How much Spanish you need for Mexico, by destination

How much Spanish do you need to travel to Mexico? For a week inside a Cancún resort, very little. For Mexico City, or a village outside Oaxaca, rather more. It depends less on the country than on who you will be talking to: staff hired to look after foreign guests, or a taco stand, a bus driver and a market stall.

The last row is the easy one to overlook. In Oaxaca state, 31.2% of residents aged three and over speak an indigenous language, against 6.1% nationally, according to the 2020 census, and 67.5% of those speakers live in localities of fewer than 2,500 people. In Quintana Roo, home to Cancún and the Riviera Maya, the figure is 11.7%. In a village, plain sentences help both of you.

On English, EF's 2025 index ranks Mexico 103rd with a score of 440, in its "very low" band. Its city scores (Playa del Carmen 517, Cabo San Lucas 469, Mexico City 428, Cancún 414) are not a map: EF's methodology says its test-takers are "self-selected and not guaranteed to be representative". Its job figures carry the same caveat but point one way: test-takers in customer service average 599, against 440 overall. Where your trip is mostly staff paid to look after foreign guests, English will usually carry you. Where it is mostly residents, it may not.

The CEFR's self-assessment grid describes B1 as being able to "deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken". That is not a fortnight's work. The US Foreign Service Institute expects 30 weeks of full-time training for Spanish, at 23 class hours a week plus self-study, to reach level 3 in speaking and listening on the ILR scale.

The realistic target is A1, which the same grid describes as: "I can interact in a simple way provided the other person is prepared to repeat or rephrase things at a slower rate of speech and help me formulate what I'm trying to say." That describes a ticket counter or a market stall well, if you have rehearsed that particular exchange. So the aim is six situations, done well, not a level.

The Spanish you actually use on a trip has the full list of about 50 phrases. Sheet 1 here is the Mexican version.

Arrival. Canada's travel advice for Mexico says that at an airport either an officer stamps your passport with the number of days you may stay, or an E-gate kiosk prints them on a receipt. Either way, you complete the digital FMMD form online on arrival and keep a copy. The officer sets the length of stay; travellers seeking the 180-day maximum may have to explain their purpose, accommodation, funds and return flight. Have those answers ready in Spanish anyway.

Money. Prices are in pesos: learn numbers into the thousands first. The same page advises: "Always confirm the price of an item before ordering", "Do not leave an open tab" and "Check the accuracy of your bill before paying". Each takes one phrase: ¿Cuánto cuesta?, ¿Le pago ahora?, ¿Me explica este cargo?

Getting around. Official taxis in Mexico City are pink and white. To pay an airport taxi by card, Canada advises booking and pre-paying inside the terminal or at the designated boarding area; for other taxis, carry small bills. Between cities, it recommends VIP or executive-class buses on toll roads, not minibuses.

Eating is covered in ordering in Spanish without pointing. For problems, the emergency number is 911.

Each word on Sheet 2 links to its entry in the Diccionario del español de México, from El Colegio de México:

Phrase lists train what you say, but the reply is what sends people back to English:

• ¡Mande! A courteous way to answer someone who calls you, or to say you did not hear. It is the polite Mexican "pardon?"; use it yourself instead of ¿qué?
• Ahorita. Now, shortly, or whenever possible, as in "Ahorita no está, regresa al ratito". Hear an imprecise time, not a promise, and ask ¿Como a qué hora? if it matters.
• ¡Pásele, güero! Whatever your hair colour, the dictionary lists this as a market vendor's courteous way of addressing someone. Gracias, nada más estoy viendo is a complete reply.
• Prices at speed. Son trescientos cincuenta, said quickly. Record random prices and play them back a week later.

Rehearse both sides of each exchange out loud; speaking practice alone shows how to do it without a partner.

Before you fly, download Spanish in Google Translate, on Wi-Fi. Camera translation can then work offline for languages that support instant camera translation. The conversation mode is the useful part: translations play out loud and you take turns speaking. That suits a pharmacy, a hotel problem or a lost bag. It suits much less:

• A market queue or a colectivo door. The exchange is over before the phone is out.
• Noise. A street, a bus station, music.
• Services in Spanish only. Canada's advice marks the CDMX "My taxi" app, road alerts, roadside-assistance information and the toll systems as Spanish only. A camera can read a screen; a phone call is harder.
• Villages where Spanish is a second language. A machine adds a layer between two people already translating.

Fifteen to twenty minutes a day, out loud. Put each phrase on a card with its likely reply on the back.

Destination extras: for Mexico City, taxis and double the listening time. For Oaxaca's villages, ¿Me lo repite, por favor? and slowing your own speech. For a resort, a second pass through week 1.

With only two weeks, merge weeks 1 and 2, then 3 and 4, with the lessons in the last four days.

1. Brief the teacher. italki suggests filtering by lesson type, price, available times and native speakers, and sending the teacher a message about your goals. A teacher from Mexico is worth looking for.
2. Lesson 1, slow, then natural speed: immigration questions, the airport taxi, checking in, ordering a meal.
3. Lesson 2, natural speed, no English: a market stall with prices, a bus or colectivo, and one problem: a pharmacy, or a wrong bill.
4. Keep a record. Classroom lessons can be recorded if both of you agree, saved only to your computer.

A message to adapt and send with the booking:

I'm going to [Mexico City] for [ten days] from [date]. I'm a beginner. I'd like to role-play arriving at the airport, a taxi, checking in and ordering in a taquería. Please play the other person, start slowly, then repeat each scene at normal speed, using Mexican words.

The Mexican Spanish book's 7th edition came out in September 2026: 272 pages, with pronunciation and grammar guides, transport and currency phrases, a menu decoder, a pull-out fast-phrases card and a 3,500-word two-way dictionary. Fast Talk is 96 pages of essential phrases with pronunciation guides. The Latin American book has "Listen For" sections: phrases you may hear.

If the trip turns into a habit, Complete Latin American Spanish from Teach Yourself is a course of 13 units from A1 to B1/B2, with free audio in the Teach Yourself Library app.

Can I get by with English only? Inside a resort, usually: most of your exchanges are with staff whose job is foreign guests. Outside it, plan on the minimum set.

Is Mexican Spanish different from Spain's? Mostly in everyday words. For "you" in the plural, Mexico uses ustedes; the same dictionary limits vosotros to literary, legal and religious texts, some speeches, and imitations of Spain's Spanish. For the longer route, see starting Spanish from zero.