We LOVE learning new words in Spanish - but we're fearful sometimes of using them because we don't want to misuse them... Here are a few of my blunders when I first began learning and speaking Spanish. Hopefully you can learn from some of my mistakes and side step them!
perezoso (lazy) and peligroso (dangerous)
peh-reh-soh-soh --- peh-lee-groh-soh
There's a pretty funny story with this one - if you have a few minutes, you might want to hear it here: Spanish Geniuses: Confusing Words
embarazada - pregnant (ehm-bah-rah-sah-dah)
Yeah. Pregnant. not embarrassed, like you would think... and Yes, I used this one before too. And no, I was NOT pregnant, I was VERY embarrassed, though!
el año - the year (ehl ahn-yoh)
el ano - the anus (ehl ah-noh)
We use this one ALL the time. The big deal is to make sure you make the tilde (that squiggle on the top of the n) sound, don't skip it. ehl ahn-yoh. If you leave it off.... you'll get some giggles from your lack of noticing the squiggle!
Sometimes it's not so much the word choice, but just remembering the gender of the words!
la casa - the house
el caso - the case
el libro - the book
la libra - the pound (like a weight measurement)
el papá - father / daddy (pah-pah)
la papa - potato (pah-pah)
el Papa - the Pope (pah-pah)
This is the same gender, but different ending...
el hombre - the man (ohm-breh)
el hombro - the shoulder (ohm-broh)
I think those are enough for now~
Enjoy the laughs and practice the differences with charades, flashcards, and doodles!