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🇪🇸 Spanish Level A1

Phone shop (SIM) in Spanish

You're in a phone shop in Spain to get a SIM card. Listen to the salesperson (Raúl), then choose how to reply — tap an answer to hear its pronunciation and see its translation, then confirm. What you pick changes what he says. Open “Vocabulary” for the words (or “Explore the scene”) and tap “🗣️ On the street” for the real language.

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Phone shop (SIM) — Spanish

What you'll learn here

Key words

la tarjeta SIM la tar-JE-ta SIM
the SIM card
“De prepago” = prepaid (no contract). Operators: Movistar, Vodafone, Orange, Yoigo. Low-cost ones (Simyo, Pepephone) often give the most data cheaply.
el documento (DNI) el do-cu-MEN-to
the ID document
In Spain, buying a SIM REQUIRES an ID (passport or DNI) — it's required by law; the SIM is registered in your name.
los gigas los GI-gas
the gigabytes (data)
“Los gigas / los datos” = data; “los minutos” = call minutes; “los SMS” = texts. “Todo incluido” = all included.
la recarga la re-CAR-ga
the top-up
You top up at the shop, the “estanco” (tobacconist), an ATM or the app. “El saldo” = credit; “la renovación” = the automatic monthly renewal.
el móvil el MÓ-vil
the (mobile) phone
For the SIM to work, the phone must be “libre” (network-unlocked). In Spain the phone is “el móvil”, not “el celular”.

How locals really say it

Not the textbook version — the real language you hear in Spanish.

“¡Buenas! ¿En qué te ayudo?” — Hi! How can I help?
“¿Qué buscas?” — What are you after?
“El pasaporte, para la SIM. ¿Lo llevas?” — Passport, for the SIM. Got it on you?
“Mira: cien gigas, llamadas ilimitadas, diez euros.” — Look: a hundred gigs, unlimited calls, ten euros.

Dialogue (excerpt)

A taste of the conversation — play the rest in the app.

Raúl
¡Buenas! Bienvenido, dime.
Hi! Welcome, tell me.
Raúl
¿Qué necesitas?
What do you need?
You
Quería una tarjeta SIM española.
I'd like a Spanish SIM card.
Raúl
Por ley necesito tu documento. ¿Lo tienes?
By law I need your ID. Do you have it?
You
Sí, aquí está el pasaporte.
Yes, here's my passport.
Raúl
Esta oferta tiene cien gigas y llamadas ilimitadas, por diez euros al mes.
This plan has a hundred gigs and unlimited calls, for ten euros a month.

…continues in the app →

🎵 This scene also has a song: Cien Gigas

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