About
I'm Andrey the Nomad, and ConSalsa.App is the list of Mexican Spanish words I kept writing down because I didn't understand them.
It started as notes on my phone. Someone would say something at a taco stand, the whole table would laugh, and I'd have no idea why. The dictionary would give me a translation that was technically right and completely useless. So I'd ask, write down the real answer, and move on. Eventually the notes got long enough to be a website.
Why this exists
Language apps teach you to order food and ask where the bathroom is. They don't teach you güey, or why ahorita can mean anything from five minutes to never, or why ¡aguas! has nothing to do with water.
That's the part that takes years to pick up on your own, and it's the part that decides whether people talk to you like a foreigner or like a person. The slang is where the culture lives.
Who I'm writing this for
Mostly people in one of these situations, because they're the ones who keep emailing me:
- You just moved to Mexico City. Your Spanish is fine on paper and useless in your own building. The neighbours are friendly and you catch about half of it.
- You're coming for a trip. Two weeks, and you'd rather not spend them pointing at menus.
- You're dating someone Mexican. Their friends switch into a register you weren't taught, and the group chat is a wall of words no app has ever shown you.
- You work with a Mexican team. The meeting is in English, the side conversation isn't.
- You're a heritage speaker. You grew up hearing this and never saw it written down. A lot of people tell me the etymology is the part they wanted.
You don't need Spanish to start. I explain everything in English, with pronunciation and enough context to know when a word fits. If you want grammar drills and conjugation tables, there are better sites for that — this one is about sounding like a person.
The words
Everything here is Mexican Spanish, mostly Mexico City and central Mexico — the chilango register. The metro, the taquería, the work WhatsApp thread at midnight. It's also the version you'll recognise from Mexican film and music, so it travels further than the neighbourhood it came from.
When a word is regional, or means something different up north, I say so on the page. When it can land as rude depending on tone or company, I say that too.
How I make these
Most entries start as something I overheard and didn't get. I write it down, ask someone who grew up with it, and usually find out the dictionary answer was half the story.
Then it gets checked properly: the literal meaning, where the word came from, and whether my examples sound like something a person would actually say. I use AI to research faster and get a first draft down — I'd rather say that out loud than pretend otherwise — but nothing publishes without me rewriting it, and plenty of drafts get cut instead of patched. A word card that sounds slightly off is worse than no card at all, because you'd repeat it.
Beyond the daily card
The glossary is the A–Z dictionary of every word published so far. If you'd rather browse than wait for the next morning's card, that's the page.
The blog is for the things one card can't hold — comparison pieces like "no manches vs no mames" or "fresa vs naco", themed roundups, and guides for people who just landed. Situations covers specific moments: the OXXO counter, the Uber, the first day of class. Karaoke is original bilingual songs, because a chorus sticks in a way a flashcard never does.
The newsletter
One word per morning. No spam, no upsell, no fluff. Just the word, its story, and an example sentence worth remembering.
Who's behind this
Just me — Andrey the Nomad. I'm a digital nomad who kept meaning to leave Mexico and kept not doing it. No team, no investors, no growth experiments. One person, one word a day, and a growing pile of notes on how Mexicans actually talk.
More about me at andreythenomad.com, or on the author page.
Contact
Got a word I've missed, a correction, a school to add to the Spanish schools directory, or just want to say hi? The contact page has the address, or reply to any newsletter email. I read everything, and corrections from native speakers are the most useful mail I get.
Credits
Quiz share images use Twemoji graphics by Twitter, Inc and contributors, licensed under CC-BY 4.0.