12 FALLOS GRACIOSOS EN INGLÉS

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "12 FALLOS GRACIOSOS EN INGLÉS"

Frederick Scott
6 years ago
Views:

1 12 FALLOS GRACIOSOS EN INGLÉS 10 años de diversion enseñando inglés Daniel Smith

2 Produced with Spanish speakers for Spanish speakers Copyright Daniel Smith + Partners

3 Foreword by Daniel Smith My personal opinion is that you should never forget the comic element of learning a language. There will always be moments that you say something wrong that is funny for others. I think I have said hundreds of things incorrectly in Spanish that make my in-laws (familia politica) laugh uncontrollably. The point here is, that although this might be embarrassing at that moment, it is a great way to learn because you will never make that mistake again! The problem with playing it safe and always choosing the grammatical constructions or vocabulary that you are familiar with is that you will not make mistakes, or you will make some, but not enough. You need to change your perception that making mistakes is something that you want to avoid, to an approach where making mistakes is integral to your learning process. So, what is the conclusion? Well...quite simple...you need to let yourself make as many mistakes as possible because by doing so you allow yourself to improve dramatically. Clearly, you need to find the correct environment in which to do this, and you need to be sure that the person who is correcting you has sufficient knowledge to do so. This ebook is about the comical mistakes that some Spanish speakers make when they speak English. They are funny, and I laugh a lot when I hear them, but the reason they are useful, in a more strategic sense, is that they demonstrate the way in which making mistakes, and not worrying about them, can be hugely beneficial to your language learning journey.

4 1 NEVER SAY "PAN BIMBO" or "BIMBO BREAD" IN THE UK - This is an interesting fact that many Spanish speakers don't know. I was very surprised when I arrived in Spain for the first time and noticed that one of the most famous brands of bread is called: "Bimbo" When you are speaking English it is best to avoid using the word "bimbo" because in English it means: "A young woman who is considered to be attractive but not intelligent"!!! Hope that helps!

5 2 MOTHER-IN-LAW OR MOTHER-IN- LOVE? This is always a funny one for me but it is simply an issue of pronunciation. When Spanish speakers talk about their family-inlaw (familia politica) they often pronounce the word "law" as "love"!!! I don't know why this happens but the number of students that I have heard saying "my sister-in-love" is quite high so I assume that this is quite a common mistake for many Spanish speakers. You will have to let me know if you think you make this mistake! The important thing to remember here is that in English we say "brother-in-law" which is "LEY" and which, of course, is very different to "LOVE"! Hope that helps!

6 3 BITCH OR BEACH? - PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PRONUNCIATION TIP EVER! - For some reason it is quite difficult for Spanish speakers to differentiate between "bitch" and "beach". I think it is partly because Spanish speakers find the long "e" sound unnatural. In many ways, it is the same reason why Spanish speakers find the words "employee" or "colleague" difficult to say. So, what is my advice (nota que no es: "advices") in this case? Well, make sure that you use the long "e" sound when you say "beach" and then you will be fine. So it needs to be: "beeeech". The word "bitch" (que, por cierto, NO significa prostituta) is pronounced with a short and quick "i" sound, like "kitchen". Hope that helps

7 4 CÓMO SE DICE "CONSTIPADO" EN INGLÉS? - This is a classic and something that learnt very early when I came to Spain. Of all the false friends this is the most famous one because of its comic nature! So, I am sure you can guess what is coming? There is, as usual, always a temptation for Spanish speakers to use the Spanglish version of certain words and "constipado" is a good example of this. The Spanglish version is: "Oh, I feel terrible today, I am constipated!" Well...that is fine, but it is too much information for your English teacher! Especially, when you consider the fact, that "constipated" means "estreñido" in English. The word that you need to use rather than "constipated" is: "I feel ill" or "I am not feeling well" among others. So, please, be careful!!! Hope that helps!

8 5 "ESTOY FLIPANDO" IS NOT "I AM FLIPPING" - It is a little difficult to translate the exact idea of "estoy flipando" into English. One of the main problems is that there are probably two versions (an American version and a British version). The British version is "flipping out". Remember, it is very important to include the preposition "out" because if you just say "I am flipping" that would be a little strange and people would find it difficult to understand, especially because the verb "to flip" means to turn somthing over. The American version is "I am freaking out". Hope that helps!

9 6 "ME IMPORTA UN PEPINO" EN INGLÉS? - This is an expression that I only learnt recently, and in fact, I think I heard it on the radio. I found it quite interesting because it gives rise to the question about why Spanish speakers don't think "pepinos" are important!!! In the UK, cucumbers (pepinos) are very important and always have been so because we make cucumber sandwiches which are a vital part of the English diet (jaja). Anyway, getting back to the expression: the obvious translation would be "I don't care", but a more interesting version would be "I don't give two hoots". For example: "I don't give two hoots about want you think". Hope that helps!

10 7 SORRY TO "MOLEST" YOU...NO, DON'T SAY THAT! - Here, in Spain, I hear the expression "disculpe por las molestias" almost daily but I also worry that some Spanish speakers will take that phrase and make a Spanglish version of it. If you use "Sorry to molest you" in the UK it could get you into serious hot water (problemas). The reason why it might cause you problems is that, in English, the word "molest" means "to abuse someone sexually". Yes, definately something you want to avoid saying! So, what are the alternatives? Well, the most common way to express this is: "Sorry to bother you" or "Sorry to disturb you". Hope that helps!!

11 8 WHAT IS FROM LOST TO THE RIVER? When I first came to Spain I did quite a lot of intensive courses and they were very enjoyable because you get to know many Spanish speakers and they tell you all about Spanish culture and traditions which is very interesting. There were, however, a few moments when the Spaniards were laughing about something and, to be honest, I had no idea why they found a specific sentence so funny (gracioso). Bit by bit (poco a poco) I started to notice that this sentence was repeated again and again as something funny so in the end I thought it would be worth (vale la pena) investigating it. The sentence, of course, was: From lost to the river which as a native speaker makes no sense at all. Only much later did I know that it was a direct translation of de perdidos al rio. If you try to find the correct translation of de perdidos al rio google-translate will tell you that it is: lost to the river!!!!! So generally I would suggest avoiding google-translate!! The closest thing that we have to this expression is: in for a penny, in for a pound. Hope that helps!

12 9 QUÉ ES "LIQUID ENGLISH? - Have you ever noticed that your English gets a lot better when you drink a few glass of wine? In English teacher circles (en el entorno profesional de los profesores de inglés) we call this "Liquid English". Interestingly, this is entirely normal. Although you might think that this is a false perception because you are a little bit tipsy (un poco borracho) the truth is, that people probably DO perform better in a foreign language when they have had a little to drink because they feel less inhibited and are not so worried about making mistakes. So the next time you go out for a few drinks check it out and see how good your liquid English is!!!

13 10 CÓMO SE DICE 10 PAVOS" EN INGLÉS? - Over the years that I have lived in Spain my vocabulary has become more extensive and it is always interesting to pick up (phrasal verb) new words and expressions. It is clearly one of the big advantages of living in a country where the language you are trying to learn surrounds you. The word "pavos" is a good example of this. I can't really remember the day that I learnt the meaning of "pavos" but once I had heard it, I did not forget it. So, how do you say "pavos" in English? Well, there are two options. The British version is "quid" and in the US they use "bucks". So, for example: "He gave me 10 quid" or "Can you give me 10 bucks?" Hope that helps!

14 11 CÓMO SE DICE "DIVERTIDO" Y "GRACIOSO" EN INGLÉS? I can't believe that I have not done this post before! It is such a common mistake that I should have written about it a long time ago! Spanish speakers get confused with funny and fun all the time. In an overall sense, I am sure that they know the difference, but it is one of those things that you can get wrong because you are speaking in full flow and are not thinking that much. (By the way, I don't think these types of mistakes are very serious, and in fact, I would prefer you to speak in full flow rather than be worried about making mistakes.) The usual mistake that is made is the use of "funny" rather than fun. So Spanish speakers say something like: "The meeting was funny". Normally, at this point, I know that something has gone wrong because it is very rare for a meeting to be "funny". It might have been "fun" but is quite unlikely that the meeting was "funny". So just remember, "fun"="divertido" and "funny"="gracioso". Hope that helps!

15 12 STEAK OR STICK? - Many Spanish speakers find English words difficult to pronounce and this is an example. So you go into a very posh (pijo) restaurant and you think to yourself that you would like to have a very nice "filete de ternera". So the waiter comes and asks you what you want and you say "I would like your very best STICK"!!!! This mistake is VERY common. "Stick" means "palo" so you are asking for a "PALO" in a posh restaurant! You need to get this right, the correct way to say "steak" is like this: "STAY-K". Hope that helps!

16 Muchas gracias por su interés

BBC LEARNING ENGLISH 6 Minute Vocabulary Phrasal verbs and context

BBC LEARNING ENGLISH 6 Minute Vocabulary Phrasal verbs and context This is not a word-for-word transcript Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary. I m And I m. In this programme we re looking at multi-word