Actually

Years ago while attending an EFL conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador, the president of some local EFL group said the following while speaking: "In the past this was different but ACTUALLY it's much better..." I had not really been paying attention (not that she was addressing any relevant topic) until she said that.  I don't know if the other attendées understood what she meant or maybe they were not paying attention either; but as an Ecuadorian I'm better suited to understand how other Ecuadorians think and what they mean when they speak; especially if like me those Ecuadorians are from Guayaquil, too. And that was the case here. I was awfully surprised by who made the mistake rather than the mistake itself.  In my experience to misuse the word ACTUALLY  is a common occurrence among Spanish speakers who are learning English. I see it happening all the time. The problem stems from the similarity existing between the spelling of the words ACTUALLY and ACTUALMENTE.  ACTUALLY comes from the word ACTUAL  which in English is synonym of True or Real. ACTUALMENTE in Spanish means Currently or Nowadays. Still Spanish speakers find it hard to understand that ACTUALLY is Really or Truly and personally I feel that at least when transtating Realmente and Verdaderamente, those are not the best possible  translation. The most appropriate would be LA VERDAD ES QUE. And still, due to MTI perhaps, the misuse of ACTUALLY persists. Evidence shows that ACTUALLY is the king of all "false friends", or False Cognates, as they are more appropriately called. If not, there is the anecdote I mentioned at the beginning to prove my point (though I know is not enough). After all these years I wonder if someone has taken the time to let her see her mistake. Something tells me no one has.