TL;DR
Mexican Spanish differs significantly from Castilian. To fit in, you need to master the "Politeness Layer"—soft rejections, greetings like "¿Qué onda?", and mandatory pleasantries like "Provecho". Capture these in the wild to sound like a local.
Textbook Spanish teaches you high-caste Castilian grammar. Mexican Spanish in the streets of CDMX is a different beast—rich, slang-heavy, and polite in very specific ways.
The "Politeness" Layer
In Mexico, directness can be seen as rude. Instead of "No", you might hear "Ahorita no"(Not right now) or "Luego vemos" (We'll see later). Learning these soft rejections is crucial.
Key Phrases to Mine
- "¿Qué onda?" - The universal "What's up?".
- "Provecho" - Said to anyone eating. Mandatory politeness.
- "Mande?" - A polite way to say "What?" or "Excuse me?".
Use Babelbits to record these interactions live. When a taxi driver uses a phrase you don't know, ask him to repeat it and log it. That's your "Street Spanish" textbook, written by real life. All of this is possible because Babelbits is Offline-First, so you don't need data in the taxi.