Unfiltered Story #105904

This occurred in a beginner level Spanish classroom. Even though this is most students’ first experience with learning another language than US English, the class is encouraged to discuss topics entirely in Spanish as much as possible. The lesson of the day, a Monday morning, is to do with descriptions of events, and deeper responses to ‘How are you?’ type conversation starters, beyond the typical ‘I’m well, thanks, how are you?’

Our Teacher (Profesora): Quien puede decir como fue su fin de semana?
(Who can tell how their weekend went?)

A student, calling himself ‘Patricio’ as we’ve each chosen a Spanish name, volunteers.

Patricio: Este fin de semana no fue bien, porque mi papa esta enfermo.
(This weekend did not go well, because my Dad is sick.) At least, this is what he tries to say, however:

Profesora: Your potato is sick?

The class shares a laugh and Patricio turns an embarrassed pink shade as the teacher takes this opportunity to explain the importance of certain punctuations, specifically the accent, indicating emphasis.

Patricio, trying for papá (father) instead emphasizing the first syllable (PA-pa), has accidentally called his father a potato.