150 Essential Spanish Academic Words for Thriving at University and Beyond

Spanish words learners regularly get wrong — vergüenza, murciélago, ferrocarril, arquitectura, pelirrojo — grouped by the sound behind the mistake: rolled r, the silent h and vowels that shift under an English accent.

Spanish vocabulary for environmental topics: el cambio climático, el calentamiento global, el medio ambiente, la contaminación, la sostenibilidad. Covers recycling and waste, renewable energy and the terms used in news reports.

Spanish vocabulary for music: la canción, el cantante, la banda, el concierto, la guitarra, el piano, la batería. Covers genres and instruments plus everything around a live show, from tickets and the queue to the encore.

Spanish vocabulary for getting around by road: el coche, el conductor, el motor, el neumático, el volante, el freno, plus road signs and traffic rules and the phrases used at a petrol station or a car rental desk.

Spanish vocabulary for everyday technology: el teléfono inteligente, el portátil, la tableta, el cargador, la batería, la pantalla, el teclado. Plus apps and accounts and the words for describing a fault or changing a setting.

Spanish vocabulary for crime and public safety: el delito, la policía, el agente, el sospechoso, la víctima, el testigo. Covers news coverage, the legal terms behind it and the language needed to report an incident at a station.

Spanish vocabulary for building and renovating: la renovación, la reparación, remodelar, el contratista, el albañil, el arquitecto. Covers tools and materials, and how to explain a job or buy the right thing in a hardware shop.

Spanish vocabulary for building a company: la empresa emergente, el emprendedor, el fundador, el cofundador, el inversor, la financiación. Covers pitching and metrics, hiring and growth — the words used in a first investor meeting.

Spanish vocabulary for talking about mental health properly: la ansiedad, la depresión, el estrés, el agotamiento, la terapia, el terapeuta. Plus the wording that keeps a difficult conversation respectful rather than clinical.

Spanish phrases for the phone, where there is no body language to fall back on: ¿puedo hablar con…?, ¿quién llama por favor?, llamo por mi pedido. Covers transfers, leaving a message and working through a customer service call.

Spanish phrases for professional email: estimado señor o señora, le escribo para informarle, adjunto encontrará. Covers greetings and closings, requests, follow-ups and delivering bad news without sounding blunt.

Whole Spanish sentences from conversations that actually happen — ¿cómo estás?, estoy bien gracias, mucho gusto, buenos días. Ready to use as they stand, each with a translation and the situation it belongs in.