Learn about a group of new Spanish consonants
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn 4 Spanish consonant sounds. |
| β, ɣ, ʎ, ɲ |
| These consonant sounds do not appear in English, so they'll likely be new to you. |
| Be sure to practice them because these are unique sounds which learners often get wrong! |
| Are you ready? |
| Then let's get started! |
| The first consonant is... |
| β |
| lava (lava) |
| bebé (baby) |
| verbo (verb) |
| "(voiced bilabial fricative) This consonant sounds like a combination between a V and a B sound. |
| Try to think of it has producing a regular V sound, but instead of using your upper teeth, try to use your upper lip. |
| The upper lip should lightly contact the bottom lip as to still allow air to pass through it. |
| It sounds like a buzzing noise. Listen to the example." |
| β, β (slowly) |
| β, β (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ɣ |
| signo (sign) |
| amigo (friend) |
| goma (eraser) |
| "(voiced velar fricative) This consonant sounds like a continuous G-sound. |
| One trick to pronounce this sound, is to pretend that you're saying a G, but instead of making full contact and releasing the air in a single burst, try to lightly contact the back part of your mouth with the back part of your tongue, and then allow air to seep through the small opening. It should almost sound as if you were gargling." |
| ɣ, ɣ (slowly) |
| ɣ, ɣ (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ʎ |
| llave (key) |
| pollo (chicken) |
| llanta (tire) |
| "(palatal lateral approximant) You can sometimes produce this sound by saying the English word 'million'. Try it! |
| (pause) |
| It sounds a bit like your saying an L and a Y at the same time. |
| Try to think of it as pronouncing a regular English L, but instead of using the tip of your tongue, try to use the blade or the middle part of your tongue." |
| ʎ, ʎ (slowly) |
| ʎ, ʎ (slowly) |
| The final consonant for this lesson is... |
| ɲ |
| ñandú (rhea) |
| niño (boy) |
| año (year) |
| "(alveolo-palatal/palatal nasal) Raise your tongue so that the middle or blade of the tongue touches the roof of your mouth. |
| It kind of sounds like a combination between the n and y sounds in the English word 'canyon'. |
| Here's a great tip. Try to think of it as pronouncing a regular English N sound, but instead of using the tip of your tongue, try to use the blade, the part behind it. |
| Let's take a closer look!" |
| ɲ, ɲ (slowly) |
| ɲ, ɲ (slowly) |
| Well done! You just learned another 4 Spanish consonants. |
| β, ɣ, ʎ, ɲ |
| In the next lesson, you'll learn 5 new consonant sounds. These sounds don't appear in English, so they'll be trickier than the last lot. |
| How difficult were they to learn? Please comment and share your thoughts. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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