lo conoces. You already know this one. ¿Qué tal? Literally, how is it going? How are you? Super common, relaxed. It works with everyone, with people you know and people you don't know. Yes, I would walk into a shop and just say, ¿qué tal? Ya está. Perfecto. And if I know the person, I might add, ¡hey, qué tal! That hey immediately tells me that I know that person. If I don't know them, I might just go a bit more formal and just say, ¿qué tal? Eso me dicen a mí en Zara Home cada vez que entro. Every time I walk into Zara Home, ¿qué tal? ¿Cómo puedo ayudarte? Número dos. This one is for sure the one that I use the most without a doubt. Buenas. It's short for buenas tardes, buenos días. You can use it morning, afternoon, evening. It doesn't matter. It works any time of the day. It's actually really handy. So you walk into a bar and you say, ¿buenas? Ya está. Te responderán, ¡muy buenas! ¿Qué te pongo? You can say buenas or muy buenas. Up to you. I normally say just buenas. Buenas. They say to you, ¡buenas! ¿Qué te pongo? What do you want? Número tres. ¿Cómo andas? How are you walking? What? We mean, how are you doing? How are you getting on? How's life? It's casual. It's friendly. Hey, ¿cómo andas? Ando liada, pero bien. ¿Y tú? Ya está. It sounds local and it sounds relaxed and it sounds friendly. I wouldn't use it with anyone I do not know. And the same with number four. ¿Qué tal vas? I actually use this one with the guy that was fixing my fridge this week. I already know him because he's had to come to my house cuatro veces, four times. It literally means, how are you going? ¿Qué tal vas? It means, how are you doing? How's it going for you? I asked him this because I wanted to know if he had fixed my fridge yet or not. So I said, ¿cómo vas? ¿Qué tal vas? ¿Cómo vas? As in, are we getting somewhere here? Spoiler alert. I still have no eyes and I live in Madrid in July. So it is used especially when someone is asking about something ongoing, like work or life. ¿Qué tal vas con el trabajo? Voy tirando, voy tirando. How's work going? I'm getting by, I'm getting by. Y luego tenemos los maravillosos regional greetings. A ver cómo os explico esto. These change depending on which area you are. En Madrid, por ejemplo, uno de los más normales y que te va a sonar como un local. This one would make you sound like a local around Madrid is, hey, ¿qué pasa? Vivir a chavales también might sound even better. That's maybe too old now. I don't know. Are the Gen Z saying that these days, chavales? Anyway, I would say it, hey, ¿qué pasa? ¿Qué pasa? Let's leave it there. Hey, ¿qué pasa? Madrileño, ya eres un gato o una gata. Do you know that people from Madrid are called gatos and gatas? But only if up to your grandparents are from Madrid, Madrid. Que yo no lo soy. I can't say that I'm a gato or a gata. I have a grandpa from Jaén. ¿Qué le vamos a hacer? Por eso tengo yo tanta gracia, chiquillo. If you go to the Basque country, you might be greeted with aiso. Que no tengo ni idea de qué significa. I have no idea. But you know, that's what they say. Or in Catalonia, they say, buen día, buen día. My accents are the worst. Please do not judge me. Listen, you don't judge, okay? In the south, ¿qué pasa, quillo? Hey, quillo, ¿dónde va, quillo? Quillo, it's very, very Andalusian. And of course, my pro tip today is mix and match them. You could say, hey, ¿qué tal vas? Buenas, how andas. And that, my friends, is what makes you sound natural. Not making it scripted. So practice these wherever you are in the world on your daily life. Greet your family like that. Greet your friends. They'll learn Spanish eventually. Or kick you out, one of the two. Recordamos, little recap before we finish. Hola. We don't like it. We're going for, ¿qué tal? Buenas, ¿cómo andas? ¿Qué tal vas? Oiven, hey, ¿qué pasa? And yes, you do need the head gesture as well. ¿Qué pasa? And remember that if you want to go from A1 to C2, using real life phrases like natives do, instead of talking like you just got out of a book, come and join my community, Spanish with Patreon School. You'll find a full course, weekly speaking practice with myself and other native teachers, and real life meetups around the world. Es que vamos, ¿quién da más? ¿Quién da más? Dime tú. ¿Nadie? You know where to find the link. It's in my description. Así que venga, que te espero. Que paso lista, eh. And remember, when you say hello to me in the lesson, don't forget to use one of these. Because I will say to you, Muy buenas, ¿qué tal? And if this was any useful, which I think it was, at least if you're learning Spanish, don't forget to subscribe. Adiós.