HolaRuta / Travel Spanish for Latin America
Paraguay is officially bilingual: alongside Spanish, the vast majority speak Guaraní, an indigenous language they take real pride in. In everyday life many mix the two into 'Jopara', a fluid switching between Spanish and Guaraní. Paraguayan Spanish uses voseo too. Learn a few words of Guaraní and…
Paraguay is officially bilingual: alongside Spanish, the vast majority speak Guaraní, an indigenous language they take real pride in. In everyday life many mix the two into 'Jopara', a fluid switching between Spanish and Guaraní. Paraguayan Spanish uses voseo too. Learn a few words of Guaraní and you'll quickly win people over.
Paraguay is a little-visited landlocked country in the heart of South America, split by the Río Paraguay into the humid east and the dry Chaco in the west. It's authentic, cheap and barely developed for tourism. Highlights include the Jesuit mission ruins, the vast Chaco wilderness and the laid-back capital Asunción.
Before colonial times, the area was settled by Guaraní peoples. In 1537 the Spanish founded Asunción, one of the oldest cities on the continent; the Jesuit reductions became famous. Paraguay became independent in 1811. The devastating War of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870) against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay cost the lives of a large part of the male population.
Drink ice-cold tereré like the locals to beat the heat and learn a few words of Guaraní; in Paraguay that opens plenty of doors and hearts.
Paraguay is officially bilingual: alongside Spanish, the vast majority speak Guaraní, an indigenous language they take real pride in. The HolaRuta app drills exactly this accent and vocabulary before you land.
Common examples include: „mba'éichapa" (How are you? (Guaraní greeting)), „argel" (unpleasant, annoying (Paraguayan slang)), „nde" (hey/mate (from Guaraní)), „tranquilopa" (totally relaxed (a mix of Spanish and Guaraní)). HolaRuta turns these into flashcards so you have them ready on the road.
In local Spanish: "mba'éichapa". You can practise this exact phrase as a flashcard in the HolaRuta app, pronunciation tip included.
In local Spanish: "argel". You can practise this exact phrase as a flashcard in the HolaRuta app, pronunciation tip included.
Sopa paraguaya — Despite the name not a soup, but a hearty corn-bread cake with cheese. HolaRuta also teaches you the matching Spanish phrases to order it.
No. With HolaRuta you learn the situational phrases you actually need in Paraguay — at the bus terminal, in the hostel, at the market — instead of classroom grammar.