Speaking Task: Help a Visitor Find Places in Your Neighborhood in Spanish
Speaking task: help a visitor find places in your neighborhood in Spanish
This speaking task brings together the neighborhood language from the previous lessons. You will help a visitor find familiar places by understanding the destination, giving a short route, using landmarks, and handling a request for repetition.
The goal is not to give long or complicated directions. A successful A1 exchange can be brief, clear, and accurate.
The basic visitor exchange
A simple directions conversation can follow this pattern:
Person A: Perdón. ¿Cómo llego al banco? — Excuse me. How do I get to the bank?
Person B: Sigue recto y gira a la derecha en la farmacia. El banco está al lado del parque. — Go straight and turn right at the pharmacy. The bank is next to the park.
Person A: Gracias. — Thank you.
Person B: De nada. — You’re welcome.
This exchange contains four useful stages: attracting attention politely, naming the destination, giving directions, and closing the conversation.
Recognizing the destination first
Before giving directions, identify the place the visitor wants to reach.
- ¿Cómo llego al banco? — How do I get to the bank?
- ¿Cómo llego al hospital? — How do I get to the hospital?
- ¿Cómo llego al supermercado? — How do I get to the supermarket?
- ¿Cómo llego a la farmacia? — How do I get to the pharmacy?
- ¿Cómo llego a la estación? — How do I get to the station?
Do not begin giving the route until you are clear about the destination.
Giving one clear instruction
If the place is easy to reach, one instruction may be enough.
Person A: ¿Cómo llego al parque? — How do I get to the park?
Person B: Sigue recto. — Go straight.
Person A: ¿Cómo llego a la farmacia? — How do I get to the pharmacy?
Person B: Gira a la izquierda. — Turn left.
Short directions are often easier to understand than unnecessary extra detail.
Giving two instructions in sequence
Use y — and to connect two simple steps.
- Sigue recto y gira a la derecha. — Go straight and turn right.
- Sigue recto y gira a la izquierda. — Go straight and turn left.
- Cruza la calle y sigue recto. — Cross the street and go straight.
Say the instructions in the same order that the visitor should follow them.
Using a landmark to make the route clearer
A familiar place can tell the visitor where to turn.
- Gira a la derecha en el banco. — Turn right at the bank.
- Gira a la izquierda en la farmacia. — Turn left at the pharmacy.
- Sigue recto hasta el parque. — Go straight until the park.
- Sigue recto hasta el hospital. — Go straight until the hospital.
The landmark gives the visitor a point to recognize while following the route.
Confirming the final location
After the movement instructions, add a simple location sentence if it helps confirm the destination.
- El banco está al lado del parque. — The bank is next to the park.
- La farmacia está al lado del supermercado. — The pharmacy is next to the supermarket.
- La estación está al lado del restaurante. — The station is next to the restaurant.
- El hospital está al lado de la farmacia. — The hospital is next to the pharmacy.
This final clue helps the visitor recognize the destination after following the route.
Handling a request for repetition
If the visitor does not understand, the conversation can continue with a familiar clarification phrase.
Person A: ¿Puede repetir, por favor? — Can you repeat, please?
Person B: Sí. Sigue recto y gira a la derecha en el banco. — Yes. Go straight and turn right at the bank.
When you repeat directions, keep the route simple and say the steps in the same order.
Conversation model: finding the pharmacy
Person A: Perdón. ¿Cómo llego a la farmacia? — Excuse me. How do I get to the pharmacy?
Person B: Sigue recto hasta el banco y gira a la izquierda. La farmacia está al lado del parque. — Go straight until the bank and turn left. The pharmacy is next to the park.
Person A: ¿Puede repetir, por favor? — Can you repeat, please?
Person B: Sí. Sigue recto hasta el banco y gira a la izquierda. — Yes. Go straight until the bank and turn left.
Person A: Gracias. — Thank you.
Person B: De nada. — You’re welcome.
Conversation model: finding the station
Person A: ¿Cómo llego a la estación? — How do I get to the station?
Person B: Cruza la calle y sigue recto. La estación está al lado del restaurante. — Cross the street and go straight. The station is next to the restaurant.
Person A: Gracias. — Thank you.
Person B: De nada. — You’re welcome.
Conversation model: finding the hospital
Person A: Perdón. ¿Cómo llego al hospital? — Excuse me. How do I get to the hospital?
Person B: Sigue recto hasta el parque y gira a la derecha. El hospital está al lado del banco. — Go straight until the park and turn right. The hospital is next to the bank.
Person A: Gracias. — Thank you.
Speaking mission 1: one-step directions
Imagine that a visitor asks for the supermarket. Give one clear instruction and then confirm the location.
Use language such as:
- Sigue recto. — Go straight.
- El supermercado está al lado del banco. — The supermarket is next to the bank.
Keep the answer short enough to say naturally without reading every word.
Speaking mission 2: two-step directions
Imagine that a visitor asks for the pharmacy. Give two instructions in the correct order.
A possible route is:
Sigue recto y gira a la izquierda en el banco. La farmacia está al lado del parque. — Go straight and turn left at the bank. The pharmacy is next to the park.
Practice saying the complete route smoothly, then say it again without looking at the model.
Speaking mission 3: cross the street
Imagine that the station is across the street and then straight ahead.
A possible answer is:
Cruza la calle y sigue recto. La estación está al lado del restaurante. — Cross the street and go straight. The station is next to the restaurant.
The route should sound like a sequence of actions rather than disconnected vocabulary.
Speaking mission 4: repeat the route
Practice a conversation in which the visitor asks you to repeat.
Person A: ¿Puede repetir, por favor? — Can you repeat, please?
Person B: Sí. Sigue recto y gira a la derecha en la farmacia. — Yes. Go straight and turn right at the pharmacy.
The repeated version should remain clear and simple.
Speaking mission 5: choose the destination from the question
Respond to each visitor with a route that matches the named destination.
- ¿Cómo llego al banco? — How do I get to the bank?
- ¿Cómo llego a la farmacia? — How do I get to the pharmacy?
- ¿Cómo llego al hospital? — How do I get to the hospital?
- ¿Cómo llego a la estación? — How do I get to the station?
Your answer should include one or two movement instructions and, when useful, one final location clue.
Building a complete response efficiently
Use this speaking sequence:
- Identify the destination.
- Choose one or two route instructions.
- Add a landmark if a turn needs one.
- Confirm the final location with está if useful.
- Repeat the route if the visitor asks.
This structure is enough for a practical beginner exchange.
A final integrated speaking task
Imagine a visitor stops you in your neighborhood and asks for the hospital. The route is: go straight to the park, turn right, and the hospital is next to the bank.
Your complete exchange can be:
Person A: Perdón. ¿Cómo llego al hospital? — Excuse me. How do I get to the hospital?
Person B: Sigue recto hasta el parque y gira a la derecha. El hospital está al lado del banco. — Go straight until the park and turn right. The hospital is next to the bank.
Person A: ¿Puede repetir, por favor? — Can you repeat, please?
Person B: Sí. Sigue recto hasta el parque y gira a la derecha. — Yes. Go straight until the park and turn right.
Person A: Gracias. — Thank you.
Person B: De nada. — You’re welcome.
This task combines the neighborhood vocabulary, direction phrases, location language, and clarification strategy from the previous lessons.
From helping a visitor to talking about likes and dislikes
You can now handle a short Spanish speaking exchange in which a visitor asks for a neighborhood place, you give simple directions, use a landmark, confirm the final location, and repeat the route when needed. The next lesson begins a new topic: talking about likes and dislikes with me gusta and me gustan.