Hearing, Part 2

Many thanks to my beautiful wife Angela, who very reluctantly allowed me to take this picture of hear ear for today's post!

Hello, and happy Word Wednesday! Today I wanted to share a bit of vocabulary related to hearing and ears.

The most basic word here is ear, which are the organs on the side of your face that help you hear. The bottom part of the ear is called the earlobe. That's the part that many people pierce so that they can wear earrings. In the picture above, you can see Angela's earring in her earlobe. She got her ears pierced when she was about seven years old. In her case, her sister pierced her ear with a needle, but it's also very common these days for girls to get their ears pierced at a store that uses a piercing gun.

So, what can you do with your ears? Most people can hear and listen with them (see the post from Monday for an explanation about when to use these two words). Synonyms for hear and listen can include "listen up" and "pay attention."  If you hear someone say something but the person wasn't specifically talking to you, then you overhear something. If you are deliberately spying on other people and listening to their conversation without their permission, you are snooping or eavesdropping.

Q-tips (cotton swabs). (Image Credit)

But what if your ears get dirty? Most people clean them with a Q-tip (which is a brand name for a cotton swab). But be careful! Supposedly, according to overprotective mothers all over the world, you shouldn't stick a Q-tip too far into your ear or you'll break your ear drum, one of the parts of your inner ear that helps you hear!

Finally, if you are exceptionally talented, you can wiggle your ears. "To wiggle" means to move a little bit. Watch this short clip from one of my favorite movies, The Goonies. The big man, named "Sloth," can wiggle his ears:

VOCABULARY REVIEW:

Let's review the words we covered today. Can you explain what each of these words means? If not, read the post again. The definitions are at the bottom of the post.

Words for today:

1. hearing

2. ear

3. earlobe

4. to pierce / to get a piercing

5. earring

6. to hear

7. to listen

8. to overhear

9. to spy

10. to snoop

11. to eavesdrop

12. Q-tip

13. inner ear

14. ear drum

15. to wiggle

Could you define those words? If not, check the post again. Here are some suggested definitions for these words.

Suggested Definitions:

1. hearing - interpreting sound; the general name for the sense 

2. ear - the visible part of your body's hearing organs

3. earlobe - the lowest part of your ear

4. to pierce / to get a piercing - to perforate a part of your body for decoration

5. earring - a decoration in a pierced ear

6. to hear - (see Monday's post)

7. to listen - (see Monday's post)

8. to overhear - to hear unintentionally

9. to spy - unauthorized listening to other people's conversations

10. to snoop - synonym of "spy"

11. to eavesdrop - synonym of "spy"

12. Q-tip - a cotton swab; a stick with pieces of cotton at both ends

13. inner ear - the interior parts of your body's hearing organs

14. ear drum - part of the inner ear

15. to wiggle - to move a little bit

I hope that vocabulary was helpful! If you have any comments or questions, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading, and have a great night!

Common Error: "News"

"Breaking News" refers to a news story that is urgent or developing at the moment. The particular piece of news in the picture was the death of Michael Jackson. (Image by David McKelvey)

Welcome again to Mistake Monday! We actually talked about today's Common Error a few times in my class last week, so I thought it would be appropriate to mention it here. It's also easy to correct:

Common Error: Use of the word "news"
DON’T say this:	"Did you hear the new? Joan is pregnant!" "That's a very sad new." "That's a very sad news."
WHY?	-This is confusing because noticias in Spanish is usually translated as "news" in English. And that's correct, but only when it's plural. -"the news" is an idea or a concept (not something physical), and we treat it like a plural noun in English. For example: "I got some good news at work today--they're going to give me a raise!" "I watch the news on TV and read the newspaper every day." -If we need to make this idea singular, we can't count "news" since it's an abstract idea. Instead, we can add the phrase "a piece of": "I got an annoying piece of news from the bank: my account is overdrawn." But even in this case, it's still more common to treat the world as a plural and use the word "some": "I got some annoying news from the bank: my account is overdrawn."  BONUS TIP! The word "new" exists in English, of course, but it's only used as an adjective (descriptive word) that means the opposite of "old" or "used."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Did you hear the news? Joan is pregnant!" -"That's some very sad news." OR -"That's a very sad piece of news."

That's it for today! If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

More "Big" Words

The London Skyline. On the right is the clock tower in the Palace of Westminster. The bell, and sometimes the whole clock tower, is called "Big Ben." (Image Credit)

Hello, and welcome to Word Wednesday! On Monday we talked about the difference between tall and high, and when we can use both of those words. So today I thought we could look at a few more words related to SIZE. Today we'll look at "big" words, and next Wednesday we'll look at "small" words.

HEIGHT

A diagram comparing the heights of some of New York's tallest and most famous buildings. (Image)

To review, as we saw on Monday, tall and high both describe height. We usually measure height (click for pronunciation) in centimeters and meters (and in inches and feet in the USA). The opposite of tall is generally short; the opposite of high can also be short, but more often is low.

Here are some examples:

"The Empire State Building is a very famous tall building in New York City. However, the new World Trade Center tower will be taller than the Empire State Building."

"I'm about 6 feet, 1 inch tall. That's around 186 centimeters. I wasn't especially short or tall as a child, although now I am taller than many people in Costa Rica."

(Giving instructions while hanging a painting): "OK, move it a little higher... higher... that's too much, move it just a little bit lower, a little bit lower...perfect!"

GENERAL SIZE

I took this picture of the Grand Canyon in January. Yep, it's big!

The most common word to describe size in English is big; its opposites are little and small. Today we'll look at "big" words, and next week we'll look at "little" words. 

Other words that mean "big" include:

-large: often used for general descriptions, but especially common with clothing

-grand or great: these two words are not as common in modern English; both of them can also mean "amazing" or "excellent," as in "The Grand Canyon" or "The Great Wall of China"

-huge, gigantic, enormous, humongous, gargantuan, massive, etc.: all of these words are extreme forms; they all describe something that's very big; click on any of the words to hear their pronunciation

Can you think of any other words to describe size? There are certainly more synonyms, but these words seem to me like the most common ones. 

Don't forget to check back next Wednesday for words related to "small" and "little"! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Common Error: Downtown

Hello! Welcome again to Mistake Monday! Today we'll look at another Common Error that's pretty easy to correct. But first, I have a question: Where do you live? If you said something like "San Ramón downtown" or "Palmares center," then this post is for you!

Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh is one of my favorite cities. (Image)

Common Error: Use of the word "Downtown"
DON’T say this:	"I live in San José downtown." "When we're visiting New York, we'll be staying in the center." "I live in Palmares center."
WHY?	"Downtown" is certainly a word, but it's normally not used in this way in English (click here for more general information about the word). Downtown normally refers to a large city's historical and/or commercial core. In other words, it's a way to describe part of the city, which makes the word work like an adjective. Therefore, it should normally go before the city's name, along with any other words that describe an area in a city. For example: Downtown New York City is amazing on New Year's Eve. He moved to East Saint Louis. It's not safe to walk around downtown San José at night. You can also use the word by itself: We need to take a train or a taxi to go downtown. Also, notice that I said it's normally used with large cities. Palmares may be a nice town, but it only has one stop light in the whole town. To say "downtown Palmares" just sounds strange. You could say "I live in the center of Palmares," but it would be clearer to say the name of your neighborhood or district. You can also describe the location, especially in small towns. In Spanish, a similar concept is "centro," or the center of the city. But in English this sounds strange sometimes. If you do say "center," it usually indicates a building or complex, or possibly the geographic center of a place: We went to a performance last night at the Lincoln Center. Madrid is in the center of Spain, but Barcelona isn't.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"I live in downtown San José." -"When we're visiting New York, we'll be staying downtown." OR -"When we're visiting New York, we'll be staying in (name of neighborhood)." -"I live in Palmares, near the bus station."

So, that's it for today. If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

A map of downtown Denver, Colorado. Denver is nice, but it's confusing to drive downtown, since all the streets are at 45-degree angles from the surrounding roads. (Image)

False Friend: Sopa vs. Soap

Hello, and-- wait, is it Wednesday?! Whoops! It's Word Wednesday, so I need to write a False Friend, and quickly, since it will be Thursday in one hour. Let's see, here's a good one, and it even came up in a class earlier today. It's often a pronunciation problem, but if you change the pronunciation, you change the word. But first... QUICK! What is in this picture? 

If you said "soup," you're excused to go. If you said "soap," then you should probably read the rest of today's post:

False Friend: sopa vs. soap
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
sopa	soap	This is pretty easy to correct. (Click on the words in green for their pronunciation.) Sopa in Spanish is "soup" in English. It is what you order in a restaurant, and the word rhymes with "loop" and "stoop." On the other hand, "soap" in English is jabón in Spanish. You use it to wash and clean your hands, for example. "Soap" rhymes with "hope," "rope," and "dope."

So, now that you've read this post, you can eat a nice bowl of soup... but first, be sure to wash your hands with plenty of soap!

Hmm... just to check, QUICK! What is this a picture of?

If you said "soup," then you should probably start reading at the top again, and repeat as necessary!

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. If you have suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

(Image Credits: First and Second Picture)

Common Error: Addressing a Teacher as "Teacher"

Welcome to Mistake Monday! Today's Common Error is very basic but very common, at least in almost all my classes in Costa Rica.

My face wasn't this skeptical until my students started calling me "Teacher Ryan" continuously.

Common Error: Addressing a teacher as "Teacher"
DON’T say this:	"Hello Teacher, how are you?" "Teacher Ryan, could you repeat that?" (To get my attention): "Teacher! Teacher!"
WHY?	I realize that in Costa Rica this is common for some reason, but it still sounds ridiculous to me (and to any teacher from the U.S.A. I talk to about this). Whenever my students call me "Teacher," I respond by calling them "Student" or, if I know their jobs, "Baker," "Engineer," "Airport Cop," "Carpenter," etc. If that sounds strange, then you understand why calling me "Teacher" is strange for me. My name is Ryan, so call me Ryan or, if you absolutely need a title, you can call me "Mr. Sitzman." Don't confuse a personal title with a job description. Common personal titles include Mr., Mrs., Miss, Doctor, Professor, Principal, President, and a few others. If you call someone by their title, you say Title + Last Name, as in: -"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is the title of a famous movie." -"Principal Jefferson gave a teaching award to Miss Holmes, the Math teacher." -"Dr. Henderson prescribed the old man some medicine for his back pain." In English, "teacher" is a job description, but not really a title. Think of this: I have a friend named Brad who is a lawyer, but no one calls him "Lawyer Brad." I have another friend named Andrea who cleaned hotel rooms, but no one called her "Housekeeper Andrea." Those are just job names or descriptions, but not titles for people. Also, as I mentioned last week, you shouldn't address your teacher as "professor" unless she or he has a PhD degree. If that's the case, then you can call them "Professor + (last name)." For example you could call Albert Einstein "Professor Einstein," but not "Professor Albert," and definitely not "Teacher Albert."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Hello Ryan, how are you?" OR -"Hello Mr. Sitzman, how are you?" -"Ryan, could you repeat that?" OR -"Could you repeat that?" (If you're already looking at me, then you don't need to say my name over and over.) -(To get my attention): "Excuse me, Ryan?" OR -(You can also just silently raise your hand... I'll probably see you and help if I can.)

So, that's it for today. If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

False Friend: Profesor vs. Professor

Is the man in the white lab coat a teacher or a professor? (Image)

Hello! Today we have another False Friend. If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this introductory post. Today we'll look at the difference between profesor in Spanish and professor in English. We'll look at the word "teacher" next Monday, since this topic comes up in almost every class I teach.

False Friend: profesor vs. professor
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
profesor	professor	In Spanish, at least in Costa Rica, profesor/a can be used for any kind of teacher or instructor: "La profesora de cuarto grado habló con sus alumnos." ("The fourth grade teacher spoke with her students.") In English, professor (note the spelling) refers to a person who has a PhD (doctorate of philosophy) degree from a university. Normally a person becomes a professor after studying in the university for at least 7 years total. The word can be used for a man or a woman, and it can also be used as a personal title: "I got bad grades in my university Chemistry classes, but at least my professor was good. She was always helpful and patient." OR "Professor Smith will be giving a lecture on tropical ecosystems." You can refer to any instructor or teacher who isn't a professor as a "teacher," but "teacher" is just a job description and generally not a title. We'll look more at this on Monday.

So, in the picture above, is the person in the white lab coat a teacher or a professor? Possibly both. He's definitely a teacher, but if he has a PhD, then he's also a professor. In this case, the picture information says his name is Professor Hellmuth Stachel --we capitalize "professor" since it's his title. Because he has a doctorate degree, we can also call him "Doctor Hellmuth Stachel," but in academia it's more common to say "professor" instead of "doctor," since "doctor" can cause confusion with medical doctors.

If you don't understand this, you can ask me or your normal English teacher or professor. But remember that I'm  not a professor, because I only have an M.A., not a PhD. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Clothing Vocabulary: "A Pair Of..."

Finally! A man who knows how to wear a pair of pants with style! (Image)

Good afternoon, and welcome to Word Wednesday! On Monday we looked at a common word we say when we talk about clothing: "wear." Today I wanted to talk about a vocabulary point that is different in English and other languages:

Common Vocabulary Error: "a pair of..."
DON’T say this:	Today I am wearing a jeans and boots, and she is wearing a short and tennis. I need to wash my clothes; I don't have a single clean underwear. She always wore a glasses.
WHY?	All of the following words are considered plural in English, and can be "counted" with the phrase "a pair of...": -a pair of glasses / sunglasses / reading glasses / etc. -a pair of ski goggles / swimming goggles / etc. -a pair of ear muffs -a pair of headphones / earphones -a pair of underwear / boxer shorts / briefs / panties / etc. -a pair of jeans / pants / trousers / slacks / dress pants / etc. -a pair of shorts / swimming trunks / board shorts / hot pants / etc. -a pair of leggings / tights / pantyhose / etc. In some languages (like Spanish and German) many of these can be singular. For example, in Spanish you can say "un pantalón," and in German "eine Hose"; in English, both of these are "a pair of pants" (or "a pair of trousers" in British English). But why do we say "a pair" if it's only one piece of clothing? That's a good question. Notice that most of these words are for clothing related to your legs, ears, or eyes. I normally tell my students to count the number of legs, ears, or eyes to remember that certain pieces of clothing are always plural in English. If that's too complicated, remember that in many cases, we can even eliminate the phrase "a pair of," as long as we say the clothing in plural: "She's wearing shorts and tennis shoes." OR "He wears goggles and swimming trunks when he goes to the pool." Obviously, if you're talking about clothing that has two parts (like shoes, gloves, boots, etc.), then those are also going to be considered plural.
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Today I am wearing a pair of jeans and a pair of boots, and she is wearing a pair of shorts and a pair of tennis shoes." OR -"Today I am wearing jeans and boots, and she is wearing shorts and tennis shoes." -"I need to wash my clothes; I don't have a single clean pair of underwear." -"She always wore a pair of glasses." OR -"She always wore glasses."

Hopefully that makes sense. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.

If you're reading this in Costa Rica, hopefully you can enjoy the beautiful day-- go for a nice walk, but be sure to wear a pair of shorts and a pair of sunglasses!

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Leap Year

Hello, and welcome to "Word Wednesday"! Today we'll talk about vocabulary related to a special event that literally happens only once every four years. It's called "leap year." 

As you have probably noticed, today is February 29th. You probably also noticed that February normally has 28 days, but that every four years we add an extra day to the month. When that happens, we say that it's a leap year, as in "2012 is a leap year" or "I was born in a leap year (1980)." Leap rhymes with jeep, sheep, and cheap. Sometimes today is referred to as "leap day."

When I was a kid I always wondered what happened to people who were born on February 29th, especially regarding their birthdays --did they only turn a year older every four years? When I was 12 years old, were a few unlucky classmates technically only 3? Apparently, most people born on leap day simply celebrate their birthdays on February 28th or March 1st, but that's not quite as mysterious or interesting!

So why does a year normally have 365 days, but every four years it has 366 days? You can read here for a detailed explanation, but basically it's because the Earth's revolution around the sun lasts a little bit more than 365 days, so if we didn't have leap years, eventually all the seasons would gradually shift to different times of the year.

It's also a good time to note that in English we generally use ordinal numbers for dates, not cardinal numbers. So, instead of saying "Today is February twenty-nine," we say "Today is February twenty-ninth." In a future post I'll write more about when we use ordinal and cardinal numbers.

Here are some useful vocabulary words for talking about leap year and calendars in general:

leap year - a year that has 366 days instead of 365, by adding February 29th

leap day - February 29th

solar calendar - a calendar based on the sun, like the Gregorian calendar (the one we most often use in the USA and most of the western world)

lunar calendar - a calendar based on the moon, like the one used in much of the Islamic world

cardinal numbers - "normal" numbers; one, two, three, etc.

ordinal numbers - numbers used to "order" or rank things; first, second, third, etc.

(to) turn + (age) - a phrase used to talk about your birthday and your age. For example, "Jane's birthday is tomorrow; she's turning 13." or "He turned 22 on January 18th."

seasons - the different times of year, characterized by changes in weather and day length; the four seasons are winter, spring, summer, and fall/autumn

"thirty days hath September..." - the beginning of a rhyme that children learn to remember the number of days in each month; most children only remember the beginning: "thirty days hath September, April, June, and November" 

So, that's it for the moment. Thanks for reading, and have a great leap day and and even better leap year!

Common Error: Confusing "use," "used to," and "(to be) used to"

Hello, and welcome to Mistake Monday! As I mentioned in my previous post about Sitzman ABC's new publishing schedule, on Mondays I'll be focusing on errors and difficult parts of English. Today we'll look at an error that causes problems for many of my advanced students. The problem is that people often confuse the words "use," "used to," and "(to be) used to." Still, with a bit of practice, it's not so hard. Let's look:

Common Error: Confusing "use," "used to" and "(to be) used to"
DON’T say this:	Every year my family gets together for Christmas. We always used to eat tamales and cake. When I was younger I am used to exercising every day.
WHY?	-First of all, "use" can be a verb or a noun. When it's a verb, the "s" is pronounced like a "z," and when it's a noun the "s" is pronounced like an "s." (Click here to hear the pronunciation of both forms.) -The verb use is normally a synonym of "utilize," but "utilize" isn't very common. Both words are usually combined with an object that does a specific job: "Jenny used a hammer and a nail to hang the picture frame on the wall."  -The phrase used to normally indicates common actions completely in the past (they are not happening now). This phrase is followed by an infinitive verb: "Jenny used to be a good artist before she broke her hand. She used to paint wonderful portraits, but now she can't do that anymore." -If you add the verb "to be" in any form before used to, it indicates common actions in the present. These phrases are followed by a gerund (-ing) verb: "Jenny is used to working according to a strict schedule. Every day she wakes up at 5 am, exercises, makes breakfast, and works three hours... all before Ryan gets out of bed! Ryan is used to waking up around 9 am!" -The phrase "(to be) used to" can normally be substituted with the word "usually."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"My family gets together every year for Christmas. We are used to eating tamales and cake." OR -"My family usually gets together every year for Christmas. We usually eat tamales and cake." -"When I was younger I used to exercise every day." (finished common action in the past) OR -"Nowadays I am used to exercising every day." (common action in the present)

What are some things you are used to doing?
What are some things you used to do?

If you have questions or comments related to this common error or the blog in general, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

False Friend: Costumbre vs. Custom and Costume

This is one of my favorite costumes: I just put on glasses and a wig, and Ryan Sitzman instantly becomes "Bryan Fitzman," Ryan Sitzman's Bizarro-style arch-enemy and nemesis!

Hello! It's been a long time since we looked at a False Friend, so I wanted to talk about one that I noticed in two of my classes recently. But first, if you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this introductory post. Today we'll look at the difference between costumbre in Spanish and the words "custom" and "costume" in English. Let's take a look:

False Friend: costumbre vs. custom and costume
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
costumbre	custom & costume	In Spanish, a costumbre is a habit or a custom. It is something that you are used to doing, or something that you do frequently. In English, if you do something frequently, you can say it is a habit or a custom, or that you are accustomed to doing something. For example, you could say: "When she's nervous, she has a habit of spinning her hair and biting her fingernails." OR "I am accustomed to studying English at least one hour per day." The word "costume" in English has a completely different meaning. It's like a disguise, or some clothing you put on so that you look like someone or something else. For example, many people wear costumes on Halloween. The equivalent Spanish word would be "disfraz." "Costume" can also refer to traditional clothing in a region, but this meaning is less common.

One more note: the pronunciation of "custom" and "costume" is a bit tricky for some students. If you click on each word, it'll take you to dictionary.com, where you can hear their pronunciation.

So, I hope you make it a habit to read my blog. If you want, try reading Sitzman ABC in a Superman costume --I heard it's 50% more interesting that way! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

British and American English Differences Part 2: Vocabulary

Before dictionary.com. Image Credit.

Hello, and welcome to the second post in our two-part series introducing some differences between American and British English! A few days ago we looked at (and listened to) some differences in pronunciation and accent, and today we'll look at another difference: vocabulary. I decided to focus on pronunciation and vocabulary because they are what I notice most when talking with British English speakers. There are in fact a few grammatical differences between the two languages (you can read a little more here), but the biggest differences seem to be in these two areas.

But first, I have a question for you, reader: What type(s) of English do/did you learn or speak? If you learned one style of English, did your teacher or textbook ever comment on other types of English? I'm just curious about your experiences. As you may know, I grew up in Colorado, in the USA, so when I was a child, I was exposed almost exclusively to American English. I did watch some British and Australian movies, but I never really thought much about the differences until I was 18, when I went to Germany as an exchange student. 

Yes, Germany. Even though I learned a lot of German, I still went to some English classes at the German school I attended, and there the teachers and most of the students spoke British English. At least in class; if I talked in English to German friends outside of class, many of them then tended to use more American expressions and accents, especially if they had watched a lot of American TV or movies, or listened to a lot of American pop music.

So, what's the point? Are British and American English words really that different? I'd say yes and no. I can think of only a few instances where a vocabulary difference can cause a major problem or a complete breakdown in communication. Usually, if you speak British English to an American English speaker, he or she will understand almost all of what you say; if there are any vocabulary differences, either the speaker or listener can ask for clarification, until there is mutual understanding.

Let me give you an example. I have a Danish cousin who went to school in England and who, as a result, generally speaks English with a British accent. I mentioned once that I was going to try to buy a new pair of pants, and he laughed at me. That's when I learned that in British English, "pants" is used to describe underwear, and most men wear "trousers." There are many examples of vocabulary differences like that, but they're more likely to make people laugh than to cause a communication problem. The two aspects in which vocabulary is noticeably different is word choice and spelling.

WORD CHOICE

Would you call these Pants? Trousers? Slacks? All of the above?

A few "common" differences that I've noticed in British English are words like lorries ("trucks" in AmE, or American English), mad (meaning "crazy" in AmE), mobile phone ("cell phone"), petrol ("gas"), rubbish ("garbage, trash"), flat ("apartment"), lift ("elevator"), and nappy ("diaper"). Like I said, these are just ones that I've noticed on various occasions, but there are hundreds of differences. Still, in most situations, if speakers know you don't always speak the same version of English as they do, they'll make efforts to communicate clearly, without using as many difficult words or as much slang.

You can find many words listed here, here, and here (the final link also briefly mentions differences between British and Australian and New Zealand English). Generally speaking, it seems like the categories with the most differences are clothing and food. But if you hear a word you don't understand, you can say something like, "I'm not sure I've heard that word before," or simply ask, "What's that?" and people will usually be happy to explain it to you.

SPELLING

A color wheel. Or is it a colour wheel?

Spelling is another occasionally noticeable difference between American and British English forms. You can find more information in the sites I mentioned above (or here), but there a few "famous" differences:

1. -or/-our: There are various words that are spelled with "-or" at the end in American English, and "-our" at the end in British English. These include humor/humour, color/colour, and flavor/flavour.

2. -ize/-ise: In American English, we'd say "recognize" and "prioritize," etc.; British English would say "recognise" and "prioritise."

3. -er/re: A few words have different endings, like "center" or "meter" (AmE); and "centre" or "metre" (in British and even Canadian English).

4. Other differences: There are various other differences, but common ones are "check," "tire," and "program" in American English; British equivalents are often "cheque," "tyre," and "programme."

In the end, these two types of English have much more in common than they have differences. If you go to New York and speak British English, you'll probably have no problems communicating; the same is true if you speak American English in London or Scotland. Even though there are differences, the differences can often be fascinating, and they give English extra "flavor"--or is it "flavour"??

Thanks for reading, and if you have comments or you'd like to contribute to the discussion, please leave a comment below. Have a great weekend! 

False Friends: Actual/Actualmente vs. Actual/Actually

Hello! I was on vacation for the last month or so, so I apologize that I didn't do any blog posts. I did put up a few things on Sitzman ABC's Facebook page, so if you want to follow that, you can do it by clicking here. 

What's another way to say this phrase in English? How would you say it in Spanish? Image Credit

Today we have another False Friend. If you don't know what a False Friend is, see this introductory post. Today we're going to look at the difference between actual and actualmente in Spanish and actual and actually in English. This is one of the most common False Friends I notice my students having problems with: 

False Friend: actual/actualmente vs. actual/actually
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
actual / actualmente	actual / actually	These two words look exactly the same, but they have different pronunciations and meanings: In Spanish, actual is a word used to indicate something relevant at this present time, right now: "Mi trabajo actual es bastante difícil." If you want to say the same thing in English, instead use the word current or present: "My current/present job is rather difficult." Also: "We are studying current events in our Social Studies class." The adverb forms of these words are currently and presently: "I'm currently (right now) working on my Sitzman ABC blog." In English, the words actual and actually indicate a contradiction. They mean the same thing as real or really in this context. For example: Jane: "Pete, you have a beautiful car!" Pete: "Actually, I think it's ugly."

Good luck! If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. If you have suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

False Friend: Asistir vs. Assist

An emergency call box for assistance (help). Photo Credit: Eric E. Johnson

Hello again! In a few days I'll post more about the Third Conditional, but for today we have another False Friend. If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this introductory post. I want to look at the difference between asistir in Spanish and assist in English. My students commonly confuse these two words: 

False Friend: asistir vs. assist
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
asistir	assist	In English, assist is usually used as a verb. It is similar to the word help. For example: "If you have English problems, please tell me and I'll be happy to assist you." In Spanish, asistir is a verb that often means to go to or to attend. BUT, it can also mean to help, depending on the context. As nouns in English, an "assistant" is a helper, and "assistance" is help. Note that "attendance" is a noun form of "attend." Compare: "When her car broke down, Jane called her insurance company to ask for assistance." "It's important to go to every English class because 10% of my final grade is based on class attendance." As nouns in Spanish, asistencia can mean either "attendance" (in a class) or "assistance" (help, like in the photo above).

I hope that helps you. If you're confused or have any questions, please leave a comment below and I'll be happy to try to assist you! If you have suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

False Friend: Discusión vs. Discussion

Are these birds having a discussion? An argument? Read on to find out! (Photo Credit)

Hello! Today we have another False Friend to discuss. If you're not sure what a False Friend is, check out this introductory post. Today we'll be looking at the difference between discusión in Spanish and discussion in English. Like most False Friends, they look very similar and in fact sometimes there's no difference in meaning. Still, there are some contexts where they mean different things. Let's look:

False Friend: discusión vs. discussion
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
discusión	discussion	In English, a discussion is usually the same thing as a conversation. It can be positive or negative, depending on the context. In Spanish, a discusión is usually a negative thing. In other words, if you use this word, it indicates that people were possibly yelling and getting very angry. Basically, it's like a verbal fight. If you want to say discusión in English, try to use a word like "an argument" or even "a fight." Those are closer to the meaning in Spanish.

I'll be posting more False Friends in the days and weeks to come, but if you have any suggestions for other False Friends or Common Errors, please tell me. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day full of interesting discussions--but hopefully no arguments!

Introduction: False Friends

A sign for a "night club" in Costa Rica. Read this post to see how "night clubs" in Spanish and "nightclubs" in English are different! 

There's a common English phrase that I like: "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"* It means that sometimes the people who we think are our friends, are the people who hurt us most. This can be applied to language learning when talking about cognates, or specifically false cognates. 

Cognates are words that look identical or very similar in two languages. For example, the Spanish word "actor" is identical to the English word "actor," and their meanings are the same. Only the pronunciation is a little different. So, we could say that "actor" and "actor" are cognates. (Click here for a nice list of many English-Spanish cognates.)

False cognates --also called "false friends"-- are pairs of words that look similar, but in fact have different definitions and meanings. One example that causes problems for a lot of people is the word "once." In Spanish, once means "eleven," but in English, "once" means "one time." Another example is "actual." In Spanish, actual means "current," but in English, it means "authentic" or "real."

I notice my students getting confused by false friends very frequently. As you know, I already have a Common Errors section in this blog, but since false friends are quicker and more specifically related to vocabulary, I decided to start a False Friends page on this blog. I'll post more of these false friends and their explanations occasionally, but if you want to have a quick list now, you can check different extended lists here, here, and here.

So, here's our first False Friend: "night club" in Spanish vs. "nightclub" in English:

False Friend:
This SPANISH word...	Looks like this ENGLISH word...	...but they are DIFFERENT because...
"night club"	nightclub	Obviously, "night club" isn't really a native Spanish word, but it's used frequently, at least in Costa Rica. BUT, there's an important difference. If you go to a night club in Costa Rica, you're going to what's called a "strip club" in English, where strippers take off their clothes for money. In English, a "nightclub" is a place that normally serves food and alcohol in the evenings, and usually provides a place to dance. It's very similar to a "disco" or a "dance club." If you go "nightclubbing," it means you go out  dancing in the evening.**

I'll try to post more False Friends in the future, and you can find them by clicking on the "False Friends" tab at the top of this blog. If you have any questions or suggestions for additional False Friends, I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks very much for reading, and have a great day...or night; and if you're going to a night club, be careful!

*Apparently, this phrase may have originally come from German, since there's also a similar phrase in German: Mit solchen Freunden braucht man keine Feinde mehr.

**"Nightclubbing" is also the name of a song by Iggy Pop.

Vocabulary: Holidays and Vacations

August 2nd is a holiday in Costa Rica, so today I thought I'd mention a few good vocabulary words related to holidays.

First of all, today is a holiday, which means that it's a special day for some reason. It's also a holy day; "holy" is similar to "sacred," and it can be used to describe things related to religion. An example of a holy day is Easter (click here or here for more information). Some holidays aren't necessarily holy days, and some holy days aren't necessarily holidays. For example, many countries have bank holidays and national holidays such as Independence Day or Mother's Day, which aren't connected to the church. 

Today's holiday is a Saint's Day connected to the Virgin of Los Angeles. In many Catholic countries, there's basically a saint for every day of the year. The reason today is special in Costa Rica is because the Virgin of Los Angeles is the patron saint of Costa Rica. Many people go to the city of Cartago to visit the basilica (also called a cathedral or even simply a church) to see a statue of the saint. Those people are sometimes called pilgrims, and the event or their journey can be called a pilgrimage.

Sometimes English learners get confused about the differences between holiday and vacation. In American English, the word "holiday" is generally used to indicate a day when there's no school or work. "Vacation" can be used to indicate a trip (when you travel somewhere for business or tourism) or you can also say "vacation" to indicate when there's a longer period of time when schools are closed. For example, in the U.S.A. most schools have a summer vacation or a summer break, as well as a winter vacation/break and a spring break/vacation. As you can see, "break" can also mean "vacation" sometimes.

British English is a little bit different with some of this vocabulary. For example, Americans might go on vacation, but British people might go on holiday. Also, notice that in American English, "vacation" and "holiday" are almost always in the singular form; only say "vacations" if you are talking about more than one vacation.

That's probably enough vocabulary for today but before we go, let's take a look at a dialogue using some of these terms:

(The phone rings--John answers)

John: Hello? This is John.

Ana: Hi John! This is Ana. How are you doing?

John: Ana, hi! I'm great, thanks. How are you?

Ana: I'm fine. Hey, are you doing anything special today?

John: No, why?

Ana: Well, today's a holiday! It's the Saint's Day for the Virgin of Los Angeles!

John: Oh, you're right! I'm not from Costa Rica, so I forgot about that. Are you doing anything special?

Ana: Probably not. My sister and brother are making a pilgrimage to Cartago to visit the church. They're walking 10 hours to get to the basilica, but since I broke my foot on my last vacation, I can't walk that far.

John: You broke your foot?! That's terrible!

Ana: I guess I didn't tell you. Yes, last month we had a break from school, so I went with some friends to the beach. It was a great vacation, but on the last day I tripped and broke my foot while I was leaving the hotel!

John: Haha! I'm sorry to hear about your foot, but that's a little funny!

Ana: Actually, you're right. It was kind of stupid, but also a little funny. At least the rest of the trip was great. Hey, I've got to go now, but do you want to come over later for coffee?

John: Sure, that sounds great! Should I stop by your house at 3?

Ana: Excellent! I'll see you then. Bye!

So, that's all for now. If you have any comments, questions, corrections, or want to share more vocabulary, please leave a comment or contact me. Thanks for reading-- if you're in Costa Rica, have a great holiday, and if you're not, have a great day!

Common Errors: Confusing "Family" Words

Hello everyone, and welcome to Mistake Sunday (Monday is going to be busy, so I'm posting this Common Error a day early)! Today's error is common for most of my Spanish-speaking students, since Spanish--and probably other languages, too--has a tendency to group people together under a "masculine" word. For example, if someone says "Tengo cuatro hermanos" ("I have four 'brothers'"), it's unclear if the speaker is referring only to males, or to males and females together.

English did and still does this, too, but it's not as common these days. Consider the phrase from the Declaration of Independence, "all men are created equal." That was obviously written hundreds of years ago, and today would probably read, "all men and women" or "all people." Nevertheless, this error is easy to recognize and correct, with a couple of good vocabulary words. Let's take a look:

Common Error: Confusing "Family" Words
DON’T say this:	Clark Kent lived with his fathers, Jonathan and Martha, before he became Superman. I'm going to visit my uncles Peter, Paul, and Mary during the vacation. We are seven brothers in my family, and I am one of the three girls.
WHY?	-If you are talking about two dads (both males, obviously), then you can use the word "fathers." If not, use the word "parents," which indicates men and/or women. -Use "uncles" for men, but if you're including women, you have to use the phrase "aunt(s) and uncle(s)." -For brothers and sisters together, use the word "siblings," which indicates brothers and/or sisters together. -Finally, if you're talking about the number of people in your family, the phrase "we are" sounds strange. Instead, say something like "there are (3) of us" or "I have (2) siblings."
INSTEAD, SAY THIS:	-"Clark Kent lived with his parents, Jonathan and Martha, before he became Superman." -"I'm going to visit my aunt Mary and my uncles Peter and Paul during the vacation." -"There are seven siblings in my family, and I'm one of three girls." OR -"My parents had seven children, including three girls."

So, I hope that was helpful! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for future Common Errors, please leave a message in the Comments section or contact us. 

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!