Hablar de ti mismo/ Talking bout yourself

To get the conversation going, you’ll need to be able to say at least what your name is, who you are or what you do, and where you’re from. Saying what your name isis rather different in Spanish from English. You say me llamo (literally I call myself). me llamo comes from the reflexive verb llamarse. If you want to say what someone else is called you use se llama.

my name is…
Me llamo Daniel Norrington.	My name is Daniel Norrington.
Me llamo Liz Owen.	My name is Liz Owen.
Me llamo Jack.	My name is Jack.
Se llama Kevin.	His name is Kevin.
Se llama Helen.	Her name is Helen.

I´m…
Soy amigo de Paul.	I’m a friend of Paul’s.
Soy el hermano de Rodrigo.	I’m Rodrigo’s brother.
Soy soltero.	I’m single.
Soy professor/a	I’m a teacher.
Soy representante.	I’m a rep.
Trabajo de programador para Compumax.	I work as a programmer for Compumx.

¿Lo Sabías?

When you say what you do in Spanish, don’t include a word for a or an before your job: soy professor/a (I’m a teacher), soy enferma (I’m a nurse).

To say how old your are, use tengo followed by your age and then años (literally I have… years). tengo comes from the regular –er verb tener.

i´m … years old
Tengo veintidós años.	I’m twenty-two years old.
Tengo treina y siete años.	I’m thirty-seven.
Mi hijo tiene siete años.	My son´s seven.
¿Cuántos años tienes?	How old are you?

I have…
Tengo dos hermanas	I have two sisters
Tengo un hijo y una hija.	I have a son and a daughter.
Tenemos familia en el sur de España.	We have relatives in the south of Spain.
¿Tienes hijos?	Have you got any children?

i live…
vivo en Gales.	I live in Wales.
Vivo solo.	I live on my own.
Vivimos en un apartamento.	We live in a flat.

¿Lo sabías?

Remember to say vivo sola rather than vivo solo if you’re female.

I´m staying…
Estoy en el Excelsior Palace.	I’m staying at the Excelsior Palace.
Estoy en casa de unos amigos.	I’m staying with friends.
Me quedo una semana en Madrid.	I’m staying in Madrid for a week.
Me voy a quedar unos cuantos días más.	I’m going to stay for a few more days.

To talk about yourself, you’ll need to be able to say how long you’ve been doing something, such as learning Spanish! One way to do this is to use hace followed by the length of time and then que and the verb in the present. You can also use llevo to mean I´ve been in examples like these-

i´ve been…for…
Hace cinco años que soy enfermera.	I´ve been a nurse for five years.
Hace diez años que vivo en España	I´ve been living in Spain for ten years.
Hace sólo dos días que estoy aquí.	I´ve only been here for two days.
Llevo do semanas en Madrid.	I´ve been in Madrid for two weeks.
Llevo dos años estudiando español.	I´ve been studying Spanish for two years.
Llevo seis meses de camarera.	I´ve been a waitress for six months.

Men who are on friendly terms usually shake hands or pat each other on the back, while women kiss – dress un beso. Men also kiss female friends and in some cases other men, for instance when they belong to the same family. Spanish people usually kiss twice, once on each cheek.