How to introduce yourself in Spanish
Instead of giving you some theoretical options about how to introduce yourself in Spanish, I present here a conversation between a Spanish teacher and two new students. Thus you will see how they introduce themselves to each other. In addition to that, if you would like to hear the conversation, you can find it on my Podcast Spanish for Beginners, episodio 39: How to introduce yourself in Spanish.
If you would like to have the transcripts, here you can find all the documents that go with the podcast: Transcripts with vocabulary, exercises and the keys.
When you see the symbol * that means that the word is part of the vocabulary for that lesson, which you will find on the document on the previous link.
Manuela, profesora de español, conoce hoy a sus alumnos* Robert y Guido.
– Hola, yo soy Manuela, tu profesora de español.
– Hola, profesora, soy Robert. Encantado de conocerle*.
– Encantada. ¿Qué tal estás? ¿Bien?
– Sí, sí, un poco* nervioso, pero bien.
– Bueno, tranquilo. Hablas muy bien español. Cuéntame*, ¿de dónde eres*?
– Soy de Estados Unidos, de California, pero mi familia es de Rusia, por eso* hablo inglés y ruso.
A hint on how to learn while you are having a conversation
Although it is not necessary to answer the question, the student is giving extra information. In fact, he is using a technique that many good learners implement every day. They always try to keep the conversation and do not answer with short sentences. Actually, some of my students very often ask a question after they have answered my questions. That is a wonderful way to be active while you are speaking in Spanish. As you know, the more active you are, the more you will learn.
– Ah, muy bien, se ve* que te gustan las lenguas. Y tú, ¿cómo te llamas*?
– Me llamo Guido, encantado.
– Encantada, Guido. ¿De dónde eres, Guido?
– Soy de Alemania, de Berlín, pero mi familia es de Italia, por eso tengo un nombre* italiano.
As you can see, the vocabulary is not complex, but please pay attencion to transitional words: bueno, pero, por eso, y.
– ¿Hablas italiano también?
– Lo hablo un poco, pero necesito* estudiar más.
– Estupendo. ¿Cuántos años tienes?*
– Tengo veintidós años y estudio en la universidad.
What do I do if I do not understand every word?
If you do not understand every word, you should not worry. However, it could be helpful to mark the words you have not seen before. In this way, the next time you read the conversation you will see if you remember these new words or not. Moreover, it can be a good idea to walk away from this reading with a list of five or six short sentences that you are going to study and to use in your next conversation. In conclusion, try to make the most of this text and ask yourself how you can make it practical.
– Y tú, Robert ¿cuántos años tienes?
– Tengo 19 años y también estudio en la universidad.
– Muy bien, bueno, ahora vamos a la clase y os presento* al resto de los estudiantes, ¿vale?
– Sí, sí, claro. ¿Cuántos* estudiantes hay* en la clase?
– Hay diez estudiantes y yo, con vosotros somos ahora trece personas.
– Muy bien, vamos a la clase con usted entonces*.
How to Introduce a Person in Spanish
– Buenos días, estudiantes.
– Buenos días, profesora.
– Hoy tenemos dos nuevos estudiantes. Os presento* a Robert y a Guido. Robert es de Estados Unidos, de California, y Guido es de Alemania, de Berlín. Los dos estudian en la universidad. La familia de Robert es de Rusia y la familia de Guido es de Italia. Por eso hablan también* ruso e italiano. Pero ahora vamos a hablar todos solo* en español, ¿verdad?
I hope that with this conversation you have learned both how to introduce yourself in Spanish and how to make the most of a text in Spanish. However, do not forget that one thing is to undersand a text, while to use the vocabulary at the time you are speaking can be a different matter. That is why I recommend that you write a short conversation in your own words.
As a matter of fact, if you read my conversation and your conversation a few times, by the time you need to use the expressions, you will have learned the vocabulary and you will see that it is much easier to find the right words. In conclusion, you should know that to have read a whole text is extremely positive and at the same time it is not the final goal. We want to use in our conversations what we have read here.