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Contrary to what you may think, Spanish words are not that hard to pronounce. Just keep in mind a few basic rules and you will be speaking Spanish correctly in no time. The Spanish alphabet has 30 letters (the English language only has 26). The four other letters present in the Spanish alphabet not found in English are ch (read as che) as in chocolate, ll (read as el-ye) as in million, ñ (read as en-ye) as in onion, and rr (read as er-re). The other 26 letters that do not take the names of their exact English counterparts are: a, be, ce, che, de, e, efe, ge, hache, i, jota, ka, ele, elle, eme, ene, eñe, o, pe, ku, ere, erre, ese, te, u, uve, uve doble, ekis, y grieyega, and zeta. The Spanish alphabet also has five vowels (a, e, i, o, and u), but unlike the English vowels, they can only be pronounced in one way. In Spanish, a is always pronounced as in shut and never as in cat or tape. E is always pronounced as in pet and never as in week. I is always pronounced as in hit and never as in bike. O is always pronounced as in saw and never as in hope, and u is always pronounced as in book and never as in hut or umbrella. The letters in the Spanish alphabet that are pronounced the same way as in English are b, ch, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, v, w, x, y, and z. The letter h is always pronounced silently. The letter r is always rolled, even more strongly when it is rr. The letter q is pronounced as k in the English alphabet. The letter c is pronounced in two ways: /th/ as in thin before the vowels e and i, and /k/ anywhere else. The letter g sounds gurgled /g/ as in the German word Bach before the vowels e and i, and /g/ anywhere else. The letter j also sounds gurgled /g/ in all conditions. Before you can actually speak Spanish fluently, you have to keep these rules in mind and master enunciation. Spanish is a very romantic language – so be passionate in every word you say. |
