10 Language Mistakes Guiris Make in Spanish

We all mistakes. We definitely all make mistakes when learning a foreign language. (Heck, we even make mistakes in our own language! Mario loves to point out when this happens to me in English.) These mistakes aren’t anything to be ashamed of; indeed, they are natural and fun ways to learn—if you have the right attitude! When I first got to Spain, I made a ton of mistakes. I swear, every other word that came out of my mouth was wrong! I’ve come a long way since I wrote on my Facebook wall that I was incapable of speaking Spanish properly.

Guiris make a lot of mistakes in Spanish. (I’m including myself among them!) This list is far from comprehensive; it’s just what first came to my mind. What sort of things do guiris like myself do wrong?

We …

1. … conjugate verbs incorrectly.

Great Spanish Slang to Make You Sound Like You Belong in Spain

I don’t know about you, but in my high school we learned Mexican/South-American Spanish. Now there’s nothing wrong with this (except for the part we totally skipped a tense [vosotros]), but when I decided to study abroad in Spain, I knew I wanted to learn Spain Spanish (Castilian Spanish). Only one problem: I didn’t know any Spaniards, nor had I entered the wonderful world of blogs. So I came to Spain in 2008 with very little knowledge of colloquial Castilian Spanish.

But you? No need to worry—I’ve got you covered. Here are some of my favorite ways to sound totally guay in Spain:

Beware of These Spanish Translation Mistakes

Looking for a translation? Look no further! Check out my newest page, where we offer sworn translation from Spanish to English or English to Spanish!

What do Spanish people call their frenemies? It’s simple, really—enemigos. Ha! Get it? Or am I the only one who thought that was funny.

Translation can be a tricky thing. It’s tempting to Englishize all the Spanish words we don’t know. Thus, problem becomes problemo (wrong) and perfect becomes perfecto (correct). But sometimes we get into trouble with this line of thinking.

My Top 10 Spanish Translation Mistakes

1. Estar embarazada vs. to be embarrassed

Come on, I can’t not mention it. Who hasn’t, on their first trip to Spain or Mexico or wherever, let it slip that they’re so embarazada? I know I have. Too bad embarazada means pregnant!

Understanding a Language in Stages

We were watching a soccer (football) match on television a few months ago when it hit me: I understood him—the commentator, that is. Even when a goal was scored and his words flew out faster than I thought possible, I understood. I wasn’t even trying. A few years ago, I would have been astounded to understand such commentary. (If you don’t know, they tend to speak very quickly.) Nowadays it’s almost old hat. What a change!

And I’m not saying this to brag. I got to thinking about the different levels of understanding a language. In my case, it’s Spanish, specifically Spain Spanish.

Of course you could go with levels, but I prefer my own method here: