Embarazada is not embarrassed: false friends for Spanish speakers

The kid-safe dozen

• rope is a cuerda — Spanish ropa (clothes) is clothes in English.
• exit is a salida — Spanish éxito (success) is success.
• large means big — Spanish largo (long) is long.
• carpet is an alfombra — Spanish carpeta (folder) is a folder.
• soap is jabón — Spanish sopa (soup) is soup.
• pie is a tarta — Spanish pie (foot) is a foot.
• arena means a stadium — Spanish arena (sand) is sand.
• library is a biblioteca — a librería (bookshop) is a bookshop.
• assist means to help — asistir (to attend) is to attend.
• constipated is about the tummy — constipado (with a cold) is having a cold.
• embarrassed means ashamed — embarazada (pregnant) is pregnant. The all-time classic.
• actually means 'in fact' — actualmente (currently) is currently.

The giggle method

Draw the wrong picture on purpose: soup in the bathtub, a foot on a plate, success signs over every door. The class corrects YOU — 'no, teacher, soap!' — and correcting the teacher is the strongest memory glue primary school owns. One pair a week, resurrected in every Friday quiz.

And keep the perspective: for every false friend, Spanish hands your class fifty true ones. Teach the dozen traps with laughter, then go back to spending the inheritance.