12 FALLOS GRACIOSOS 

EN INGLÉS
10 años de diversion enseñando inglés

Daniel Smith
Produced with Spanish speakers
for Spanish speakers

Copyright 2017 - Daniel Smith + Partners

 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.
 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!
 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-in-
law (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!
 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
 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!
 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!
 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!
 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!!
 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!
 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!!!  
 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!
 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!
 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!
Muchas gracias
por su interés