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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Fun and Easy Spanish by SpanishPod101.com!
Did you know that there are formal and informal ways of introducing yourself in Spanish?
Hola a todos. Soy Rosa.
Hi everyone! I’m Rosa.
And I’m (name).
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to introduce yourself in Spanish.
Introducing yourself in Spanish is easy, but there are a few things to keep in mind when meeting someone for the first time.
In this video you'll learn the do’s and don'ts when meeting someone for the first time, introducing yourself in both formal and informal settings, talking about your background, and more!
Let’s start with do’s and don'ts for the first meeting.
First, a quick guide to physical contact.
As a general tip, try to see what the other person does before you do anything.
For example, if you’re a man and you’re greeting another man and he extends his hand, shake hands.
If he’s a close friend, a distant cousin, or a family member, you can wait for him to hug you. And if he does, you can hug him back. It’s super easy.
Now, if you’re a man greeting a Spanish woman, usually you’re allowed to give her a kiss on the cheek.
Most people in Latin America only give one kiss on the cheek, whereas in Spain, they give two kisses — one on the right cheek and one on the left.
Also remember that you can only put your lips on the cheek of someone you’re really close to. Otherwise, just have your cheek meet the other person’s and make a kissing sound.
Never kiss a complete stranger. A handshake is enough when in a business setting or when meeting someone for the first time.
But what if you’re a woman greeting a man? In this case, you have the freedom to kiss or not.
You can just put out your hand and wait for the other person to shake it. If you’re a woman meeting another woman, you can give her a kiss if you know her, or shake her hand if she’s someone you’ve never met before.
You can, however, kiss anyone goodbye, regardless of whether you just met him or her. If you have a good rapport with the other person, then there’s no reason why you can’t give this person a kiss goodbye.
Now that you know the proper physical salutations, it’s time to say something.
You can start by saying, Hola, qué tal? which means "Hi, how’s it going?"
Hola, ¿qué tal?
How’s it going?
Hola, ¿qué tal? (enunciated).
Hola, ¿qué tal?
After greeting them, you should introduce yourself by stating your name.
You can say, Yo soy, which means "I am" followed by the name your parents gave you.
Yo soy name.
Yo soy name (enunciated).
Yo soy name.
You may also add another courtesy phrase like "Nice to meet you" or "Pleasure to meet you" when meeting someone for the first time.
In Spanish, you can say:
Mucho gusto.
"Nice to meet you."
Mucho gusto (enunciated).
Mucho gusto.
Encantando de conocerte.
"Pleasure to meet you."
Encantando de conocerte (enunciated).
Encantando de conocerte.
Here’s an example of how that looks all together:
Hola, ¿qué tal? Yo soy Javier.
*kisses cheek* / *shakes hand*
Mucho gusto.
Next, we'll learn how to introduce yourself in a casual setting.
Using an informal tone is best when meeting someone in a casual setting. In these cases, you’ll refer to them as tú and conjugate each verb accordingly.
Asking "How are you?" in Spanish in an informal way is
¿Cómo estás?
¿Cómo estás? (enunciated).
¿Cómo estás?
If you’re the one being asked this question, you can answer with Muy bien, gracias, ¿y tú? which means "I’m fine, thanks, and you?"
Muy bien, gracias, ¿y tú? (enunciated).
Muy bien, gracias, ¿y tú?
If you’re the one asking another person’s name in an informal way you can say:
¿Cómo te llamas?
"What’s your name?"
¿Cómo te llamas? (enunciated).
¿Cómo te llamas?
During the conversation, it's possible for the other person to ask about your age. In Spanish when talking about age, you use the verb tener, “to have.” So you would say,
Tengo number años, ¿tú?
"I’m number years old, and you?"
Tengo number años, ¿tú? (enunciated).
Tengo number años, ¿tú?
When asking someone’s nationality in Spanish, you can say:
Yo vengo de Colombia, ¿tú de dónde vienes?
"I come from Colombia, where are you from?"
Yo vengo de Colombia, ¿tú de dónde vienes? (enunciated).
Yo vengo de Colombia, ¿tú de dónde vienes?
or
Yo soy colombiano ¿y tú?
"I’m Colombian, and you?"
Yo soy colombiano ¿y tú? (enunciated).
Yo soy colombiano ¿y tú?
Next is introducing yourself in a formal setting.
When meeting someone in a formal setting, use usted instead of tú. This is pretty much the only difference when talking to someone informally.
A couple of alterations will then occur.
For example:
¿Cómo estás? turns into ¿Cómo está?
¿Cómo está? (enunciated).
"How are you?"
¿Cómo está?
As for ¿Cómo te llamas?, that turns into ¿Cómo se llama?
¿Cómo se llama? (enunciated).
"What’s your name?"
¿Cómo se llama?
Or, even more formal, ¿Cómo se llama usted?
¿Cómo se llama usted? (enunciated).
¿Cómo se llama usted?
Or the variation, ¿Cuál es su nombre?
¿Cuál es su nombre? (enunciated).
¿Cuál es su nombre?
When asking about age, you can say:
¿Cuántos años tiene?
¿Cuántos años tiene? (enunciated).
¿Cuántos años tiene?
Or
¿Qué edad tiene usted?
¿Qué edad tiene usted? (enunciated).
¿Qué edad tiene usted?
However, you should remember that asking the age of someone older than you is considered rude.
When asking for nationality, instead of the formal, ¿tú de dónde vienes? you can say, ¿de dónde es usted?
¿de dónde es usted? (enunciated).
¿de dónde es usted?
Here’s a tip. If you’re not sure whether to use formal or informal language, start with a formal approach. If the other person prefers tú, they’ll usually let you know by saying something like hablame de tú (“speak to me informally”), which in some cases is quite a compliment.
Next is talking about your background.
The typical first-encounter conversation is usually followed by a conversation about what you’re doing in that particular place.
Let’s learn how to explain your profession or whatever it is you’re currently doing.
Here are some examples.
Estudio field of studies.
"I study field of studies."
Estudio field of studies (enunciated).
Estudio field of studies.
Trabajo en industry.
"I work in industry."
Trabajo en industry (enunciated).
Trabajo en industry.
Soy name of profession.
"I’m a name of profession."
Soy name of profession (enunciated).
Soy name of profession.
In this lesson you learned the do’s and don’ts when physically approaching someone, how to say hello, the formal and informal ways of introducing yourself, and how to talk about your background, all in Spanish!
Want to learn the language fast?
You can get PDF cheat sheets for all kinds of topics: travel, hobbies, love and much more...
..and you'll learn all the must-know words and phrases for each.
That’s it for today!
See you next time!
¡Hasta la próxima!

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