Meet the Super Seven: Your Road Map to Conversational Spanish
In my last blog post about New Year’s resolutions, I emphasized the power of small steps and embracing the long—but rewarding—journey toward a goal, whether that’s learning Spanish or launching an online business.
They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And I’d add—there’s no final destination where you “arrive” and stop learning, and that’s okay!
Even years into running my online business, I’ll still be tweaking and improving things. The same goes for language learning. No one ever truly “finishes” learning a language (I still learn new English words all the time!).
So instead of feeling overwhelmed by fluency, let’s focus on what will make the biggest impact, starting today.
The Super Seven: A Simple Framework for Beginning Conversation Students
To help language learners communicate faster and with less frustration, Dr. Terry Waltz, a professional interpreter and language educator, identified seven key concepts needed to tell a story in any language. She calls them the Super Seven. These are the essential building blocks of everyday conversation.
Here they are with simple English examples:
Existence: There is a girl named Susy.
Identity & Description: Susy is a student. She is kind, creative, and friendly.
Possession: Susy has many friends.
Location: Susy is at school.
Preferences: Susy likes her art history class. She likes to draw and paint.
Motion & Future Plans: After school, Susy goes to her art class. Tonight, she is going to attend an art exhibit with friends.
Desires & Intentions: Susy wants a new set of paints for her birthday. She wants to be a professional illustrator someday.
In Spanish, these core ideas are expressed through just seven verbs:
Hay (There is/There are)
Ser (To be - identity & description)
Tener (To have)
Estar (To be - location & condition)
Gustar (To like)
Ir (To go)
Querer (To want)
By focusing on these seven high-frequency verbs and practicing them in different contexts, you can start understanding and creating meaningful sentences almost immediately.
Want to See These Verbs in Action?
If you'd like a free guide on how these verbs are conjugated and used in Spanish, grab your copy here!
And if you're looking for a fun, supportive way to practice Spanish with others, consider joining the waitlist for Spanish on the Patio, my upcoming membership community. Doors open in March—click here to get on the waitlist!
