Piñatas & Politeness—Spanish for Kids’ Party Invitations and Thank-Yous
The RSVP panic that launched my crash course Last spring my Dominican neighbor, Doña Carmen, tapped on my gate and handed me an envelope covered in glitter. Inside was a hand-drawn invitation to her grandson’s fifth birthday. I thanked her, tucked it on the fridge, and forgot about it—until she rang again three days later […]
Playground Diplomacy—Spanish Phrases for Negotiating Turns on the Slide
The day my niece became “la gringa que se coló” My eight-year-old niece Olivia visited me in Santo Domingo last summer. Within minutes of arriving at the neighborhood park, she bounded up the slide ladder—straight past a queue of Dominican kids patiently waiting. One boy muttered, “¡Se coló la gringa!” (“The foreign girl cut in […]
Signing Off with Style—Perfect Email Closings for Every Situation in Spanish
The Friday-night signature that cost me a client A few years back, I dashed off a proposal to a potential partner in Bogotá. Feeling casual, I ended with “¡Abrazos!”—my go-to Dominican sign-off among friends. Monday morning, I opened my inbox to a politely frosty reply: “Agradezco su propuesta, pero preferimos un tono más profesional.” Turns […]
Decoding Payroll Spanish—Making Sense of “Seguridad Social” & “IRPF” Without Losing Your Mind
The payroll panic that sent me to the notary My first full-time contract in Santo Domingo looked straightforward until the HR manager slid a second sheet titled “Desglose de la Seguridad Social”. It listed acronyms—AFP, SFS, INFOTEP—and percentages that devoured a chunk of my take-home pay. Days later a Spanish friend in Barcelona complained about […]
Mastering the Investor Hot Seat—Handling Q & A in Spanish Like a Seasoned Pro
When the spotlight shifted from slides to grilling My first seed-round pitch in Bogotá started strong: slick deck, confident Spanish, nodding VCs. Then came the preguntas. An investor with a paisa accent asked, “¿Cuál es tu margen operativo después de escalar a México?” I froze, mentally translating “operating margin” while calculating currency hedges. The silence […]
Selling the Vision—Crafting an Executive Summary of Your Business Plan in Spanish
The pitch that almost fell flat in Santo Domingo Three years ago I booked a Monday-morning slot with a Dominican angel network to pitch an e-commerce start-up. I had rehearsed the deck in flawless Spanish—so I thought. After ten minutes, the lead investor leaned back and asked, “¿Pero cuál es la propuesta de valor concreta?” […]
From Payroll to Pasaporte—How to Explain Cross-Border Tax Deductions in Clear Spanish
The payslip that sparked a mutiny My first month managing a remote dev team in Bogotá, I hit “send” on everyone’s PDF recibos de nómina and went to lunch feeling productive. By 3 p.m. my WhatsApp looked like a slot machine: ❓¿Qué es retención en la fuente? ❓¿Por qué me descontaron EPS si vivo en […]
Laughing by the Coffee Pot—“Watercooler” Jokes That Cross the Spanish ↔ English Line
The day my pun died in Bogotá I walked into our WeWork kitchen, spotted the Colombian backend devs debating coffee strength, and quipped in English, “I like my Java strong enough to throw NullPointerExceptions.” Blank stares. One teammate finally asked, “¿Null qué?” My carefully engineered tech pun had crashed—hard. Ten minutes later, Sebastián cracked, “Este […]
Keeping the Sprint on Time—Running Agile Stand-Ups in Bilingual Teams
I still remember the first “fifteen-minute” stand-up I hosted in Medellín. Half the developers were paisas who spoke rapid-fire Spanish sprinkled with “parce” and “bacano.” The QA lead connected from Santo Domingo, tossing in Dominican fillers like “¿tamo ready?” Meanwhile, our London product owner listened silently, trying to map Jira tickets to the Spanglish whirlwind. […]
When the Microphone Turns Red—Crafting Crisis-Communication Statements in Spanish
The tweet that hijacked my Tuesday Last November I was sipping cafecito in Santo Domingo when my phone started buzzing like a maraca. A delivery driver had filmed one of our SaaS vans blocking an ambulance and posted it with the caption: “¿Así cuidan vidas estos gringos?” Within two hours the clip hit morning radio […]