Yo soy americano, but would not call myself American. There is no confusion, the two words mean two different concepts, even if they share the same root. Forma

Yo soy americano, but would not call myself American. There is no confusion, the two words mean two different concepts, even if they share the same root. Formal translations of "American" would map to "estadounidense" o "norteamericano". Informal ones would just say "gringo", which is a bit fuzzy and (depending on context) may include Canadians - or any Caucasian looking English speaker - as well.