Pronunciation

Pronunciation is something that is often times overlooked when learning a language. It's something that everyone knows is important and should be talked about, but lots of people imagine that it is also one of those things that you just kind of sorta pick up along the way. While it is true that by listening to enough people with good pronunciation will help with yours, people tend to mimk those around them. It's much better to learn intentionally, which requires some deliberate practice. This page is designed to layout some of the rules for pronunciation so you can practice from the very beginning. After all its much easier to avoid a bad habit than it is to break it later on. Here we go!

The Foundation

Before getting specific we need to get down to the basics and break things apart to their individual elements. Language is made up of words, and words are made up of syllables, and syllables are made up of combinations of consonants and vowels. So really language is the meaning given through the pairing of vowels and consonants. And in these pairings the crucial piece are the vowels, they control and determine the changeable parts of the syllable. If we take a look at the following syllable, "CA" we would see that the "C" is going to produce the hard K sound, but in this example "CE" the "C" would produce the soft S sound. So consonants can change their sound, but in Spanish vowels NEVER change. They only have one sound and as long as you know what that sound is you will be able to determine how it should be pronounced. One other difference between the english and spanish vowels is their duration. Spanish vowels are shorter and softer than in english, so don't plan on drawing them out. With that in mind let's take a look at what the vowels are in Spanish.

A - This makes the "AH" sound, as in the A in father.

E - This makes the "EH" sound, as in the E in elephant.

I - This makes the "EEE" sound as in the E in be.

O - This makes the "OH" sound, as in the O in snow.

U - This makes the "OOO" sound, as in the U in flute.

Changing C's and G's

As was mentioned up above, consonants can change their sound based on what vowel they are paired with. Such as in the case with the C. Luckily though this doesn't happen with every consonant. In fact there are only two which change, and even those follow a pattern. C and G are the changeable culprits. Here's some handy rules to follow.

C = K

If a C is followed by an A, O, or U, then it makes a hard K sound. Think of the word CASA, the C makes a hard K sound, the same is true with LOCO.

C = S

If a C is followed by an E, or I it changes to a soft S sound. Take the word CINE which is pronounced like the english word cinema, in both words the C is paired with a I and makes the soft S sound.

A good example that uses both of these two rules is CINCO, it starts with CI and the C makes a soft S, but then it ends with CO where the C makes a hard K. And really this is something that happens in English as well, just think how you would pronounce the word CIRCLE, or CITIZEN.

G = G

If a G is followed by and A, O, or U then it makes a hard G sound. Think of the words GATO or GORDO, in both of these examples the G made a hard G sound like in the english word Gorilla.

G = H

When G is followed by an E, or I it changes to a soft H sound. An example for the letter G is GENTE where the G is pronounced like a soft H.

What if you want something different?

So if a G and an E makes a soft H sound, how would you get a G and a E sound, such as in the english word GET? To get these sounds we need to combine a more letters.

C

To get the hard K sound followed by a E you need to use QUE, this is pronounced like KAY. And if you need the K sound followed by an I you use QUI, which is pronounced like KEY.

G

To get a hard G sound followed by an E you use GUE, which is pronounced like the GE in GET. To produce the hard G sound followed by an I such in the word GILL, you would use GUI.

More Changing letters

The following letters don't change based on the letters that follow them, but they do have a different pronunciation from English.

H

This one is easy because it's almost always silent. Just think of the english word HOUR. This means the spanish word HOTEL would simply be pronounced OTEL, and HOLA should be pronounced OLA. The reason it is there is only to distinguish it from others words. In Spanish HOLA = HELLO, and OLA = WAVES, such as in the ocean. The only time you would pronounce the H is if it is combined in CH, then it makes the same sound as in the word CHILD.

J

This letter changes to the H sound. Think of those commonly known Spanish words JALAPENO, or JUAN.

LL

This is a new letter which makes a Y sound. Think of how TORTILLA should be pronounced, people who want to haunt the nightmares of Spanish teachers everywhere pronounce it as TORTILAS while knowing full well that it should be TORTIYAS. Please don't be these people.

Ñ

This is another new letter. It makes the NY sound, which is something we really don't have in English. At least not one that I've thought of, if you can think of or find an example please let me know. Otherwise just think of the words NIÑO or SEÑOR.

RR

The rolling r's. Here's the quick and simple rule about r's. If a word begins with R or has a double R somewhere in it, then you roll it. If not, if it's simply a single R, you don't have to roll it and simply pronounce it as we do in English. To roll an R, place the tip of your tongue right behind your top front teeth and forcefully blow out. It's a bit tricky but you want your tongue to be loose enough to vibrate and make a sound but not loose enough to just flop down in your mouth. This is definitely a skill we'll be practicing more this year.

X

Most of the time X will be pronounced as a XS sound, such as in the English word EXAM. But on some occasions, such as in names of proper nouns it changes to a H sound, such in MEXICO, which should be pronounced more like MEHICO.

Z

This one depends on who you are talking with, or where you learned spanish. If you learned in Mexico or anywhere else in Latin America you would say it makes a S sound. But if you went to Europe and learned in Spain you would say it makes a TH sound.

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