What does Spanish sound and look like?

Learning Targets

I can connect (match) spoken and written Spanish when I both hear and see words.
I can identify the major pronunciation differences between Spanish letters and English letters.
I can name, write, and pronounce the one extra letter that Spanish has in the alphabet.

Punctuation

N vs Ñ lesson

L vs Ll lesson

J and H lesson

The vowels / Las vocales AEIOU

You really should learn the vowel sounds first. They are in every word and should be pronounced correctly. If you learn to say their sounds correctly, people will actually understand you when you speak Spanish.

Watch this video. Listen carefully and repeat as much Spanish as you can as accurately as you can.

NOTES

1. Set up your paper

Title a fresh sheet of paper: Spanish Vowels / Las Vocales en español

Use all the space on your paper to list the 5 vowels down the left side of your paper. Your letters will take up 4-6 lines of space each.

2. Next to your vowels on your paper, write out the phonetic pronunciations that you hear for each.

A [ah]

E [eh]

I [ee]

O [oh]

U [oo]

Practice saying the vowels. Say them in order. Say them out of order.

3. Then, write an English word that has the same sound in it as the Spanish vowel. Some ideas are

A [Ah] like in father or call

E [eh] like in hey or they

I [ee] like in feet or meet

O [oh] like in woke or spoke

U [oo] like in boot or puma

4. Spanish examples

Make a list of 3 - 5 Spanish words beside each vowel that has that vowel in it. Get the words from the videos in this lesson and copy them onto your paper. You will read these words later, so write words you feel comfortable saying.

5. Underline or Highlight where the focus vowel appears.

For example, in the very first video, we are taught the letter A, then the word "casa." You can add the word "casa" to your A list and highlight all the A's in it.

Here's an example of what your notes will be similar to. Every student will have a unique list of examples.

Later, when you do the read-aloud of your notes, you will record something like the audio below:

This video is just for fun. :) This song is called "The Laugh of the Vowels" and is a little kid song. I bet you can tell when she is laughing like the vowels sound.

Jajajaja

Jejejeje

Jijijiji

Jojojojo

Practice Reading and Speaking Spanish words

1. Practice reading your notes aloud by yourself and with a classmate. Give each other positive criticism when needed.

2. Practice reading teacher-selected flash cards, focusing on the vowel sounds.

3. Use this website https://studyspanish.com/pronunciation and this one https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/spanish-vowels to listen, repeat, and read words.

4. Practice reading the words in the videos before the speakers say them. Compare your pronunciation to their correct pronunciation.

5. Find a quizlet set like this one https://quizlet.com/_9a1hlm?x=1jqt&i=2azq7 that has beginner Spanish words in it. Turn on the audio, plug in your headphones, and flip through the Spanish side, repeating the words. Focus on getting the vowels correct.

Now, record yourself reading your notes like in my previous example. You can use http://vocaroo.com Turn in your recording in Schoology. SILVER

If you want to double check that you are saying the words on your notes correctly, visit www.spanishdict.com and type in the word. The result should have an audio button you can click to listen to.

Practice Listening for Spanish Vowel Sounds

Listening practice A

#1-5

Listening A ANSWERS

Listening Practice B

Listening B ANSWERS

You will now take a Listening QUIZ on what the vowels sound like. Remote students will take this quiz in Schoology. Traditional students will take this in class. 12 GOLD

You will take a reading QUIZ in which you 1) pronounce the Spanish vowels (without notes) and 2) Read some teacher selected Spanish words, focusing on the vowel sounds. GOLD 10 GOLD

Go back to the top to continue to the next pronunciation lesson.

Report abuse