Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Tips for Speaking Spanish

Pronouncing the Vowels


a         is pronounced like the English a in father.

e         is pronounced like the English e in they.

         is pronounced like the English ee in see or i in thing.

o         is similar to the English o in no but without the glide and it is rounded.

        is pronounced like the English oo in food.


    Stressing Vowels

    Always stress the vowel before the last syllable and prolong the length of the sound.  If there is an accent mark, stress that vowel instead.


      Pronouncing the Consonants

      b         is pronounced the same way as it is in English.

      c         is pronounced like the k in English except for words with the ción sound (nación).  In that case it would be like the English word cereal. (an s sound)

      ch       is pronounced like the English ch in child. (coche, Chile, mucho, ...)

      d        At the beginning of a word and after n or l, the tip of the tongue is pressed against the back of your front teeth. (día, dar, el deseo, ...)
                All other words, place the tip of your tongue behind your front teeth.  It is pronounced like the English th in the word they, but it is softer.

              is pronounced like the English f.

      g        At the beginning of the word or after n it is pronounced like the English word guy. (guerra, ángulo, ...)
                In other words, except before e or i, it is pronounced like the English g in sugar. (lago, amigo...)

      ge       is pronounced like the English ey in hey (geografía).

      gi       is pronounced like the English word he but not as strong (giro).

      gua    The g is pronounced like the English g but not has hard and the Spanish u and a.

      gui     is pronounced like the English g and the Spanish i.  (guiar)

            It is pronounced like the English g in guy and oo in food.  It is similar to the English gw in Gwen but it is not as strong. (pingüino)

      h        In the beginning of a word, it is silent.

      hia     The h is pronunced like the English h in he and the Spanish a. Do not pronounce the i. (hiato)

      hie     The h is pronounced like the English ye in yellow and the Spanish e.  Do not pronunce the i. (hielo)

      j         is pronounced like the English h in hat or hey or hoe (bajo) but not that strong. Some countries pronounce it even stronger.

      k        kc before a, o, u, or a consonant, and qu, is pronounced like the English k in key but without the puff of air.

      l         is pronounced by placing your tongue on your teeth to make this letter.

      yll    In most countries it is pronounced like the English y in yes. (oye, llama, bella, ...) 
                When it stands alone, it is pronounced like the English i in thing. (hoy, y, muy, ...)

      m       is pronounced like the English m in mother.

      ñ        is pronounced like the English ny in canyon.

      n        is pronounced like the English n.
                When the n occurs before bv, or p, it is pronounced like an m. (un brazo, comen peras, un vaso, ...)  

      p         is pronounced like the English p but without the puff of air. 

      r, rr     In the beginning of a word and after n, l, or s, and also rr in the middle of a word, are pronounced by rolling it.  

                 Bring your tip of your tongue near the top of your teeth and let it vibrate.  
                 
                Tip: You can practice this by placing an "a" before "rr" until you can roll them.

      r        The single r is pronounced with a single flap of the tongue against the roof of mouth (like the English dd in the word ladder).  (harina, cara, oro, ...)


      s        sz, and c before e or i  is pronounced like the s in sing.  (vaso, cima, zapato, ...)

             is pronounced by touching your tongue to the back of your front teeth.

      v       Always pronounce the v at the beginning of a word like the English b.

      x       When the x is between vowels it is like the English gs in egg.
               When it is before a consonant, it sounds like the English s.

      z       Always pronounce the z like the English s.

      Spanish Resources

      Spanish Interactive Learning -- On this blog

      Spanish Links from Viewers -- On this blog

      Dictionaries

      Misc. Links
      Spanish Flashcards Listen to various words, numbers, animals, foods, expressions, etc. pronounced.  It images.
      Spanish Flash Cards - Spanish Flashcards You can hear lots of different words, expressions, etc. pronounced.  It also has a picture of the object.  Younger children will enjoy this.


      Printables
      DLTK's Make Your Own Mini-books Some are in Spanish: Creation,  Noah and His Ark, Go Car Go!, Five Little Pumpkins, Mommy Bird, Time for School, and more will probably added to the site.

      Stories in Spanish/Spanish Stories
      StoryPlace: La biblioteca digital de niños Activities and stories online, book lists for different themes, and printables

      Spanish Television Shows Links

      Spanish Interactive Learning

      ABC's / El Alfabeto Español / El Abecedario
      Find many resource of how to pronounce many Spanish words (with images).

      Various words are pronounced on this site.

      Numbers/Números 123

      Spanish Links from Viewers

      Here are some links my viewers send me when I first had my website on my own domain. I am placing them on this blog now.

      Viewer Links
      Free eBook to learn Spanish - Learn Spanish free with UniSpain You can also find free resources on this site.

      Learn Spanish @ Practicing Spanish This resource provides an introduction to Spanish followed by grammatical explanations and recordings. It is entirely free.

      My Spanish Picture Dictionary (English - Spanish) is an online resource to learn Spanish (or English) words in a fun way. Each word in the dictionary has an English - Spanish translation and a photograph of the item. The interface is simple and both kids and adults will find this new resource entertaining and educational.

      Type Spanish accents online

      Letter D

      Dinosaur 

      Dinosaur Alphabert - Desert Blossom TPT - This is an ebook I created.