Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That's English!, the Spanish Ministry of Education's official distance learning English course. To find out more about That's English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. Today we would like to remind you of some of the more common "false friends" in English and Spanish. A "false friend" is a word in another language that looks similar to a word in our own but has a different meaning. When Spanish speakers learn English, they will come across many words that can cause confusion and misunderstandings. So, let's have a look at the ones we consider it is important for you to recognise. We will go through them in alphabetical order, more or less. So, let's start with actually. Actually is a word you will hear over and over again and means really, en realidad. Its false friend actualmente means currently or at present. So, if we say: Although it was quite windy, we actually had a good flight, this means en realidad tuvimos un buen vuelo, we actually had a good flight. Then we have to advise and avisar. To advise means aconsejar whereas avisar means to warn. So we would say: As I was having difficulty finishing the report, Mary advised me - me aconsejó, advised me - to ask my colleague for help, but: Mary warned me -me advirtió, warned me - not to tell my boss about the problems I was having with the report, as I would not give him a very good impression. Confusion also arises with assist and asistir. To assist means to help - ayudar, whereas to attend means to go to an event, a meeting, a party etc, asistir in Spanish. So we would say: 200 guests attended - asistieron, attended- the wedding but: The bride's father had to assist - ayudar, assist - his daughter with her long dress. Another common false friend is carpet and carpeta. A carpet is a textile you put on the floor and is usually translated as moqueta whereas una carpeta is a folder. So we would say: The students have a folder - una carpeta, a folder for each subject, where they keep their notes but: In England people put carpet - moqueta, carpet - all over the house, even in the bathroom. A lot of confusion is also caused by career and carrera, in the academic context. Una carrera universitaria is a university degree, whereas career refers to your professional career - carrera profesional. So we would say: After studying a degree in drama and films studies at Kent University, she had a long career performing in the West End theatres in London. She studied a degree - hizo una carrera universitaria. She had a long career on the stage - tuvo una larga carrera en el teatro. In the academic world there are other false friends: a professor is a university academic of the highest rank - un catedrático, whereas un profesor is a teacher in a school or a lecturer in a university. Likewise, college is used to refer to educational institutions for higher education, for example: Trinity College, Oxford, whereas un colegio is a school. It is also useful to distinguish between compromise and compromiso. A compromise is an agreement between two sides where each has to make a concession - un consenso, whereas a commitment, a dedication to a cause or an activity, is un compromiso. So we would say: The company and the unions reached a compromise - un consenso, a compromise - whereby the workers' salaries would be increased but they would also have to work an extra hour a day, but: Many companies are making a greater commitment - un compromiso mayor, a greater commitment - to reducing their carbon footprint. Another common false friend is conductor, which in English means director de orquesta, whereas conductor is a driver. A very important one for you to remember, especially if you are suffering either of these health problems is constipated which means estreñido and constipado which means to have a cold. We also have deception and decepción. Deception means engaño whilst decepción means disappointment. So we could say: Some politicians are experts in the art of deception - en el arte de engañar, in the art of deception but: Her disappointment - su decepción, her disappointment - at not winning a medal was enormous. Another false friend it is best to learn is embarrassed and embarazada. Many English and American girls studying Spanish have felt embarrassed - avergonzadas - even more so when they realised they were saying that they were pregnant - embarazadas - by mistake! Another common example is jam and jamón. Jam is what you put on your toast for breakfast - mermelada - whereas jamón is ham. Continuing with food, you should also take note of lentil and lentilla. A lentil is una lenteja, whereas the lentilla you put in your eyes is a contact lens - lenteja, lentil - lentilla, contact lens. If you are cooking, it is important to distinguish between remove and remover. It certainly would not be ideal for any dish that you are preparing if you are told to remove it - quitarlo - from the heat, and you think that you have to stir it - removerlo. Another false friend students come across frequently is library and librería. A library is where you can borrow books - biblioteca - whereas bookshop or bookstore is where you can buy them - librería. Notice and noticia are also misleading. A notice is un letrero or una notificación whereas noticia is a piece of news. For example: The neighbours have put up a notice - un aviso, a notice outside their house that says: "Beware of the dog," but: I heard a piece of news - una noticia, a piece of news - about my company on the radio this morning. Please remember that news is an uncountable noun so if you refer to una noticia, you have to say a piece of news or some news. I have some news for you - tengo una noticia para ti. There is also a very important difference between suburb and suburbio. A suburb is a residential neighbourhood on the outskirts of a town or city, una zona residencial, whereas suburbio is a slum - the poorest district of a town or city with very poor quality housing. So, a surburb is una zona residencial, whilst a slum is un suburbio or zona degradada. Finally, it is important not to confuse stranger and extranjero. A stranger refers to a person that we do not know - un desconocido, whereas un extranjero is a foreigner, a person who comes from a different country. Stranger, desconocido - foreigner, extranjero. Well, we hope that these examples will help you not to be confused by these false friends, falsos amigos. We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!