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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this series, you'll master Spanish pronunciation. Proper pronunciation is essential in Spanish, and in this series, you'll learn it in a fast, comprehensive, and easy way. |
| In this first lesson, you'll learn about the building blocks of the Spanish pronunciation system that will help you in future lessons. |
| The letters used in Spanish are the same as the letters you use in English, with the exception of one other letter and these letters with accents over them. |
| But be careful not to fall into a very common trap: as you're learning to *speak* correctly, you shouldn't concern yourself with all the letters. That's right -- forget them! You care about the *sounds* of Spanish and here they are: |
| There are 27 consonant sounds, and 5 vowel sounds. Each symbol that you see here, represents a single sound determined by the IPA, which is a standardized way to represent sounds *with out* the accompanying baggage that's often involved with traditional letters. By using these 32 sounds, you can form *every* single word in Spanish. |
| Still seem complicated? Well how about this: of the 27 consonant sounds in Spanish, you *already know* 18 of them. That's right, if you are a native English speaker then you already make these sounds every day. We'll cover familiar sounds in lessons 4 &5. |
| You can also ignore 2 of the vowel sounds for the same reason. |
| The only thing standing between you and Perfect Spanish Pronunciation are 9 new consonant and 3 new vowel sounds. You can handle that! |
| Now let me introduce Alex, who will be helping you to master these new sounds. |
| "Hello, I'm Alex" in Spanish |
| Alex will be giving you native pronunciation examples for you to imitate. But for this first lesson, just sit back and listen to the unique sounds of Spanish: |
| obtuso (obtuse) |
| trigo (wheat) |
| pollo (chicken) |
| cañón (canyon) |
| rumbo (course) |
| bravo (brave) |
| Tláhuac (proper name) |
| quetzal (quetzal bird) |
| ayuno (fasting) |
| rata (rat) |
| vehemente (eager) |
| boscoso (forested) |
| In the next lesson, we'll look at the top 5 pronunciation mistakes Spanish learners make. You'll want to make sure not to fall into these common traps. |
| After that, we'll begin going through the vowels and consonants of Spanish. This is your chance to learn how to correctly say all of the words you just heard. |
| We'll finish up the series by covering some special topics that will really make your Spanish sound natural! |
| To close this lesson, here's a question for you. |
| Why is it important to spend time on learning proper pronunciation, even if you're already an advanced speaker? |
| The answer... |
| You will be understood, and this will help you build more confidence as you communicate in Spanish. For beginners, you're creating a strong foundation to build on. And for more advanced students, this is your chance to improve your accent and lose any bad habits you may have picked up. |
| What is the hardest part of Spanish pronunciation? Tell us about it in the comments. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
Comments
HideWhy do you want to master Spanish pronunciation?
¡Hola Claire! 😊
Please note that the sound for the vowels with the accent is the same as the vowels without the accent, but the accent shows the strong syllable of the word. For example, rápido rá/pi/do this means that rá is the strong syllable of the word.
If you have any more questions, feel free to let us know.
¡Gracias! (Thank you!)
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hello Milton,
Thank you for taking the time to write to us!
Depending on the region, the pronunciation of ll is different; this is called "Yeísmo." Most dialects that merge the two sounds represented by ⟨ll⟩ and ⟨y⟩ realize the remaining sound as a voiced palatal approximant [ʝ], which is much like ⟨y⟩ in English your. However, it sometimes becomes a voiced palatal affricate [ɟʝ], sounding somewhat like ⟨j⟩ in English word jar, especially when appearing after /n/ or /l/ or at the beginning of a word.
I hope it helps.😊
Best regards,
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hola! I am a very new spanish learner, i see many words with some signs on top of english aphabets, I was wondering if they change the sound of the alphabets in spanish.. You mentioned the word 'ñ' and 'n' thus i have no doubt for them..
I live in Texas with many Spanish speakers. When it comes to ll such as llamar, people will pronounce the ll as a j and some as a y. Can you please elaborate as to what is correct Spanish. Is it dependent on region such as Spain, Mexico, and Latin America?
Hola Laurie Johnson,
Thank you for sharing.
We're happy to help you get there.
Sigamos estudiando.
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
😎❤️😎 I got an A on my test that will help me feel more confident!
Hola Steve J,
Thank you for sharing.
We're happy to have you here.
Please let us know if you have any questions or doubts.
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hola,
I am also interested in understanding church sermons, better negotiating travel off the beaten tourist trail and just being more friendly to the folks I meet.
Gacias
Hola Amanda,
Thank you for sharing.
Please practice putting a pencil under the tongue and repeat words with “r”.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hey everyone!
I am a native English speaker and have never been able to roll my tongue, so pronouncing 'r' in Spanish is a struggle. Does anyone have any tips on how I can practice this or 'cheat' the sound and still be understood? Gracias!
Hola Dexter,
Thank you for your comment.
They don’t differ that much. The main difference is the produnciation of the “s” as “z”.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
The hardest part is knowing whether a letter is pronounced differently in Spain or Mexico.
¡Hola Sean!
Muchas gracias for taking the time to leave us a comment. 😇
That's a nice objective! We are very happy that you chose us.
If we can help with your progress in any way, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Saludos,
Levente
Team SpanishPod101.com
¡Hola Kwon!
This lesson is one of the Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide lesson series that contains 10 lessons. If you click on the next lesson button (right-pointing button just under the video screen), that'll take you to the next Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide lesson from this series. Alternatively, you can search for the Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide in our search option on the top and find the whole series at https://www.spanishpod101.com/lesson-library/ultimate-spanish-pronunciation-guide/.
Saludos,
Levente
Team SpanishPod101.com
I am interested in mastering Spanish (Espanol) pronunciation in order to better understand church sermons and Spanish (Espanol) and connect with others better.
Hi
At the end you said "See you in the next Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide lesson!"
but next is not USPG lesson! where can I have those course?
thank you
by the way, I am Korean, not so good at English,but found that Spanish pronunciation is somehow similar to my own language,
very like to learn
Hola Steve,
Thank you for your comment.
Yes, double "rr's" are not easy even children have trouble with it.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
The hardest sound for me is the double r sound (rr).
Hola Ilyasse,
Thank you for studying with us.
Looking forward to seeing you often here.
Saludos,
Cristiane
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hi Im Ilyasse from Morocco
Im arabic speaker but I did learn English last year
So I learn spanish now , neither for study no for travel but for pleasure
And I ❤️️❤️️ YOU all team of SpanishPod101.com
Thank you