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Complete beginners · A0

Spanish for complete beginners: start at zero

No Spanish yet? The course starts with the five vowels, which always sound the same, and the first lesson takes a couple of minutes, with audio for every example.

Start from zero, freeTest your level first

You don't need to know any of this yet

Pronunciation

Spanish is spelled the way it sounds, so you can read words aloud early. Every example plays in a natural Spanish voice, and you can record yourself and get feedback.

Two verbs for “to be”

Ser and estar come in the first lessons, one at a time, with plain-English rules and lots of examples, before the lesson that puts them side by side.

Gender

Every noun comes with its article (el libro, la mesa), so masculine and feminine become a habit. A lesson shows the endings that give gender away.

Accents and ñ

An on-screen accent bar makes á, é, ñ and the others one tap away. If only an accent is wrong, your answer still counts, with a note, until you're ready for strict marking.

Spain or Latin America

You learn Spain's Spanish by default, and each lesson tells you what Latin America says instead. Answers in either variety count as right.

Your first ten lessons

  1. The five vowels: Each Spanish vowel always has one short, pure sound
  2. Letters that surprise English speakers: h, j, g, ll, ñ, qu, c and z, v: what they sound like
  3. Word stress, written accents, ¿ and ¡: Which syllable to stress, what the accent mark tells you, and the upside-down marks
  4. Greetings and polite words: Hola, buenos días, adiós, gracias, por favor
  5. Introducing yourself: Me llamo…, ¿Cómo te llamas?, Soy de…, Encantado/a
  6. Subject pronouns: yo, tú, él, ella…: yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotros/as, vosotros/as, ellos/as, ustedes; dropping the pronoun
  7. Tú or usted; vosotros or ustedes: Choosing the friendly or the polite 'you', in Spain and Latin America
  8. Ser: soy, eres, es…: The verb 'to be' for name, origin, job and description
  9. Nationalities and languages: español/española, inglés/inglesa: four forms, small letters, and the names of languages
  10. Masculine and feminine nouns: -o, -a and the exceptions to learn early

See the whole A0 Spanish course, or read stories written for beginners from your first days.

Questions

Can I learn Spanish from zero for free?

Yes. Spanish in SparkAI starts with the five vowels and your first greetings, with nothing assumed, and the course is free, without ads or sign-up to begin.

What's the first thing to learn in Spanish?

The five vowels and how the letters sound, then greetings and introducing yourself, ser and estar, the articles (el, la, un, una) and the most common words. The first ten lessons are listed on this page.

How long until I can have a simple conversation?

Basic exchanges come within weeks. Comfortable everyday conversation (A2) takes roughly 180 hours of study, by an approximate CEFR guided-hours estimate (not specific to Spanish).

Do I need to know grammar terms?

No. Each lesson explains the idea in plain English first, with Spanish examples you can hear, and introduces the grammar term alongside it.

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A complete, free Spanish course from A0 to C2. No payment details, no ads. No account needed to start; AI chat gives three guest prompts, then needs a free account.

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