When to use the present progressive

When to use the present progressive
 

Very often on Duolingo, sentences such as "What are you doing?" are translated as "Qué haces" instead of "Qué estás haciendo". Sentences where someone is currently doing something are translated this way very commonly, to the point where I can't recall seeing a sentence in present progressive on the app or the website. Is this correct? Can sentences such as "I am eating bread" be translated correctly as "Yo como pan"?

Yes, the present progressive is used less in Spanish, and the present tense often takes its place. Using the present progressive a lot in Spanish sounds very gringo.

First, we tend to answer as we are asked:

-¿Qué haces?
- Como pan

-¿Qué estás haciendo?
- (Estoy) comiendo pan.

(never use yo when you and only you are directly address)

Second, in Spanish we have infinitive, we have subjunctive mood, and a lot of things, so we don't have to make an effort to show we are using the present tense to describe a present situation, so progressive is not used to describe things that are just happening as a whole but to describe things that are happening, that is, when the action is a process and the speaker wants to point that fact.

-¿Y por la noche como te entretienes?
- Ahora estoy leyendo un libro muy interesante [meaning the person is in the process of reading that book, that is, they did read some pages of it last night and presumably they are going to continue reading it this night]

-¿Qué haces?
-Como pan
-¿Y cómo lo estás comiendo?
-Comenzando por la costra [crust] y terminando con la miga [crumb].

I dont really understand what you're saying Alec.

Have a look here to see if it helps any.