Spanish Tip of the Day for English Speakers: A Sound Understanding
Listen closely. The sounds in the Spanish alphabet are, for the most part, very similar to the sounds in the English alphabet — they’re just arranged differently. Once you understand this, the mystery of Spanish pronunciation will start to fade away.
Follow along with the video for best results:
How Spanish Vowels Compare to English
For example, the Spanish I sounds like the English E.
- Spanish I → sounds like English “ee” (as in “see”).
Meanwhile, the Spanish E kinda sounds like the English A.
- Spanish E → sounds similar to the English “A” (as in “day”)...but more leaning to the “eh” sound in “hey”.
So, the sounds you already know are all there — they’re simply rearranged. In a way, they’re just in disguise.
Rewiring Your Thinking for Spanish Pronunciation
Once you “rewire” your thinking to match how Spanish speakers hear these sounds, the confusion will start to fade.
Language is ultimately just a series of sounds with meanings attached. If you hear someone say the Spanish letter “A”, you might hear it as “ah” in English, but a Spanish speaker would likely recognize it as the letter A in the Spanish alphabet.
Similarly, if you hear “E”, your English-speaking brain might say, “That’s an E!”, but a Spanish speaker would likely interpret it as the letter “I” because that’s how that sound is trained in their brains.
Attaching the Correct Meaning
The key is to connect the right sounds to their Spanish meanings. Once your brain gets used to this new mapping, Spanish letters and their sounds will no longer feel mysterious — they’ll just make sense. 😉
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