Cuban Spanish is the one to learn if you're visiting Cuba or talking with Cuban family and friends. About 11 million people speak it, and Cuban Spanish is also heard in places like Miami. Many Spanish apps teach Mexican, Latin American, or Spain Spanish, so this page gathers resources made for Cuba. Our Spanish app comparison covers apps for every kind of Spanish.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Spanish. You learn from Spanish you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, that you're visiting your cousins in Cuba, and she writes you a lesson at your level about meeting them. In it, a cousin might ask ¿Ustedes vienen? to a group. Ask her about any line you don't follow.
Bubblegum focuses on reading and listening more than speaking, so for conversation, try a tutor or partner in Practice With People From Cuba.
- Lessons are in Cuban Spanish, with everyday Cuban words like guagua for a bus and jaba for a bag.
- Friends say tú to each other, and a question can put tú in the middle, as in ¿Qué tú quieres?.
- Read and listen to news and stories in Spanish about things you care about.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, and you can export them to Anki.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- Lesson audio is clear Spanish, but it doesn't copy the way Cubans soften sounds, like the s at the end of a word. Listen to the podcast below for that.
- Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Cuban Spanish 101 is a paid audio course from Spanish con Salsa. It has 12 recorded conversations between Cuban speakers, each with a slow version, plus transcripts with English translations and flashcards. Its page doesn't list any free lessons.
The Learn Spanish con Salsa podcast teaches Spanish through Latin music at beginner and intermediate levels. Episode 248 compares Cuban and Uruguayan Spanish with a guest who grew up in Cuba.
Preply
Ask a tutor to role-play meeting your friend's family, so you practice the words and the tú questions you'll hear.
- Preply has a page for Cuban Spanish tutors.
- Filter tutors by country of birth, and watch an intro video before you book.
MobileWeb
italki
On italki, tell your teacher you're learning Cuban Spanish, so the examples fit what you'll hear.
- A "Teachers from" filter on the Spanish teachers page.
- Book one-to-one video lessons.
MobileWeb
| App | Free? | What's Free |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | Free version | Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. |
| Preply | Paid | You pay for each lesson, and each tutor sets their own price. If your first tutor isn't a good fit, you can try two more for free. |
| italki | Paid | You pay for each lesson, and each teacher sets their own price. Practicing with the community and taking the level test are free. |
| Tandem | Free version | Signing up is free, and Tandem reviews each new member first. Many features are free, and Tandem Pro gives you all of them. |
Try one lesson in your language before you pay.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Supported language pairs |
| Preply | 19 | App Store |
| italki | 19 | App Store |
| Tandem | 14 | App Store |
Which Cuban Spanish app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Spanish, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with a Cuban Spanish tutor on Preply if you'd like to talk from your first week.
Is Cuban Spanish different from other Spanish?
Yes, in some words and questions. Cubans say guagua for a bus and jaba for a bag. A question can keep tú before the verb, as in ¿Qué tú quieres?. Cubans don't use vosotros, so you only need ustedes for a group. Writing stays standard Spanish, so what you learn from books works everywhere.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Bubblegum: Cuban Spanish
- Wikipedia: Cuban Spanish (about 11 million native speakers; no vosotros; questions like ¿Qué tú quieres?)
- Wiktionary: guagua (bus in Cuba)
- Speaking Latino: jaba
- Preply: Cuban Spanish tutors
- Tandem: Learn Spanish in Havana
- Spanish con Salsa: Cuban Spanish 101 course
- Learn Spanish con Salsa (Apple Podcasts; episode 248 compares Cuban and Uruguayan Spanish)
- Preply: Spanish tutors (country of birth filter)
- Preply: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- italki: Spanish teachers (Teachers from filter)
- italki: what is free
- italki: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Tandem: what is free
- Tandem: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Bubblegum
- Tandem
