Friday, July 31, 2009

Learn Spanish by Learning the Pronunciation of the Letters

By Martha Benitez

You will hopefully find that your favourite Spanish guide or dictionary has a section on pronunciation. If that section is in any way typical, it will deal largely with the pronunciations of individual sounds of the language. It's surely a helpful starting point to consider how to pronounce, say, "the Spanish rolled r" or "the Spanish 'i' vowel" in isolation, or in certain example words. But your strategy for improving your pronunciation also needs to go beyond this letter-by-letter or sound-by-sound approach.

Try not to make the same mistakes that so many people make while learning Spanish. Consider hiring a tutor to work with you so you can learn Spanish quickly and easily. A tutor can correct your diction and you will sound funny at the beginning. Patience and practice will allow you to learn to pronounce the words clearly. Some parents that speak Spanish do not communicate it in front of their children, hoping to force them to become more fluent in English. Studies have been conducted that have revealed that many times one would rather mow the lawn or clean the house than take the time to learn Spanish.

A (ah), B (bay), C (thay), CH (chay),D (day), E (ay), F ('eff-ay), G (Hay), H ('ah-chay), I (ee), J ('Ho-tah), K (kah), L ('ell-ay), LL ('ell-yay), M ('emm-ay), N ('enn-ay), ('enn-yay), O (o), P (pay), Q (koo), R ('airr-ay), S ('ess-ay), T (tay), U (oo), V ('oo-vay), W ('oo-vay-'do-blay), X ('ay-kiss), Y (ee-gre-'ay-gah), Z ('thay-tah). Did you notice three extra letters in the alphabet? The three extra letters are the "CH", the "", and the two els side by side "LL".

Variation: Especially in some parts of Spain, there is some variation to (2): there's a greater tendency towards separate syllables at the beginnings of words (e.g. 'bi..lo.go', though 'bi.lo.go' is also possible), and where one word with definitely separate syllables has an influence on another by analogy. Thus, the word 'v.a' ("road", "route", "way"), always pronounced as two syllables, tends to influence speakers' pronunciation of 'vi.a.ble' ("viable"); 'r.e' ("he/she laughs") tends to influence 'ri.en.do' ("laughing"), whereas on the other hand speakers would generally pronounce 'sien.do' ("being") as two syllables.

One last key to learning to pronounce Spanish correctly is patience. Hopefully you are positive and excited about learning or why are you doing it? Search the Internet for materials that you can help to supplement your reference guide. Free materials are available if you just look around. CDs, DVDs, e-books, and online videos can all augment your hand reference guide that you have created. Practice, practice, and more practice will help you to learn to pronounce Spanish correctly. Master the pronunciations and you will not only speak fluently but you can now help others to do the same!

You are going to be able to speak at a restaurant, at an airport, with new friend, in basically every situation you can think of! So, whether you are interested in learning Spanish for your job, to communicate with neighbors, or if you are planning to travel to a Spanish speaking country, learning a new language online has never been easier!

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