WordVale
Spanish and English share vast Latin vocabulary, which makes Spanish speakers fast readers of English and slow trusters of their own instincts. The shared words hide the traps, and the sound system supplies the rest.
The E before S
Spanish has no word beginning with s plus a consonant — every one takes an initial e: escuela, España, estudiante. English is full of them, so the e arrives uninvited: Spain becomes "Espain", student becomes "estudent", street becomes "estreet".
The fix is mechanical. Start the word with the hiss itself — hold the /s/ for a moment before releasing into the rest. "Ssspain". It feels exaggerated and sounds correct.
To be, twice
Spanish splits being into ser and estar, and English collapses both into be. That's the easy direction. The hard direction is the things Spanish does with tener — to have — that English does with be.
- Tengo 30 años → "I am 30", never "I have 30 years"
- Tengo hambre → "I am hungry", never "I have hunger"
- Tengo frío → "I am cold"
- Tengo razón → "I am right"
False friends
| Spanish | Looks like | Actually means |
|---|---|---|
| actualmente | actually | currently |
| embarazada | embarrassed | pregnant |
| éxito | exit | success |
| realizar | realise | to carry out |
| asistir | assist | to attend |
| sensible | sensible | sensitive |
| librería | library | bookshop |
The missing subject
Spanish verb endings carry the person, so the subject is optional: Está lloviendo. English needs a subject even when there's nothing to refer to — "It is raining", "There are three people". Neither it nor there means anything; the grammar simply demands a filler.
Sounds Spanish doesn't have
- The short /ɪ/. Spanish has one i sound, so ship and sheep, live and leave collapse together. The short one is relaxed and quick; the long one is tense and smiling.
- /v/. Spanish b and v are the same sound, so very becomes "bery". English /v/ needs the top teeth on the bottom lip.
- /z/. Spanish has no voiced z, so zoo becomes "soo" and, more noticeably, every plural -s that should buzz comes out hissing.
- Final consonant clusters. Texts and asked are genuinely hard; nobody minds if you soften them.
What to do about it
Read English written for adults and save the phrases where your instinct would have reached for a cognate. That's where the improvement is — the unfamiliar words are the easy part. The routine is here.