Spanish Pronunciation Guide

Occasionally there is a proficiency test in the final - meaning you speak and have a conversation with the teacher in Spanish. This means you actually have to be able to speak with a little bit of accuracy. If there isnt one this year, there definitely will be one next year so its worth knowing a little about. One way to look good on the proficiency exam, even if youre not too great with speaking, is knowing how to pronounce Spanish. It seems trivial but can make you at least sound like you know what youre saying, whether or not you do. So heres how to make it sound good. Letter Sounds: Letter A B Rule(s) Sounds like ah but much quicker sound. 1. At the beginning of a word or after the letter m - like the English B 2. Anywhere else like a b where the lips dont touch (similar to v) 1. Before letter e or i - like an English s 2. Anywhere else like a k Like the English letter d An ay sound Like the English letter f 1. Before letter e or i like an English h 2. Anywhere else like the English g Silent - no sound Like the English sequence ee Like the English letter h. Like the English letter k Like the English letter l 1. Like the English letter y English Example Father, modification 1. boom 2. Sound does not exist in English

1. sun, listen 2. Cook, care

D E F G

Double, dark Major, bathe Forward, affection 1. Heart, hammer 2. Grey, igloo

H I J K L Ll

Sheep, beep Hope, help Cork, catastrophy Lake, little 1. You, yelp

Ll (contd)

2. Like the English letter j 3. Like the zh sound in English - the French j sound. Like the English letter m Like the English letter n Like the English sequence ny or the Italian gn Like the English o sound, but much quicker Like the English letter p Like the English letter q, usually followed by u like in English as well 1. In the beginning of the word, after the letter l or after the letter n - a very long trilled r 2. Anywhere else - a short trilled r A very long trilled r

2. Jump, George 3. Jacques, pleasure

M N O P Q R

Mother, more Neither, not Lasagna, Canyon, Union Crayola, bored Pop, Porch Quite Sound does not exist in English

Rr S T U V W X

Sound does not exist in English Like the English letter s Sound, soul Like the English letter t Towel, tour Like the English sequence Move, bruise, loop oo but much quicker Like the English letter v Vowel, revolution Like the English letter w Wow 1. In the names of 1. High places (Mexico, 2. Extra Texas, Oaxaca) like the English h 2. Anywhere else like the English x 1. At the end of a 1. Yell word - like the 2. See ll English letter y 2. Anywhere else same rules as ll (like English y, j, or zh) Like the English z Zap

Accentuation and Stress

The major stress of a word is the part you say louder than all the other parts - for example, in the word oven, you pronounce it UH-vin and in the word telephone, you say TEL-uh-fone. There are three rules for where to put the major stress in a Spanish word. (1) If the word has any accent marks (lgico, lpiz, despus) you put the stress on that letter/syllable (2) If the word ends in a, e, i, o, u, n, or s, the stress goes on the second to last syllable (3) If the letter has NO accent marks, and ends in any consonant besides n or s, then the stress goes on the last syllable. Examples for each rule: Rule 1: lgico (LO-hee-coh); lpiz (LAH-peace) Rule 2: Octubre (oak-TOO-bray); seora (sen-YOUR-ah) Rule 3: Tener (tayn-AIR); papel (pah-PAYL)