🇵🇷 San Juan · Spanish
Learn Puerto Rican Spanish in San Juan
Choose your first conversation
Caribbean Spanish drops consonants, speeds up, and swings — and few apps teach it, because it's easier to pretend all Spanish sounds like a newsreader. Carmen's restaurant in Old San Juan teaches the Spanish people actually speak on the island: ustedes everywhere, «chévere» as everyday praise, and a cafecito that's non-negotiable.
¡Bienvenidos! ¿Mesa para cuántos?
How San Juan actually talks
What you'll pick up
- «Ustedes» only — no vosotros, like all of Latin America
- Caribbean sound changes (the softened final -s, the r that leans toward l) tuned into our pronunciation coaching
- Island vocabulary: cafecito, mofongo, parcha, «¿qué es la que hay?»
Where you'll practise in San Juan
43 missions across 7 scenes and 2 guided tours. Each mission is a real errand with a goal, a person who talks back, and a debrief afterwards in your own language.
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Barbería El Cangrejo barbería
Rafy, Barber and owner of a neighborhood barbershop in Santurce, San Juan · 6 missions · A1–A2
- Your day in the chair A1 — Chair small talk, the oldest barbershop ritual: tell Rafy three places you went today, one little sentence at a time.
- Get a recorte A1 — Your first Puerto Rican haircut: pick a number for the sides, answer Rafy's either/ors, and pay. He does the rest.
- Say yes to dominó A1 — Rafy invites you to Saturday dominoes at the placita. Say yes, pick up the time, and say the plan back.
+ 3 more at this scene
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Colmado La Esquina colmado
Don Tito, Owner of a colmado in Old San Juan · 9 missions · A1–C1
- Una bebida fría A1 — Ask Don Tito for one cold drink and pay. Your very first colmado visit.
- Bring back the milk A1 — The milk from this morning is expired. Show Don Tito, say «está vencida», and let him make it right.
- Buy groceries A2 — Ask for a few things by amount, check a price, and pay at the colmado.
+ 6 more at this scene
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Farmacia San Cristóbal farmacia
Nydia, Pharmacist in Old San Juan · 4 missions · A1–B1
- Una curita A1 — Ask Nydia the pharmacist for one simple thing — a band-aid or some pills — hear the price, and pay. Your first visit to the farmacia.
- Buy a remedy A2 — Something minor is bothering you — describe it to Nydia, get a remedy, and pay.
- Get to know Nydia B1 — No medicine today — just chat. Find out her dream, a regular she loves, and a story she’s proud of.
+ 1 more at this scene
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Explore all 7 scenes
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Casa Yagrumo hospedería
Yolimar, Front-desk receptionist at a small guesthouse in Condado, San Juan · 5 missions · A1–B2
- I have a booking A1 — Arrive at a little guesthouse a block from the beach in Condado, say you have a reservation, give your name, and get your key.
- Check-in A2 — A guesthouse a block from the beach in Condado: name and nights, your ID, balcony or patio, then your key and the wifi.
- Get to know Yolimar B1 — A slow afternoon at the desk. Find out about Yolimar's Loíza, her family's kiosco, and the guesthouse she dreams of opening.
+ 2 more at this scene
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Plaza de Armas plaza
Javi, A local your age in Old San Juan · 9 missions · A1–C1
- Tomorrow at the plaza A1 — Javi invites you back tomorrow evening — music, the crew, the plaza. Say yes, pick the time, say the plan back.
- Tell Javi your weekend A2 — Monday in the plaza, and the weekend needs telling: where you went, what you ate, the best moment. Javi's all ears.
- Meet Javi A2 — Sit on a bench with Javi in the plaza and get to know him — chat about the evening, where you're from, why you're here.
+ 6 more at this scene
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La Marea restaurante
Carmen, Waitress at a San Juan restaurant · 5 missions · B1–C1
- Dinner for two B1 — Order dinner in San Juan, get a recommendation, survive a kitchen surprise.
- Group dinner B2 — Book and organize a birthday dinner for a big group — menu, dietary needs, a cake, timing, and the price — and work it out with Carmen when the kitchen pushes back.
- Get to know Carmen B2 — No order today — just chat. Find out her studies and thesis, her dream, and where she comes from.
+ 2 more at this scene
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Terminal de Guaguas estación de guaguas
Héctor, Attendant at a San Juan bus terminal · 5 missions · A2–C1
- Coger la guagua A2 — New to the guaguas? Ask Héctor how to pay, what it costs, and which bay to catch it at.
- Get to know Héctor B1 — No route today — just chat. Find out where he’s from, how long he’s worked here, and about his family.
- Encontrar la ruta B1 — Lost in the guaguas? Tell Héctor where you're headed and work out the route and the transfer.
+ 2 more at this scene
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Tours
- Old San Juan: a tasting walk with Sebastián, Historic walking-tour guide in Old San Juan — 4 stops: Café con leche y mallorca, Frituras: alcapurrias y bacalaítos, Mofongo and Piragua.
- Old San Juan: five centuries by the sea with Sebastián, Historic walking-tour guide in Old San Juan — 4 stops: Plaza de Colón, Castillo San Cristóbal, Castillo San Felipe del Morro and La Fortaleza.
Words that change in San Juan
Carmen speaks the way San Juan does, not the way a textbook does. A few of the swaps you'll hear from the first minute — the full list lives in the app's «Talk like a boricua» guide:
| They say | It means | You'll hear |
|---|---|---|
| parcha | passion fruit elsewhere: maracuyá | Dame un jugo de parcha bien frío. The fruit and its juice. "Maracuyá" is understood but sounds foreign in PR. |
| guagua | bus elsewhere: autobús | Cojo la guagua para ir al Viejo San Juan. The everyday word for a public bus across PR and much of the Caribbean. |
| china | orange (the sweet fruit) elsewhere: naranja | Un jugo de china, por favor. In PR the sweet orange you eat is a "china"; "naranja" leans toward the sour one. |
| zafacón | trash can elsewhere: basurero | Tira eso en el zafacón, por favor. Casual and very common in PR. |
| chavos | money elsewhere: dinero | No tengo chavos ahora mismo. Very common. The old singular "chavo" was a small coin. |
| mahones | jeans elsewhere: vaqueros | Me compré unos mahones nuevos. The textbook word is "vaqueros" (or "jeans"); PR says "mahones". |
| gomas | tires elsewhere: neumáticos | Tengo que cambiar las gomas del carro. Also the general Caribbean term. |
| habichuelas | beans elsewhere: frijoles | Arroz con habichuelas, lo de siempre. Say "habichuelas" here — "frijoles" is the Mexican word. |
- pana — buddy / close friend A good friend; "mis panas" is your crew. (It also means breadfruit — context tells them apart.)
- corillo — crew / group of friends Your friend group, and the vibe of hanging out together.
- janguear — to hang out From English "hang out"; the noun is "el jangueo".
- bregar — to deal with / handle it To work through or handle something — an endlessly versatile PR verb.
How Puerto Rico says 27 everyday words — next to what seven other Spanish-speaking countries say for the same thing, with a cited source for every filled cell. Or see all the words, eight ways.
Questions people ask about San Juan
Which Spanish will I hear in San Juan?
Puerto Rican Spanish. Carmen and the other locals in the San Juan scenes speak the way people in San Juan actually speak — accent, pace, register and vocabulary. They'll say parcha for passion fruit, guagua for bus and china for orange (the sweet fruit), and the coach tells you when a word is local rather than universal. For the vocabulary side, see how Puerto Rico says everyday words next to seven other countries at /spanish/puerto-rico/.
Do I need to speak Spanish already?
No. Missions in San Juan run from A1 (first words: greet, order, ask for the bill) to C1 (argue a point, handle a complication, hold a real conversation). You pick a level, the scene meets you there, and the coach explains anything you missed in your own language.
What will I actually do in the San Juan scenes?
43 missions across 7 scenes — Barbería El Cangrejo, Colmado La Esquina, Farmacia San Cristóbal and Casa Yagrumo and more. Each mission is an errand with a goal: order, negotiate, describe a symptom, get directions, small-talk your way through a wait. The person you're talking to has their own agenda, so it never goes exactly to script. There are also 2 guided tours — Old San Juan: a tasting walk and Old San Juan: five centuries by the sea — where the guide talks and you ask.
Is it free?
You can start speaking without creating an account. A free account keeps your notebook and progress and comes with 10 minutes of live conversation a week, refilled every Monday; the app tells you where you stand.
How does the feedback work?
Carmen answers in Spanish, and a separate coach watches the conversation and flags what to fix — grammar, a word choice that isn't San Juan's, pronunciation — in your language, without interrupting the scene. Words you didn't know go into your notebook with the San Juan pronunciation, and after each mission you get a debrief you can review.