Ask for directions in Spain
Find a station, follow simple directions and ask someone to repeat more slowly. Practise derecha, izquierda and todo recto with real Spanish examples.
Start with a clear destination
Perdona, ¿dónde está la estación? — Sigue recto y gira a la derecha. This means: Excuse me, where is the station? — Go straight ahead and turn right. Perdona is informal; perdone is the usted form. You can replace la estación with el museo or la farmacia.
Understand one instruction at a time
Recto means straight ahead, a la derecha means to the right, and a la izquierda means to the left. Está al lado del banco means it is beside the bank. Del combines de and el; do not write de el banco here.
Ask instead of guessing
¿Está lejos? asks whether it is far. ¿Se puede ir andando? asks whether you can walk there. If the answer is too fast, say: ¿Puede repetirlo más despacio, por favor? A map and a written destination can help when street names are unfamiliar.
Practise
Ask where the museum is. Then translate this instruction into English: Sigue recto y gira a la izquierda. Finally, ask the speaker to repeat more slowly.
Check your answer
Perdona, ¿dónde está el museo? — Go straight ahead and turn left. — ¿Puede repetirlo más despacio, por favor?
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