Learning Spanish: A1 Conversational – Make Simple Plans and Invitations

Welcome to your first step in learning conversational Spanish! This guide focuses on building basic communication around making plans and extending invitations, perfect for the A1 level (CEFR). We’ll use realistic phrases and dialogue you can actually use. Don’t worry about perfection – focus on getting across what you want to say!

Essential Vocabulary

• Sí – Yes
• No – No
• ¿Qué tal? – How’s it going? / What’s up?
• Bien – Good
• Mal – Bad
• Vamos a… – Let’s go to…
• ¿A qué hora? – What time?
• Después – After
• Mañana – Tomorrow
• El fin de semana – The weekend
• ¿Quieres…? – Do you want…?
• ¡Genial! – Great! / Fantastic!

Simple Conversations: Making Plans

1. Asking if someone is free

You might hear this:

Tú: ¿Qué tal? ¿Libre mañana? (How’s it going? Free tomorrow?)
Amigo/a: Sí, un poco. (Yes, a little.)

Note: “Libre” means free or available.

2. Suggesting an activity

You could say:

Tú: Vamos a ir al cine. (Let's go to the cinema.)

Alternatively, you could use “¿Quieres…?”

Tú: ¿Quieres ir al cine? (Do you want to go to the cinema?)
 

3. Confirming a time

After agreeing:

Tú: ¿A qué hora? (What time?)
Amigo/a: A las 7 de la tarde. (At 7 in the evening.)

Invitations

1. Inviting someone

You can say:

Tú: ¿Quieres venir a mi casa? (Do you want to come to my house?)

Or, more informally:

Tú: ¡Ven a mi casa! (Come to my house!)

2. Asking if they accept

You’ll likely hear:

Amigo/a: Sí, ¡genial! (Yes, great!)  Or…  No, gracias. (No, thank you.)

3. Confirming the details of the invitation

You might ask:

Tú: ¿Cuándo? (When?)
Amigo/a: Mañana a las 6 de la tarde. (Tomorrow at 6 in the evening.)

Common Mistakes & Corrections

• Mistake: “Yo quiero ir…” (I want to go…) – While grammatically correct, it’s less common than using “vamos a…” or “quieres…”. Correction: Vamos a ir… or ¿Quieres…?
• Mistake: Using the wrong verb tense for time. Correction: Remember, “A las…” (At…) is used with specific times.

Practice!

Try these conversation starters:

• “¿Qué tal? ¿Vamos a tomar un café?” (How’s it going? Let’s go have coffee?)
• “¿Quieres venir al parque el domingo?” (Do you want to come to the park on Sunday?)

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes! That’s how we learn. ¡Buena suerte! (Good luck!)