Recently, I received an email from a customer that said:
“Patrick, you talk a lot about the learning-Spanish mistakes that your American friends in Medellin make. Surely, you have made tons of mistakes of your own in your journey to learn Spanish.”
Well, I have certainly made lots of mistakes. In fact, I think one of the main reasons why I was able to learn Spanish so quickly is because I have never been afraid to make mistakes. By committing lots of mistakes I learned the correct words and proper grammar.
But there is one story that I would like to share with you where I made a couple of embarrassing mistakes.
I committed these errors in the fall of 2001. Once a week, in the evening, we — a group of English speakers learning Spanish and a group of Spanish speakers learning English — would meet at an elementary school in Manhattan. We would help the Spanish speakers with English and they would help us with Spanish. It was a free class given at an elementary school. But the class was only for adults.
I am sure that it was the fall of 2001 because of something that I distinctly remember and will NEVER forget:
Every week that I went to the class there was a nauseating smell of burnt jet fuel lingering in the air that literally lasted for months.
There were about 5 or 6 of us (English speakers) in the class and about 15 to 20 Spanish speakers.
One evening, the instructor of the class asked if any of the English speakers would volunteer to demonstrate how do you use the preterit tense in Spanish by describing what he or she did that morning. For example, woke up, showered, brushed your teeth, ate breakfast, left for work, etc.
I quickly raised my hand before any of the other Gringos had a chance to volunteer.
I don’t remember everything that I said but I do remember saying “Me bañé con sopa.”
I was trying to say “I washed myself with soap.”
Unfortunately, the Spanish word for soap is “jabón” and the Spanish word for soup is “sopa.”
So all the Spanish speakers in the class were roaring with laughter after I said that phrase. My Spanish was not good enough to understand what they were saying to each other but I imagine that they were saying “this Gringo bathes himself with soup.”
One of the Spanish speakers then corrected me and told me that the Spanish word for soap is “jabón” not “sopa.”
How To Say I am Pregnant In Spanish
In an effort to express my embarrassment I said to the class “estoy muy embarazado.”
Unfortunately, the Spanish phrase “Estoy embarazado” does NOT mean “I am embarrassed.” “Estoy embarazada” means “I am pregnant.”
So when I told the class “Estoy muy embarazado” I actually said that “I am very pregnant.”
As you probably guessed, my second mistake lead to even louder round of laughter from the Spanish speakers in the class.
How To Say I’m Embarrassed In Spanish
The correct way to say “I am embarrassed” in Spanish is “Tengo vergüenza.”
By the way, I noticed in Colombia the people usually do NOT say “Tengo vergüenza” in order to say “I am embarrassed.” In Colombia the “gente” (people) say “me da pena” in order to say “I am embarrassed.” “Me da pena” literally means “it gives me shame.”
In some Spanish speaking countries you may also hear people say “me da vergüenza” (I am embarrassed).
By the way, I noticed in Colombia — or at least in Medellin — normally people do not Estoy embarazada, ella está embarazada, etc.”
In Colombia they usually say:
Estoy en embarazo. (I am pregnant.) Ella está en embarazo. (She is pregnant.)
