Friday, March 27, 2009

Pronounce Spanish Words

Spanish is a beautiful, rhythmic language spoken by over 500 million people. It is the third most spoken language in the world. With the Hispanic population in the United States growing rapidly, a knowledge of Spanish is becoming more vital than ever. The best way to begin learning a language is to learn the pronunciation.


Instructions


Vowels


1. Pronounce all vowels with one sound. There are no diphthongs in Spanish. The letter A is pronounced "ah." Say the word mal as "mahl."


2. Pronounce the vowel E as "eh." The word esta is pronounced "ehs-tah."


3. Say the letter I by saying "ee." The letters mis are pronounced "mees."


4. Say "oh" every time you see the letter O. The word mariposa is pronounced "mah-ree-poh-sah."


5. Pronounce the letter U as "oo." The word uno is pronounced "oo-no."


6. Blend vowels together that are next to each other. Pronounce the word puede as "pooeh-deh."


7. Speak the letter Y by saying "ee." The word muy is pronounced "mooee."








Consonants








8. Leave the silent letter consonants silent in Spanish, just as you would in English in most cases. There are a few exceptions. For example, the letter H is silent. Hay is pronounced "ahee."


9. Do pronounce the letters CH in Spanish just as you pronounce them in English.


10. Pronounce the letters LL in Spanish with the English Y sound. Tortilla sounds like "tor-tee-ya."


11. Pronounce the letter J the same as the English H. Juego is pronounced "hooeh-go."


12. Pronounce the letter n as ny, like the English word onion. The word nino sounds like "nee-nyo."


13. The Spanish letter R is spoken as a rolled R.


14. Pronounce Z in Spanish as an S is verbalized in English. For example, azul sounds like "ah-sool."

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