Things we say wrong in Spanish

Summer is calling and before you know it (after we’ve squeezed through the crowd at Schiphol) you’ll be sitting with your feet on a Spanish beach. But be careful, because before you know it, you’ll make a blunder or just come off a bit like a klutz. So here are some essential language and pronunciation lessons.

1. Paella is paëjja
And so not paëlja
Double ‘ll’ is pronounced as ‘j’

2. Tequila is tequiLa
So also here not suddenly tequil-ja. There is only one ‘l’, so where do you get that ‘j’ from? The same principle applies to Marbella (Marbejja and not Marbel-ja) and other cases with a double ‘l’. So Sevijja, Joret de Mar etc. In terms of pronunciation.

3. Chorizo is tjo-ri-zo
And so not go-ri-zo. And if you want to do it completely right, then whisper the last sound a bit between your lips. Tsjo-ri-so.

4. Be careful with año and ano
If you want to say that this rum is 10 años old, don’t forget to incorporate the little circle in your sound. Años is anjos. If you forget that and say ‘anos’, then you’re saying that the rum is ten butts old.

5. Cerveza is cervessa, so a reasonably short sound and not cerveeza.

6. And most v-words, you pronounce as a b. So bale (which means ‘okay’) and Balencia (Valencia).

Easy, right, that Spanish. Have a nice holiday!