As attractive and effortless as Spanish sounds, there is always a certain amount of demanding work involved in learning any new language. The rules might seem difficult at first, but don't forget that the English language is often cited as one of the most complicated to learn, thanks to each rule's numerous exceptions.
Spanish is no different, but when you consider how many exceptions to the rule there are in English, the Spanish language and its emphasis on phonetics is actually fairly simple.
The Sound Of Spanish Vowels
All of Spanish's vowels are associated with strong sounds that will help each word jump off the tongue, like from a diving board. The letter "A" is pronounced like an "uh," an "e" sounds like "ay," the letter "i" becomes an "eee" sound and finally a "u" results in an "ooh" noise. The only vowel that retains the same sound from English to Spanish is the "o," which keeps the "oh" pronunciation.
By examining a short sentence in Spanish, you can see more clearly how to use this information. Our sample here will be "I want to buy new pants."
Me gusta comer el pollo frito.
"Me gusta" are the first two words, which are pronounced "May Goose-toe" and it means "I like." The following word, "comer," is spoken as "koh-mare" and it means "to eat." Finally, "el queso" means "the cheese" and it is pronounced "el kay-soh."
Spanish Consonants And How They Sound
Consonants in Spanish are understated for the most part. Even so, many rules apply to the consonants that can make subtle changes to not only meaning but the very sound of a word. In addition, there are a couple new letters to play with in Spanish. The first new letter is "ch," which is voiced just as it would be in English.
When the letter "c" makes an appearance by itself, it adopts an "s" sound if in front of either an "i" or an "e," as in the word "cero," or "zero" in English. The "g" letter makes a sound like "ch" if used in front of an "e" or "i" but elsewhere, it will be used like the "g" in "go."
There are additional hiccups as well. The letter "z" will make a "th" sound. The letter "h" is always silent. There's a second new letter as well, the "ll," which is pretty common in Spanish and makes a hard "y" sound like in "you." That sound is used in the word "llamar" and gives the word the following pronunciation: "ya-MAR."
Then there's the little tilde that appears in many Spanish words, such as "el nio." This produces a similar sound to the "ll," and as a result "el nio" is spoken "Ehl neen-yo."
Even so, the ground we've covered in this article certainly isn't everything, but it's a good start for those who want to learn Spanish free. There are a couple more sounds which can come in handy.
There are still more sounds if one cares to look, including "qu," which becomes a hard "k" sound. "R" letters are always rolled, particularly when they crop up at the beginning of a word. The letter "y" is pronounced just like its English equivalent unless it's used by itself or at the end of a word in which case it sounds like "eee. - 30312
Spanish is no different, but when you consider how many exceptions to the rule there are in English, the Spanish language and its emphasis on phonetics is actually fairly simple.
The Sound Of Spanish Vowels
All of Spanish's vowels are associated with strong sounds that will help each word jump off the tongue, like from a diving board. The letter "A" is pronounced like an "uh," an "e" sounds like "ay," the letter "i" becomes an "eee" sound and finally a "u" results in an "ooh" noise. The only vowel that retains the same sound from English to Spanish is the "o," which keeps the "oh" pronunciation.
By examining a short sentence in Spanish, you can see more clearly how to use this information. Our sample here will be "I want to buy new pants."
Me gusta comer el pollo frito.
"Me gusta" are the first two words, which are pronounced "May Goose-toe" and it means "I like." The following word, "comer," is spoken as "koh-mare" and it means "to eat." Finally, "el queso" means "the cheese" and it is pronounced "el kay-soh."
Spanish Consonants And How They Sound
Consonants in Spanish are understated for the most part. Even so, many rules apply to the consonants that can make subtle changes to not only meaning but the very sound of a word. In addition, there are a couple new letters to play with in Spanish. The first new letter is "ch," which is voiced just as it would be in English.
When the letter "c" makes an appearance by itself, it adopts an "s" sound if in front of either an "i" or an "e," as in the word "cero," or "zero" in English. The "g" letter makes a sound like "ch" if used in front of an "e" or "i" but elsewhere, it will be used like the "g" in "go."
There are additional hiccups as well. The letter "z" will make a "th" sound. The letter "h" is always silent. There's a second new letter as well, the "ll," which is pretty common in Spanish and makes a hard "y" sound like in "you." That sound is used in the word "llamar" and gives the word the following pronunciation: "ya-MAR."
Then there's the little tilde that appears in many Spanish words, such as "el nio." This produces a similar sound to the "ll," and as a result "el nio" is spoken "Ehl neen-yo."
Even so, the ground we've covered in this article certainly isn't everything, but it's a good start for those who want to learn Spanish free. There are a couple more sounds which can come in handy.
There are still more sounds if one cares to look, including "qu," which becomes a hard "k" sound. "R" letters are always rolled, particularly when they crop up at the beginning of a word. The letter "y" is pronounced just like its English equivalent unless it's used by itself or at the end of a word in which case it sounds like "eee. - 30312
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