Palabra Lexi · words by topic · Spanish

Spanish Words: Complaints & Problems — with Pronunciation and Memory Hooks

Level B1 · intermediate · 16 words

Doesn't work, broken, refund, formal complaint: so you can sort out a problem at a hotel, a store or a service desk politely but firmly.

Spanish is read almost exactly as it's written: stress falls on the second-to-last syllable when a word ends in a vowel, n or s, otherwise on the last one, and exceptions carry an accent mark (café, estación). Nouns are masculine (el) or feminine (la). Pronunciation below is spelled out in English, stressed syllable in capitals.

Complaints & Problems in Spanish: word list

Memory hooks for these words

A sound-alike is an English word or phrase that sounds like the foreign one. The scene ties it to the meaning: you recall the sound, the sound brings back the picture, the picture brings back the meaning. Read each scene once, then try to recall the meaning a minute later without looking at the list.

How to learn this topic in a week

1. Read the list aloud using the pronunciation guide. Don't try to memorize yet; just hear the words.
2. Take 5 to 7 words a day. For each, read the sound-alike (for example, reclamación is "reclamation") and picture the scene for a couple of seconds.
3. Ten minutes later, in the evening and the next day, recall the meaning on your own without peeking. Trying to remember, not rereading, is what makes a word stick.
4. Once a word comes back instantly, you no longer need the sound-alike; it fades on its own.

In the Palabra app this happens automatically: open Categories, pick "Situations: complaints" and tap "+ whole category to my words." Words come up for review one at a time, and the scheduler decides when to show each one again, just before you'd forget it. More on the method: The Most Common Spanish Words: Top 100 with Pronunciation, Plus 670 by Topic.