Quechua — runasimi, "the people's speech" — is the largest Indigenous language family of the Americas, spoken by millions across Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina. Speak Quechua teaches it the way it is actually spoken, with real phrases and real voices.
See how it worksEvery word is a root plus a stack of suffixes — around 130 of them, and effectively no exceptions in the entire language. Learn a pattern once and it holds.
Just a i u. The sound that makes Quechua sound like Quechua is q, a k made far back in the throat — killa "moon" against qilla "lazy".
Nearly every sentence marks its evidence: -mi I saw it, -si I was told, -chá I'm guessing. The grammar itself enforces honesty.
Ñuqanchik includes you. Ñuqayku does not. Choosing wrong changes who is in the room.
Wasi is house. Wasipi in the house, wasiman to the house, wasimanta from the house, wasiwan with the house.
You leave with tupananchiskama — "until you and I meet again." Five pieces of grammar in one word.
| Rimaykullayki | Formal hello — literally "I greet you" |
| Allillanchu? | Hi, all good? The everyday greeting |
| Imataq sutiyki? | What's your name? |
| Maymantan kanki? | Where are you from? |
| Ama hina kaychu | Please — politeness built out of a negative |
| Añay | Thank you |
| Munakuyki | I love you |
| Tupananchiskama | Until we meet again |
Lessons are built on Southern Quechua — the Ayacucho-Chanka and Cusco-Collao varieties that around five to seven million people speak and understand across Peru and Bolivia. Where the two differ, both spellings are shown, because Quechua has been arguing about three vowels versus five for forty years and neither side is going away.
Nothing here is invented. Every phrase traces to a documented source — a published course, a state dictionary, or a native speaker. The "ancient Inca greeting" sold on postcards, ama sua, ama llulla, ama qhilla, appears in no early chronicle and is not taught here as a greeting. A living language deserves better than souvenirs.