Learning English for Spanish speakers: 5 Common difficulties — and how to overcome them!

Is English difficult for Spanish speakers?

The most straightforward answer to this question is “yes”, simply because learning any new language can be tough! It’s easier for Spanish speakers to learn other Romance languages (e.g., Italian, Portuguese, French). That said, languages such as Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean would be even more difficult than English. 

This is because there are some advantages to learning English as a Spanish speaker: the two languages share the same alphabet (mostly), over a thousand cognates (words that are spelled similarly and mean the same thing), some grammar constructs, and many sounds. 

Therefore, while learning English may prove difficult for some Spanish speakers, it is a realistic, attainable goal that has already been achieved by thousands of people around the world.

What is the hardest part of learning English for Spanish speakers?

After spending several years teaching English to Spanish speakers from Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Nicaragua, and other Latin American countries, I would have to say that the most difficult aspect of learning English as a Spanish speaker is the same struggle that most people face when learning a new language. They try to apply the rules and logic of their native tongue to the language they want to learn. 

For instance, many of my Spanish-speaking students had difficulties remembering to use the auxiliary verb do in open-ended questions (e.g., Where you work? v. Where do you work?) because there is no auxiliary verb used in the construction of these questions in Spanish. They made this same error over and over because they tried to convert Spanish questions into English questions. 

Likewise, it was hard for them to pronounce the S in third person singular present tense verbs ending with a consonant (e.g., She walk v. She walks) because, in Spanish, consonant clusters like these do not exist and an S at the end of a word follows a vowel sound (e.g., fotos, casas, cables). 

Therefore, the biggest task for Spanish speakers to learn English is to look at the building blocks of both languages (i.e., grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation) and work to understand the constructs, words, and sounds that are different. The following list will provide a great starting point for this journey and help Spanish speakers recognize the various obstacles that lie ahead.

5 Common Difficulties for those Learning English from Spanish

1. Pronunciation

Even if you speak English with flawless grammar and precise vocabulary, inaccurate pronunciation might still prevent others from understanding you. 

This is especially difficult for Spanish speakers because Spanish is a phonetic language. That means speakers can sound a word out simply by reading it because the sound for each unit of letters stays the same in almost all situations. 

For example, the letter E in Spanish always sounds like the letter E in bet. In comparison, there are three different ways to pronounce the letter E in English, as demonstrated by edit, eat, and enough (or it could be silent altogether, like in take!). Naturally, this is pretty confusing for native Spanish speakers, who are used to more consistent pronunciation rules! 

On top of that, some sounds exist in the English language that do not exist in Spanish at all (e.g., TH in think, V in vote, A in cat). Spanish speakers sometimes struggle to produce sounds that they have never made before. Here are some of the most common pronunciation errors that Spanish speakers make in English to look out for:

• Adding an E sound before words that begin with an S and are followed by a consonant (e.g., eschool for school, estrike for strike, esport for sport)
• Pronouncing the TH sound as T (e.g., tirsty for thirsty, bote for both, broter for brother)
• Pronouncing the V sound as B (e.g., bery for very, eber for ever, bictory for victory)
• Deleting consonants at the end of words that follow a consonant (e.g., tas for task, lof for loft, firs for first)
• Pronouncing vowels as if speaking Spanish and not English (e.g., heet for hit, fot for fat, gote for got)

How to overcome it… 

There are many general strategies you can use to improve your overall pronunciation, such as:

• Recording yourself to identify mistakes
• Slowing your speech to focus on making accurate sounds 
• Practicing speaking in front of a mirror to make sure your mouth and tongue move in the way they should. 

However, it is important to identify which aspects of English pronunciation are most challenging for you, so you know exactly what to focus on. This is best accomplished by working with a tutor or a language buddy who can help pinpoint which sounds need the most improvement. Once you know where you’re struggling, you can search the internet for targeted resources about sounds. Think specific tips, explanations, and examples for Spanish speakers from online articles and YouTube videos.

2. Words with Multiple Meanings

In Spanish, as in English, there are plenty of words that have more than one meaning. For example, the word cola in Spanish can mean a line of people or cars, the tail of an animal, or glue, depending on the context of the sentence. 

However, even though a Spanish word may have various meanings, it’s rare for one translated English word to carry all of the same meanings. Look out for the following common mistakes on this theme:

• Make/Do: In Spanish, hacer means both make and do, so many Spanish speakers use the word make when they should use do (e.g., make your homework instead of do your homework, make business instead of do business).
• Lose/Miss: In Spanish, perder means both lose and miss, so many Spanish speakers use the word lose when they should use miss (e.g., lose the bus instead of miss the bus, lose the interview instead of miss the interview).
• Story/History: In Spanish, historia means both story and history, so many Spanish speakers use the word history when they should use story (e.g., tell a history instead of tell a story, a fantasy history instead of a fantasy story).
• Know/Meet: In Spanish, conocer means both know and meet, so many Spanish speakers use the word know when they should use meet (e.g., know new people instead of meet new people, know my friend’s brother instead of meet my friend’s brother).
• Listen/Hear: In Spanish, escuchar means listen and oir means hear, but in certain contexts they are used interchangeably. This is why many Spanish speakers use the word listen when they should use hear (e.g., Do you listen me? instead of Do you hear me?).

How to overcome it…

A great place to start in working through this challenging aspect of learning English is to become more aware of the many words with multiple meanings in the Spanish language and identify which English translations are the most confusing to you. 

Here are some resources to get you started: make/do, lose/miss, history/story, know/meet, listen/hear.

3. Literal Translations

When acquiring a new language, it is natural for learners to attempt to directly translate from their native tongue to English. However, translating phrases and expressions word-for-word from Spanish to English can produce grammar errors. Below are some common examples of these mistakes:

• “I am agree” (Estoy de acuerdo) instead of “I agree”
• “I said that no” (Dije que no) instead of “I said no”
• “For how much time?” (¿Por cuánto tiempo?) instead of “How long?”
• “Depends of the weather” (Depende del clima) instead of “Depends on the weather”
• “Six and a half in the afternoon” (Seis y media en la tarde) instead of “Six thirty in the afternoon”
• “The people is beautiful” (La gente es hermosa) instead of “The people are beautiful”
• “She has five years” (Ella tiene cinco años) instead of “She is five years old”
• “It’s the car of my sister” (Es el auto de mi hermana) instead of “It’s my sister’s car”

How to overcome it… 

It’s best to become aware of common translation errors early on so that you do not become fixed in bad habits. You could even try keeping a journal of phrases you notice which do not directly translate from Spanish to English, to keep track of these tempting mistakes!

4. False Friends

Luckily for Spanish speakers, there are hundreds of words that both English and Spanish share: actor, hotel, mediocre, popular, bar, vulnerable, chocolate, etc. These words, also known as cognates, are spelled similarly and share the same definition.

Unfortunately, not all words that look the same in both languages have the same meaning; these mismatched words are what we call “false friends” because they appear to mean the same thing, but do not. The following word pairs are examples of this common difficulty:

• Actualmente/Actually: Actualmente means currently, whereas actually means the truth of a situation.
• Carpeta/Carpet: Carpeta means a folder, whereas carpet means a floor covering.
• Éxito/Exit: Éxito means success, whereas exit a way out of somewhere.
• Largo/Large: Largo means long, whereas large means big.
• Ropa/Rope: Ropa means clothes, whereas rope means a thick cord.
• Últimamente/Ultimately: Últimamente means recently, whereas ultimately means finally.

How to overcome it… 

Unfortunately, there isn’t a quick way to memorize every Spanish-English “false friend”! However, one way to address this issue is to print out lists of these words to place on a desk or in a folder. Learners can then go through one set of “false friends” a day and/or check off word pairs that they encounter in conversation, classes, or reading material. Alternatively, students can use “false friend” practice exercises to identify which word pairs they are unaware of or using incorrectly.

5. Grammatical differences

There are several English grammar concepts that are difficult for Spanish speakers to grasp. English grammar contains some rules which follow a completely different structure to those in Spanish. Here are a few common grammar mistakes:

• Personal Pronouns: In Spanish, su can be used to represent the English pronouns him, her, his, and hers; therefore, it may be difficult for Spanish speakers to remember which pronoun to use when one of the aforementioned is required in English (e.g., my sister left his jacket v. my sister left her jacket).
• Order of Adjectives & Nouns: In Spanish, the adjective is typically placed after the noun, whereas in English the adjective is typically placed before the noun; as a consequence, many Spanish speakers mix up the order of these words when speaking English (e.g., ten days more v. ten more days; a dress ugly v. an ugly dress).
• Subject Deletion: In Spanish, verb conjugations also indicate who the subject of the action is, so Spanish speakers often leave out the subject of a sentence because it is understood. Accordingly, Spanish speakers may forget to include the subject of a sentence when speaking English (e.g., is a nice day v. it is a nice day; want to go v. they want to go).
• Multiple Negation: In Spanish, the use of “double negatives” is grammatically correct; as such, when speaking or writing in English, Spanish speakers often use multiple negations without thinking twice (e.g., he did not do nothing v. he did not do anything).

How to overcome it… 

Grammar is one of the most challenging aspects of language learning! Instead of memorizing phrases and sentences, the best way to learn to speak English with grammatical accuracy is to take the time to learn its rules and how to apply them.

This can be done through websites that offer explanations of various English grammar concepts or by practicing exercises for specific concepts, such as personal pronouns, order of adjectives/nouns, subject deletion, and multiple negations.

A brief afterword

It might feel intimidating to read a list of obstacles you must overcome to learn English. But knowing exactly what you’re facing is the first step to overcoming it! When you know the influence of Spanish on your understanding of English grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary, you can tackle each specific issue through targeted resources. English fluency, here you come! 

Article by:Nicolette FilsonPreply tutor

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Nicolette is an experienced English educator with a B.A. in secondary English education, an M.A. in English linguistics, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction – English education & literacy. She has had the immense pleasure of putting this knowledge into action over the last 12 years as a high school English teacher, university instructor, academic tutor, editor, and curriculum writer in both the U.S. and abroad.