Hola 👋🏻
Gracias por estar aquí.
Master Spanish Weekly is a weekly email (duh!) with real Spanish, cultural moments, and simple lessons to help you connect en Español.
In today’s email
🧑🏻🏫 A quick story from class!
✍️ A simple immersion routine that works at any level + article (7 Ways To Do Active Recall in Language Learning)
🗣️ Useful phrases with eso / esto / este / esa / esta with 🎧 Audio clip
📝 A short mini quiz to practice
A quick story from class
Last week, a student asked me something I hear often:
“How can I stop thinking so much in English and think more in Spanish?”
My answer was a bit boring (in a good way!)
You don’t need more grammar.
You need more exposure and repetition, in small, realistic doses.
I suggested a 20-minute daily immersion routine:
✍️ 5 minutes writing (one or two sentences about your day)
🎧 10 minutes listening (music, a short video, or audio) - you can start with Vokally’s Spotify Playlist, I add new songs every week
🔁 5 minutes repeating out loud
That’s it.
This works at any level, because your brain learns languages better when it:
sees the language
hears it
produces it (even imperfectly)
There’s solid research behind this idea. Studies on space repetition and active recall show that frequent, meaningful exposure helps the brain build new language patterns more naturally.
If you’re curious, here’s an easy-to-read article with 7 ways to do Active Recall in language learning:
Reacting in Spanish with “Eso” and “Esto”
When you’re speaking Spanish, you don’t need long sentences to sound fluent.
Most of the time, native speakers react with short phrases using words like eso, esto, este, and esta. They use them to:
react to an idea
comment on a situation
agree or disagree
keep the conversation going
These words are great when you don’t know all the vocabulary yet. They help you respond without stopping to think in English.
Spanish | When to use it | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|
Eso es verdad. | Agreeing | That’s true. |
Eso no importa. | Dismissing something | That doesn’t matter. |
Eso me gusta. | Reacting positively | I like that. |
Eso depende. | Giving a neutral reaction | That depends. |
Eso pasa mucho. | Commenting on a situation | That happens a lot. |
Eso no funciona. | Saying something doesn’t work | That doesn’t work. |
Eso es difícil. | Reacting to a challenge | That’s hard. |
Eso tiene sentido. | Showing understanding | That makes sense. |
Esto es importante. | Highlighting something now | This is important. |
Esto es nuevo para mí. | First reaction | This is new to me. |
Esto no me gusta. | Expressing dislike | I don’t like this. |
Esto es un problema. | Pointing out an issue | This is a problem. |
Este es el punto. | Emphasizing an idea | This is the point. |
Esta es la idea. | Clarifying | This is the idea. |
Esta es la razón. | Explaining | This is the reason. |
Ese no es el problema. | Correcting | That’s not the problem. |
Esa es la pregunta. | Identifying the key question | That’s the question. |
Eso es todo. | Wrapping up | That’s it. |
Esto es lo que quiero decir. | Clarifying meaning | This is what I mean. |
Eso es lo que pasó. | Telling a story | That’s what happened. |
Click below to listen to the examples in Spanish and repeat along:
📝 Mini Quiz: Eso / Esto / Este / Esta
¿Cómo se dice…? 👇🏼
Pay attention to what "that" and "this" mean in Spanish.
“That’s true.”
A) Esto es verdad.
B) Eso es verdad.“This is the problem.”
A) Ese es el problema.
B) Este es el problema.“That doesn’t matter.”
A) Eso no importa.
B) Esto no importa.“This is the idea.”
A) Esa es la idea.
B) Esta es la idea.“That makes sense.”
A) Eso tiene sentido.
B) Esto tiene sentido.
Gracias por leer y seguir practicando conmigo.
Recuerda: pensar en español no es algo que decides. Es algo que construyes, poco a poco, todos los días.
Te mando un abrazo,
Alejandro Nuñez, Founder and Director @ Vokally
