15-Day Spanish Challenge

Days 1-3: Saying 'Hello' & Setting Smart Goals

In your first three days, you'll build confidence, learn to introduce yourself, and set the right goals.

By Esteban Touma

Use the links below to jump to a learning activity.

Welcome to Babbel’s 15‑Day Spanish Challenge! These first three days are all about building your foundation: practicing simple greetings, learning how to introduce yourself, and setting a goal that will help you stay consistent all year long.

Day 1: Learn How To Greet People In Spanish

Click to reveal the answer, then keep going to learn more about saying hello and introducing yourself in Spanish.

Which of these Spanish greetings would you use at 10:30am?

A. Buenos días
B. Buenas tardes
C. Buenas noches

Answer:

The correct answer is: A. Buenos días

You can use buenos días, buenas tardes, or buenas noches depending if it’s the morning, the afternoon, or evening, so buenos días would be the correct greeting for 10:30am. Native speakers sometimes opt for the shortened, all-day-encompassing ¡buenas!

When you meet someone, introducing yourself is the first thing you'll need to do. So it only makes sense it's the first thing you should do when learning a language. Check out the video above for more tips on greeting someone.

Check out our Spanish Hub!

We have 100+ resources to help you learn Spanish, from vocab guides to deep-dives into the culture.

Check it out

Day 2: Set Spanish Goals That Stick

Babbel teacher and polyglot Noel Wolf shares a goal-setting framework that works.

One of the keys to success is setting a goal for yourself. And that doesn't mean just saying "I want to speak Spanish in 2026." Being too vague can actually get in the way of success. What you want is a smart goal, or more specifically, a SMART goal. This is a framework for making a goal with five main parts. A goal should be:

Specific — What exactly do you want to accomplish? Do you want to be able to have a conversation in Spanish, or read a book in the language, or something else? Avoid vagueness!
Measurable — How can you measure your progress while learning Spanish? You can try a standard metric like the CEFR levels, or try completing a certain number of lessons each day. To stay on track, it's important to actually know how far along you've come.
Achievable — Setting an impossible goal is a recipe for discouragement. It might not be possible to become totally fluent in 12 months, but you can definitely come a long way in that time. How conversational would you like to be?
Relevant — When you're struggling with conjugations, it's important to have a strong motivation to keep you going. Why is Spanish important to your life?
Time-Bound — A new year's resolution does tend to be time-bound, but don't put yourself in a corner by sticking to the one-year requirement. How do you envision your learning to really shake out?

On day 2 of the challenge, try setting a SMART goal. Keep in mind, a language-learning journey can be years long, but a good goal is something that you'll be able to make progress in during the short term. Here are just a few examples of what your goal can be:

I'll watch one movie in Spanish every month.
I'll have three conversations fully in Spanish by the end of summer.
I'll order food in Spanish five times during my trip to Madrid.
I'll complete one Spanish lesson every weekday this year.

Write down your goal, and come back to it as you continue on this 15-day challenge. It will help you stay on track and keep you motivated.

Read our full SMART goals guide

Day 3: Test What You Learned

Take a quick Spanish greetings quiz, then grab check out our cheat sheet so you're always ready to say hello.

1. Which of these questions could be translated as “what’s up”?

A. ¿Qué tal?
B. ¿Cómo te llamas?
C. ¿De dónde eres?
D. ¿Quién eres tú?

Answer:

The correct answer is: A. ¿Qué tal?

While you may hear some of these questions when first meeting someone, ¿Qué tal? is the correct way to informally ask how you’ve been. In a more formal situation you can opt for ¿Cómo está (usted)?

2. Which of these responses would NOT sound natural as a response to ¿Cómo te va?

A. Todo bien.
B. No me puedo quejar.
C. Va al supermercado.
D. Más o menos, ¿y tú?

Answer:

The correct answer is: C. Va al supermercado. (This response would not be appropriate.)

Don’t confuse ¿Cómo te va? (literally “how is it going?”) with ¿Adónde va? ("where are you going?" formally). Keep things positive by saying Todo bien, or imply things are going just ok by saying más o menos (“so so”) or no me puedo quejar (“I can’t complain”). But in any case leave the supermarket out of it.

3. Which one of these responses is NOT a correct way to respond when someone asks your name?

A. Me llamo Matt
B. Mi nombre es Matt
C. Yo estoy Matt
D. Yo soy Matt

Answer:

The correct answer is: C. Yo estoy Matt.

Me llamo… or “I call myself…” might sound like a weird way to say your name but it’s a common way to introduce yourself, as is mi nombre es... You can also say Yo soy (or just Soy) as in “I am,” but don’t use estoy, which is generally reserved for your location or your emotion.

There's a surprising number of ways to say hello in Spanish, and these questions cover just a fraction. Check out more options in this helpful table!

Spanish Greeting	English Translation	Usage/Notes
¡Hola!	Hello! / Hi!	Universal, informal and friendly
Buenos días	Good morning	Formal/informal, until midday
Buenas tardes	Good afternoon	Formal/informal, after midday
Buenas noches	Good evening / Good night	Formal/informal, evening/night
¿Cómo estás?	How are you?	Informal, friends/family
¿Cómo está usted?	How are you?	Formal, respectful
¿Qué tal?	How’s it going?	Informal, casual
¿Qué pasa?	What’s up?	Informal, very casual
Buenas	Hi! / Hello!	Informal, any time of day
¡Ey! / ¡Oye!	Hey!	Very informal, attention-getting
¿Cómo te va?	How’s it going?	Informal, friendly