A friend challenged me to teach English to people here in the Dominican Republic. It is rare to find native English teachers here. As I am putting together a program, I realize the complications of English, and I wonder how the hell we learned this stuff. (However, my daughter is fluent in English and has a large vocabulary; undoubtedly, she knows 10 times more English than her English teacher at her school.)
My wife grew up in a small farm town similar to Appalachia in the USA. She refers to anything having to do with electricity, such as the electric bill, as "Luz," which literally means light. Like a lightbulb. For example, you point at the lights and say "light". She doesn't even understand the Spanish word for electricity. Like paying the electric bill. What is that? Pay for the light, and she understands. There's this entire universe of "having to do with electricity" that is lost here.
Her daughter, my stepdaughter, is at university studying to be a psychologist. She is learning English there. She is getting better with English; however, it's obvious an ESL person is teaching. My stepdaughter helps out around the house, cleaning and cooking, and she works for her uncle in the mornings sometimes. She often asks me, "Do you want bread?" And I'm always like, "Yeah, I need some bread for reals, but I haven't taken the time to try to explain it to her. Here they use the Spanish word "pan" to mean anything having to do with bread; it could be a sandwich, a bagel, toast, on and on, etc. In the USA, nobody would ever ask, "Do you want some bread?"
Of course, we're like, "Maybe, what kind of bread and what's on it?" We say, "Would you like some toast?" and so on. Even saying something like "Would you like a bagel?" is like asking what kind of bagel and what's on it. Have to be specific!
The most annoying thing about Spanish speakers knowing a little English is they say "Yes" to everything, and most of the time they don't have a clue what you are saying. That's one mission I have, to make that stop! lol.