Home   >   Columns   >   Spanish Corner   >   Spanish Lesson 1

Spanish Lesson 1

LESSON 1
Pronunciation of Spanish
Weekly Online Course from January to June 2014 by George Wu
Having been an expat for many years, I have burrowed around foreign languages which center on Adam’s apple or distinct voice box of its own. One conclusion I have come to has to do with my contending that regardless of unique sounds you can find a way around them. The ultimate purpose is clarity plus endearment to natives. How? Speak as they do despite your light foreign accent. For that aim, let me show you the complete Spanish alphabet as opposed to so-called standard alphabet not manifesting the entire range of sounds including those unique sounds.
a b c ch d e f g h i j k l ll m n ñ o p q r rr s t u v w x y z
Since most expats in Nicaragua speak English. let me show the palpable difference between Spanish and English alphabets.
1. Unlike English, Spanish main single vowels a-e-i-o-u  or ah-eh-ee-oh-oo never ever change their sounds as compared to English vowels and that alone makes it easier by far the constancy of pronunciation.
2. Unlike English, the accent marks are clearly shown in written language. A back slash on top of each vowel means emphasis. A double dots above u means that u must be as a rule be pronounced separately; however, there are only a few words that fit into that category which will be shown on my next lesson.
3.Like English alphabet, both Spanish and English alphabets came from the same Latin mold facilitating the pronunciation of consonants. Yes, there are exceptions.
4. b is pronounced as b in English and c is pronounced as c in English but the difference in c stems from hard c in the cases of ca-co-cu and soft as s in the soft cases of ce-ci sounding like the s
5. Ch is a new alphabet in Spanish evidenced by Spanish dictionary that treats it separately from c despite the fact that ch can be combined with any of the vowels without a change in rules as in c.
6. d and f are same as ch rule.
7. g is hard in ga-go-gu and soft in ge-gi with the sound of h as in English.
8. h is always silent except in writing.
9. j is like h in English.
10. k and l are the same as in English.
11. ll is unique in Spanish that sounds like y.
12. m and m are the same as in English.
13. ñ is unique in Spanish sounding like gn as in poignant.
14. p as in English.
15, q as in k in English
16. r as in English.
17 rr is unique in Spanish (see method of dominating rr).
18. s and r are the same as in English.
19. u is oo in English.
20. v is same as in English.
21. w and x are foreign. W is like Wu in English and x is like he in English.
22. y is ee
23. z is like in English.
Methods of pronunciation:
The only speaking sound that is unique in Spanish is that double r. Picture a native Hawaiian wearing a short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt upon leaving a plane at San Francisco International airport, “BRRRRRRR” and that rolling r sound is typically latino. Once you have dominated that in regular words such as ferrocarril (railway) try to use that double r at the beginning of the word such as recibir (receive).
Pronunciation problems? Contact: [email protected].

One Comment