Travel is an exciting opportunity to try new sports, relax on the beach, and expand your Spanish vocabulary. Even if the people around you speak some English, if you show a sincere effort to learn some Spanish they’ll probably be glad to help you practice.
Understanding the Weather Report
If you’re traveling in a Spanish-speaking country, deciphering the weather reports can be an everyday challenge. Here’s some of the vocabulary you need to make sense of what you see, hear and read about the weather:
el amanecer - sunrise (¿Cómo amaneciste? doesn’t translate directly into English, but is basically a way of inquiring how your day started out.)
el atardecer - sunset
el tiempo - weather
el tiempo TV - the TV weather report
el hombre del tiempo or el meteorólogo - weatherman
el cielo - sky
claro - clear (Although this word can also be used to signify assent.)
el sol - sun
soleado or asoleado - sunny
la luna - moon
la estrella - star
nublado - cloudy
el chubasco - a cloudburst or rain shower (a drizzle may described as “chispeando.”)
la lluvia - rain
la nube - cloud
la tormenta - thunderstorm
la humedad - humidity
el calor - heat
el frío - cold
¿Qué tiempo hace? - What’s the weather like?
hace calor - It’s hot.
hace frío - It’s cold.
hace buen tiempo - It’s nice out.
esta lluviendo - It’s raining.
esta chorreando - An everyday expression to describe a very hard rain.
el hielo - ice
la nieve - snow
el relampago - lightning
el trueno - thunder
alto - high
bajo - low
el viento - wind
la temperatura - temperature
la mareada - tide
el invierno - winter
la primavera - spring
el verano - summer
el otono - fall
Remember that in Spain, temperature is measured in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. Here’s a convenient calculator for converting between the two units of measure.
Beach and Watersports
Spain and Latin America have many beautiful beaches. Before you enjoy a day of swimming, sunbathing and other activities, learn the following words:
el mar - sea (In Spanish, ‘sea’ can be assigned either the masculine or feminine gender. The everyday article is el, but la mar is used in poetry and literature.)
en alta mar - on the high sea
deportes aquaticos - water sports
la playa - beach
la costa - coast
la arena - sand
el parasol - beach umbrella
la tumbona - sun lounger
la ola - wave
la concha - shell
la medusa - jellyfish
el barco - boat
el barco de vela - sailboat
el yate - yacht
remar - to row
el pedalo - paddle boat
la vela - sail
el esquí náutico (also known as el esquí acuático) - water skiing
el agua - water (In Spanish, agua is considered feminine. But you use the masculine el to avoid pairing the ‘a’ at the end of the feminine la with the ‘a’ at the beginning of agua.
pescar - to fish
nadar - to swim
bucear - to dive
el chaleco de salvavidas - life vest
la pelota - ball
el traje de baño or el bañador - swimsuit
la toalla - towel
los servicios - restrooms
el chirringito - a beach stall selling snacks and drinks
Socorro! - Help!
ahogarse - to drown
una mochilla - backpack
las chanclas - flip flops
Don’t forget:
el bronceador - suntan lotion
las gafas de sol, or simply las gafas - sunglasses/sunshades
