As attractive and effortless as Spanish sounds, there is always a certain amount of demanding work involved in learning any new language. The rules might seem difficult at first, but don't forget that the English language is often cited as one of the most complicated to learn, thanks to each rule's numerous exceptions.
Spanish, by comparison, is fairly by the books, which makes it ideal for those who want to learn on a budget as you don't need fancy teachers or huge textbooks. Practice your pronunciation and you'll learn Spanish free before you know it.
The Sound Of Spanish Vowels
All of Spanish's vowels are associated with strong sounds that will help each word jump off the tongue, like from a diving board. The letter "A" is pronounced like an "uh," an "e" sounds like "ay," the letter "i" becomes an "eee" sound and finally a "u" results in an "ooh" noise. The only vowel that retains the same sound from English to Spanish is the "o," which keeps the "oh" pronunciation.
By examining a short sentence in Spanish, you can see more clearly how to use this information. Our sample here will be "I want to buy new pants."
Me gusta comer el queso.
"Me gusta" are the first two words, which are pronounced "May Goose-toe" and it means "I like." The following word, "comer," is spoken as "koh-mare" and it means "to eat." Finally, "el queso" means "the cheese" and it is pronounced "el kay-soh."
Spanish Consonants And How They Sound
Consonants take a backseat to the vowels in Spanish just as they do in English. There are a few more rules we have to observe here than there were in the vowels, and even an extra "letter" of sorts: "ch." The letter "ch" is pronounced as you'd pronounce the same letters in the English word "champion."
When the letter "c" makes an appearance by itself, it adopts an "s" sound if in front of either an "i" or an "e," as in the word "cero," or "zero" in English. The "g" letter makes a sound like "ch" if used in front of an "e" or "i" but elsewhere, it will be used like the "g" in "go."
More trouble makes itself known with the letter "z," which brings about a "th" sound like in the word "with." Any "h" in the Spanish language is always silent. The "ll" is another sound, used very commonly in Spanish, and it sounds very much like the hard "y" sound of "you." An example of the "ll" letter is "llamar," which sounds like "ya-MAR."
Then there's the little tilde that appears in many Spanish words, such as "el nio." This produces a similar sound to the "ll," and as a result "el nio" is spoken "Ehl neen-yo."
Even so, the ground we've covered in this article certainly isn't everything, but it's a good start for those who want to learn Spanish free. There are a couple more sounds which can come in handy.
More sounds come in handy as you get more advanced, include "qu" which turns into a hard "k" sound, the "r" which is always said with a roll, and the long "eee" sound of the letter "y. - 31529
Spanish, by comparison, is fairly by the books, which makes it ideal for those who want to learn on a budget as you don't need fancy teachers or huge textbooks. Practice your pronunciation and you'll learn Spanish free before you know it.
The Sound Of Spanish Vowels
All of Spanish's vowels are associated with strong sounds that will help each word jump off the tongue, like from a diving board. The letter "A" is pronounced like an "uh," an "e" sounds like "ay," the letter "i" becomes an "eee" sound and finally a "u" results in an "ooh" noise. The only vowel that retains the same sound from English to Spanish is the "o," which keeps the "oh" pronunciation.
By examining a short sentence in Spanish, you can see more clearly how to use this information. Our sample here will be "I want to buy new pants."
Me gusta comer el queso.
"Me gusta" are the first two words, which are pronounced "May Goose-toe" and it means "I like." The following word, "comer," is spoken as "koh-mare" and it means "to eat." Finally, "el queso" means "the cheese" and it is pronounced "el kay-soh."
Spanish Consonants And How They Sound
Consonants take a backseat to the vowels in Spanish just as they do in English. There are a few more rules we have to observe here than there were in the vowels, and even an extra "letter" of sorts: "ch." The letter "ch" is pronounced as you'd pronounce the same letters in the English word "champion."
When the letter "c" makes an appearance by itself, it adopts an "s" sound if in front of either an "i" or an "e," as in the word "cero," or "zero" in English. The "g" letter makes a sound like "ch" if used in front of an "e" or "i" but elsewhere, it will be used like the "g" in "go."
More trouble makes itself known with the letter "z," which brings about a "th" sound like in the word "with." Any "h" in the Spanish language is always silent. The "ll" is another sound, used very commonly in Spanish, and it sounds very much like the hard "y" sound of "you." An example of the "ll" letter is "llamar," which sounds like "ya-MAR."
Then there's the little tilde that appears in many Spanish words, such as "el nio." This produces a similar sound to the "ll," and as a result "el nio" is spoken "Ehl neen-yo."
Even so, the ground we've covered in this article certainly isn't everything, but it's a good start for those who want to learn Spanish free. There are a couple more sounds which can come in handy.
More sounds come in handy as you get more advanced, include "qu" which turns into a hard "k" sound, the "r" which is always said with a roll, and the long "eee" sound of the letter "y. - 31529
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Besides learning some vocabulary you will want to also get some lessons in order to advance. There are numerous sites where you will learn Spanish free. Look at your options and come up with the best way to learn Spanish and that will give you more confidence. Look out for the free software Spanish lesson packs that give you extra visual help on screen.
