Notes
Field notes from building Vocabcord: language learning, charger triggers, and the small habits that make a phrase actually stick. Curious what’s inside the app? See the vocabulary by the numbers and how it’s built.
Learn Spanish vocabulary: a frequency-first guide (A1 to C2)
Learn Spanish vocabulary fast: start with the most frequent words, roughly 600 A1 phrases, then climb the CEFR ladder to C2 without sitting down to study.
Spanish · LevelsHow many Spanish words do you need to speak comfortably?
Comfortable everyday Spanish takes roughly 2,000 to 3,000 words, the CEFR B1 band. The first 1,000 cover most casual speech. The numbers, level by level.
Spanish · A1 to C2The Spanish verbs you'll actually use: the high-frequency core
The most common Spanish verbs are ser, estar, tener, hacer, ir, and poder. Corpus data ranks them all: 111 verbs at A1 down to 12 at C2, with native audio.
Spanish · A1The most common Spanish words, ranked by how often you'll actually hear them
The most common Spanish words are the workhorses: ser, estar, tener, hacer, ir, plus yo, tú, sí, and no. Hear 20 with native-speaker audio.
Spanish · A1Days of the week and months in Spanish: the lowercase rule
Days and months in Spanish stay lowercase mid-sentence: lunes to domingo, enero to diciembre. Hear each with native audio; el lunes means on Monday.
Spanish · PhrasesTe quiero or te amo? How to say 'I love you' in Spanish
Te quiero is the everyday I love you in Spanish; te amo is heavier and more romantic. When to use each in Spain versus Latin America.
Spanish · PhrasesHow to order food at a Spanish restaurant: what to say, step by step
Order at a Spanish restaurant in four steps: ask for a table, read the menú del día, order with para mí or ¿me pone?, and call for the bill with la cuenta.
Spanish · A1Essential Spanish verbs: ser vs estar, and the ones you use most
Essential Spanish verbs with audio: ser covers what things are, estar covers states, tener handles hunger and age, and -ar, -er, -ir sort the rest.
Spanish · CompareVocabcord vs Duolingo: two different tools for Spanish vocabulary
Vocabcord vs Duolingo: Duolingo teaches Spanish in gamified lessons; Vocabcord plays a spoken phrase whenever you plug in your charger. They stack well.
Spanish · A1Spanish body parts, and how to say what hurts
Spanish body parts with audio, plus the two traps: say what hurts with me duele la cabeza, and la mano is feminine despite the -o.
Spanish · A1Colors in Spanish: the words, and how they agree with the noun
Colors in Spanish agree with their noun: rojo becomes roja, rojos, rojas; azul, verde, and gris change only for number. Every color comes with audio.
Spanish · A1Family in Spanish: the words for every relative
Family in Spanish reaches from madre and padre out to primos, with audio. Key rule: the masculine plural covers mixed groups, so los padres means parents.
Spanish · A1Spanish food and drink vocabulary for cafés and restaurants
Spanish food and drink words from agua and pan to carne and helado, with audio, plus what un café gets you in Spain and when Spaniards actually eat.
Spanish · A1How to count in Spanish: numbers 0 to 100
Spanish numbers 0 to 100 with native audio: the teens and twenties are single words, plus the rules for uno, un, una and cien versus ciento.
Spanish · A1Telling time in Spanish: qué hora es and the parts of the day
Tell the time in Spanish: ask ¿Qué hora es?, answer es la una for one o'clock or son las plus the number. Covers the parts of the day and the mañana trap.
Spanish · A1Spanish travel vocabulary: places, directions, and getting around
Spanish travel vocabulary that carries you: tren, estación, aeropuerto, directions like izquierda and derecha, and the coger versus tomar trap for the bus.
Spanish · A1Talking about the weather in Spanish: hace calor and the rest
Weather in Spanish runs on the verb hacer: hace calor, hace frío. The sky takes está nublado, rain takes llueve. Hear the core words with native audio.
Spanish · A1How to greet people in Spanish: the 12 phrases to learn first (A1)
The 12 essential Spanish greetings, when to use each, and the buenos dias vs buenas tardes vs buenas noches rule, plus the lazy way to make them stick.
