Today, we will cover how to learn Spanish phrases and avoid common mistakes
with Spanish vocabulary words. In a previous article, I told you about my
friend Harry from New York who was here visiting me in Medellin, Colombia.
Harry has returned to the States but I did not forget that I told you in my
last email that I was going to tell you about some more learning Spanish
mistakes that Harry made with his Spanish.

As I mentioned before the main mistake that Harry made during his visit
here was assuming that all Spanish words only have one meaning. Just like
many English words have more than one meaning, many Spanish words also have
more than one meaning.

Here are 3 more mistakes that he made by assuming that all Spanish words only
have one meaning.

Error Número Uno:

Harry had asked me was it safe to visit the “barrio” (neighborhood) where his
“novia”
(girlfriend) lives.

And I told him:

Te recomiendo que no vayas alla.
(I recommend that you do not go there.)

He asked:

Por qué no?
(Why not?)

And I answered: Porque hay muchas bandas en ese barrio.

His response to that was:

Pero me encanta la música latina.
(But I love Latino music.)

In this instance Harry assumed that the only definition for the Spanish
word “banda” is “band” as in a “musical band.” But “banda” also means
“gang” as in:

Porque hay muchas bandas en ese barrio.
(Because there are a lot of gangs in that
neighborhood.)

Error Número Dos:

Harry being the “arriesgado” (daring) type decided to ignore my advice and
go to the “barrio” that I recommended that he not go to. When he returned to
my home later that night I asked him:

¿Cómo te fue?
(How did it go?)

Cuéntame Harry.

When I said “cuéntame” to him at first he looked a bit puzzled. And then he
pointed to me and said:

Uno, dos, tres, cuatro…..

This time Harry assumed that the only definition for the verb “contar” is
“to “count.” The verb “contar” does mean “to count.” But “contar” also means
“to tell.”

So when I said “cuéntame” to him, I meant for him to “tell me” and not
“count me.”

Error Número Tres:

His last day here before returning to the airport, Harry told me that he
often gets sick when he flies. So I told him:

Vamos a la farmacia.
(Let’s go to the pharmacy.)

No necesitas una receta.

When I said to him “no necesitas una receta,” he responded:
“Why would someone bring a recipe to a drug store?”

Do you see the mistake he made?

The mistake that he made here is probably obvious to you. He assumed that
the only definition for the word “receta” is “recipe” — when it also means
“prescription.”

By the way, in response to my last article, I was surprised to receive several
emails that asked if the vocabulary words or the vocabulary definitions that
I used were only used in Colombia.

Absolutely not. I did not mean to imply that.

In addition to “cat,” the word “gato” also means “jack” in standard Latin
American Spanish. And I would not be surprised if “gato” is also the word
that they use in Spain for “jack.”

Besides “bomb,” “bomba” also means “gas station” — and that’s pretty standard
Spanish throughout Latin America.

And “puedo retirar (los platos)?” (can I lift the plates?) is used by “meseros”
(waiters) in other Latin American countries besides Colombia.

In fact, I have a friend who is a Spanish instructor from Argentina and
she has a learning-Spanish blog and in one of her blog posts she wrote that in
Argentina you may hear either “puedo retirar (los platos)?” or “puedo levantar
(los platos)?” in the restaurants in Argentina.

The only one I am not sure about being a phrase that is used only in Colombia
or throughout most of Latin America is when the “meseros” (waiters) ask “Quiere cancelar?”
as oppoed to “Quiere pagar?” As I mentioned in my last article, “cancelar” means “to cancel”
and it also means “pagar una deuda” (to pay a debt).

That’s it for today.

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