Spain continues to be one of the favourite holiday destinations for Brits looking for some sun and relaxation. More than 18 million UK tourists headed to the European country last year, according to Spanish Statistical Office (INE), making Britain the main country of origin for international tourists.
Many will make an effort to try and learn a few Spanish words and phrases to impress the locals and foster better relations. However, Brits are being urged to “mind their language” and to avoid making a common and embarrassing mistake by Claudio Guasti – the head of culture and communication at City Lit. You might be forgiven for thinking the word “embarazada” means “embarrassed”, because of its similarity to the English word.
But this would be, ironically, a rather embarrassing mistake, as the Spanish word actually means “pregnant”. If you want to say you are embarrassed, then the correct phrase is “estoy avergonzado” for men or “estoy avergonzada” for women.
“Hasta la vista” is another phrase that is wrongly used and can produce a few wry smiles from Spaniards. It became famous after being used in the film Terminator 2: Judgement day in an exchange between the two main characters – John Connor and the Terminator T-800 played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Trying to teach the Terminator slang, John Connor says: “No, no, no, no. You gotta listen to the way people talk.
“You don’t say ‘affirmative’ or some s*** like that. You say ‘no problemo’. And if someone comes up to you with an attitude, you say ‘eat me’.
“And if you want to shine them on, it’s ‘hasta la vista, baby’.” In reply, T-800 says: “Hasta la vista, baby.”
However, the phrase is not commonly used by native Spanish speakers in everyday conversations. Spaniards tend to prefer “hasta luego” (see you later) or simply “adios” (goodbye).
Spanish speakers can also often struggle to master the English language, which presents an array of challenges to be overcome.
Perhaps one of the biggest obstacles for Spaniards is English pronunciation, which for many foreign speakers is notoriously difficult. A common mistake that Spanish speakers make is pronouncing “V” as “B’ sound in English.
As such words like “very” will sound like “berry”, and “vote” will sound like “boat”. “TH” sounds are also a common issue.