Colombian Spanish - Conversational Spanish for Colombia
A unique course that teaches you the Spanish you'll need to make friends, have fun, date and get the most out of your time in Colombia.
Enrollment status
Enrollment now open
Prerequisites
Basic beginners Spanish
Course Preview
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The Spanish that’ll win the locals over
To start understanding and speaking the Spanish that Colombians actually use in their everyday conversations, you'll need to look beyond just your Spanish textbook.
On this course, you'll learn hundreds of the most useful words, phrases and expressions commonly heard in Colombia, together with cultural and contextual explanations to allow you to understand when exactly to use them. We'll cover:
Sparking up conversation, socializing and keeping awkward silences at bay.
Going out with friends and chatting on social media.
Dating and relationships with Colombians.
Spicing up your speech with popular local sayings, curse words, funny expressions and jokes.
Spanish you can really use
You'll learn how to interact confidently in Spanish conversations from an engaging and entertaining mix of video lessons, teacher interviews, quizzes and study tasks. Focused exclusively on the phrases and expressions that you'll hear when chatting, making friends and going out with Colombians, it's Spanish you can use in conversations straightaway.
Language success - on your own terms
You'll get immediate, unlimited access to all the course materials and bonuses to work through entirely at your own pace. You can choose to follow our suggested six-week daily study program or set your own schedule - either way, the materials, support and instructor interaction you'll receive will be exactly the same.
Course Instructor
Peter Low
Hi there! I first arrived in Colombia in 2007, speaking next to no Spanish. Years of (painful) study later, and I now work as a professional Spanish translator, journalist and online language teacher. I’ll be your guide through the tips and tricks that I wish had been available to me earlier in my Spanish-learning journey.
Expert help
During the course, you’ll also learn from exclusive interviews and video contributions by teachers from Colombia’s top language schools in Bogota, Medellin, Cartagena and more.
Andrea
Colombia Immersion
Andres
Centro Catalina
Eduardo
Centro Catalina
Jesus
Nueva Lengua
Lucia
Nueva Lengua
Merly
Colombia Immersion
Violet
Social Spanish
Bonus materials to boost your learning
The 230-page Colombian Spanish eBook
The perfect companion to the video course, this eBook contains everything I've learnt from years of living in Colombia. It's ten chapters full of the Spanish really spoken there, including extensive notes and explanations to help you make sense of it all.
Comes in ePub, Amazon Kindle and PDF formats.
What customers say about the Colombian Spanish eBook
"A goldmine of Colombian Spanish…genuinely designed to help you integrate more naturally as a 'gringo'"Anthony
"Fantastic for someone trying to take their Spanish fluency to the next level, and even better for someone hoping to practice Spanish in Colombia or with Colombians"Andy
"A highly detailed and accurate look at Colombian Spanish...highly recommended for any travelers who want to seamlessly blend in with the locals."SeeColombia.travel
"If there was ever a perfect resource for Spanish language learners coming to Colombia, [the Colombian Spanish eBook] is it. "colombiaimmersion.com
"I highly recommend it. You’ll see immediate significant improvements in your ability to speak with native Colombians"Jim
"I definitely recommend it to anyone who already has a solid base in Spanish and wants to customize their speaking to be truly Colombian."Nik
"Witty and interesting, it is a great tool...that will have you sounding less like a dubbed movie and more like a Colombian."MedellinLiving.com
"It is perfect for anyone who wants to understand the popular language in our country."Laura
More than 850 printable flashcards
These ready-made flashcards will help you commit to memory all the new terms and phrases you’ll be learning throughout the course. Print them out at your convenience, or use our online flashcard learning environment with games, quizzes and sound files all built in.
The eBook and flashcards are provided free to all course students
With you every step of the way
I’m here to help at any time for your questions during the course, whether about learning Colombian Spanish or near enough anything about life as a foreigner in Colombia.
You can always get in touch with me by email, or in the comments section of the course lessons.
I'll give you personalized feedback on quizzes and exercises that you complete as part of the course.
You'll have priority access to expert and community learning support via a closed Facebook group.
Learn the Spanish your textbook didn't teach you
In six wide-ranging study modules, newly updated for 2018, you'll learn the essential Spanish that you’ll need when interacting with Colombians in a wide variety of common situations. After completing the course, you’ll be able to speak in a more natural and entertaining way, and participate much more easily in local conversations. As an added bonus, you’ll also gain a much better understanding of Colombian culture and society - hugely important for truly becoming fluent.
1An introduction to Colombian Spanish
Here, I’ll introduce you to the Colombian accent and to some of the most quintessentially Colombian words and phrases you’ll hear within minutes of talking to Colombians. I’ll also talk you through some excellent free resources and proven study techniques to boost your language skills rapidly.
Module Details
Bienvenidos al curso!
Colombian Spanish survival guide
Where to go for (free) help
Essentials of Colombian slang
Accents from across Colombia
Study techniques that got me to fluency
2The art of Colombian small talk
To get conversations really going you’ll know need to a whole load more phrases than hola, ¿cómo estás?. Avoid those awkward silences, and impress the locals, with the expressions to start, maintain and wind down Spanish small talk interactions.
Module Details
Top ways to greet strangers
Fun ways to say 'hi' to your friends
Further Colombianising your greetings
How to avoid awkward silences
The culture of excessive greetings
Starting and sustaining conversation
The perfect Colombian goodbye
Small talk conversation
3Killing off gringo-isms
Iron out the errors that you don’t know you’re making; replace clunky, foreign-sounding literal translations of English expressions with smoother and more streamlined local equivalents.
Module Details
Using 'llevar' when talking about time
Colombianising your shopping phrases
How to get discounts - Colombia style
Colombian alternatives for 'OK' and 'sure'
Say goodbye to '¿es posible...?' questions
Effortless sentence starters and connectors
Killing off gringo-isms
4AT YOUR LEISURE...
Discover what Colombians get up to in their free time and how best to get yourself involved in local social life. You'll master the Spanish to make fun things happen, to chat about mixing with friends and family, dancing and going out on the town.
Module Details
What's different about Colombians' social lives?
How much do you really like your friends?
Talking about your social life in Spanish
The Spanish for making fun things happen
What is a 'parche'?
The drunkenness scale
Social life and partying in Colombia
Sample lesson
5The crazy world of Colombian dating
Learn to navigate the culturally alien world of the Colombian dating scene. Discover what Colombians say when being flirtatious or charming, and how to talk about attractive people and other aspects of your private life with friends.
Module Details
Compliments and terms of endearment
Relationship types in Colombia
Colombian seduction 101
A trip to the motel...
A local jokes about dating culture
Levels of love in Colombia
A Colombian love story
6Taking it to the next level
Sound like you’ve lived among Colombians for years by nailing the trickiest parts of language: making/understanding the local sense of humor, using popular expressions and proverbs perfectly, exaggerating and cursing naturally.
Module Details
When does 'now' actually mean 'now'?
Juicy local idioms and proverbs
Using diminutives like a pro
Exaggerating with ease
Extra lessons coming soon - free update
Colombian cursing: friendly to extreme
A touch of Colombian humor
Get started now
Conversational Spanish for Colombia Full video course
What's included?
Unlimited access to all the learning materials.
20+ exclusive video lessons.
Personalized assignment feedback.
The 230-page Colombian Spanish eBook.
850+ Colombian Spanish flashcards.
Online flashcard learning environment.
Interviews with Colombian teachers.
Daily study tasks and exercises.
Colombian Spanish resource library.
Student-only Facebook group.
Email and community support.
Free updates when new lessons are added.
$99
Colombian Spanish Starter Kit
Not quite ready for the full video course yet? The Colombian Spanish Starter Kit includes everything you need to get familiar with the Spanish you'll need to make friends in Colombia.
What's included?
The 230-page Colombian Spanish eBook.
850+ Colombian Spanish flashcards.
Online flashcard learning environment.
Colombian Spanish resource library.
$39
Course FAQ
I've never studied any Spanish before. Is this course for me?
This course is aimed primarily at people who already know at least the basics of Spanish and works best as a complement to traditional learning resources, such as textbooks, language apps and/or classes. We won't cover Spanish grammar in any depth here, so if you know literally no Spanish then you're probably not quite ready to enroll. That said, detailed explanations and translations of all the terms covered in the course are provided, so you need not know much of the language to benefit from the material. And with unlimited access to all the videos, exercises, interviews and quizzes in the course, you'll be able to keep revisiting the content to gain a better understanding of the language's nuances as your Spanish continues to improve.
Why should I learn Spanish from a foreigner? Wouldn’t a native speaker be able to teach me better?
Local teachers are often fantastic, and that's why I've drafted in a whole bunch to help explain many of the terms in this course. Oddly enough, though, native speakers are at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to creating a course of this kind -- which aims to bridge the gap between the Spanish taught in the classroom and the sort you’ll actually need when talking to Colombians. A foreigner, who has already battled his way through to Spanish fluency in Colombia, is probably better placed to advise others on how to do the same. Between the Colombians' contributions and my own, my aim is to give you the best of both worlds. That is, exposure to the local accent and native speech on the one hand and, on the other, guidance from a foreigner about what parts of the language are most useful and the most likely to get a positive reaction from the locals.
Is this just a course on Colombian slang?
We cover plenty of slang, but the scope of this course is much wider than that. You'll learn many other aspects of becoming conversational in Spanish (such as idioms for socialising, conversation filler words, sentence starters and other language tricks) which are as applicable to the Spanish spoken both within and beyond Colombia's borders. By the end of the course, you’ll be speaking more natural Spanish in general - be that in Colombia or anywhere else in the Spanish speaking world
Is ‘Colombian Spanish’ really that different from standard Spanish?
Colombia’s version of Spanish is, of course, not a separate language from that spoken elsewhere in Latin American and Europe. However, it does contain a good deal of local variations and quirks that you'll absolutely need to understand if you want to gain access into the inner circle of Colombian friendship groups.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
I believe that any Spanish learner who plans on having more than a fleeting interaction with Colombians should sign up for the course as there’s loads of great stuff in here that will definitely make your conversations much more enjoyable. But if, for whatever reason, you later find that the course is not right for you, then never fear. Just write to me within 30 days of your purchase and I’ll give you a full refund right there and then.
When does the course start and finish?
When you sign up, you’ll gain immediate access to all the course materials, which you can access for as long as you like. During the first six weeks of the course, you’ll receive daily study tasks to complete. You can choose to follow the six-week course schedule or, if you prefer, work through the content entirely at your own pace. It’s totally up to you.
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