Common English mistakes Spanish speakers make, and how to fix them

If your first language is Spanish, your English mistakes follow Spanish grammar and sounds. They are not carelessness — they are transfer, and once you see the pattern they're easy to catch.

The big ones. 1) "I have 30 years" (tengo 30 años) → "I'm 30"; same with "I have hunger/cold" → "I'm hungry/cold". 2) "The life is hard", "the people are" → English drops "the" for general ideas: "Life is hard", "People are". 3) "People is" → "people are" (plural in English). 4) Dropped subjects: "Is raining" → "It's raining"; "Is important" → "It's important". 5) Adjective after the noun: "a car red" → "a red car". 6) Double negatives: "I don't know nothing" → "I don't know anything". 7) "Since two years" (desde hace) → "for two years". 8) False friends: "actually" ≠ actualmente (say "currently"), "assist" ≠ asistir (say "attend"), "sensible" ≠ sensible (say "sensitive"), "embarrassed" ≠ embarazada, "carpet" ≠ carpeta ("folder"). 9) "Explain me" → "explain to me"; "make a question" → "ask a question". 10) Pronunciation: /b/ and /v/ merge ("berry" for "very"), "e" before s-clusters ("eschool", "eSpain"), ship/sheep vowel length, "jes" for "yes", and "ch" for "sh" ("chip" for "ship").

A list won't fix these; making them out loud and being corrected in the moment will. Airi is built for that: she hears the pattern, fixes the one mistake that matters in her reply, and keeps the conversation going. Speak with her daily and these stop being habits within a few weeks. Free to start, no card.

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