Pronunciation of vowels and letters C and G (2024)

As a native Spanish speaker, I have had the pleasure of working with people from all over the world. One of the common themes I see my colleagues struggle with is the Spanish pronunciation of vowels. It's not because it's a difficult language to speak, but because they can be a bit shy because of their accent. From my experience, mostmore Latin American really appreciates it when someone makes an effort to work on their pronunciation, even if it isn't perfect. The best way to improve your Spanish pronunciation is to speak, sing and communicate with people in the language. By reading the following guidelines, you'll have the head start you need to take your pronunciation skills to a whole new level!

5 vowels, 5 sounds

Vowels in Spanish are one of the easiest concepts to learn, but if your native language has multiple ways of pronouncing the same letter, like the tricky English vowels, things can get confusing. To make things easier for you, below you will find an overview of English words that contain the correct vowels for Spanish:

The letter 'u' can be tricky. In English the 'u' sounds like 'you', but in Spanish the sound is more like 'oo'. Think “A creepy ghost saying boo!” as a funny sentence that will help you with pronunciation. Many Spanish students have difficulty with the pronunciation of vowels. What helps them improve is to focus on the five basic sounds when they speak. A good word to practice isbat(bat) because it has every vowel in it! So if you want to practice, remember the pronunciation 'hot-see-is-lah-goh'.Once you get the hang of it, you'll be one step ahead of the Spanish game!

These words will give you a rough understanding of the sounds associated with each vowel in Spanish. How do you even begin to polish these sounds? A well-known method that is also fun to do is singing! You can try singing along to the Spanish version of"A Whole New World"sung by our Spanish experts, but also the timeless classicCri Cri, is used to teach Spanish to children all over the worldLatin America.

Let's look at the letter C

The letter 'c' in Spanish has 3 different pronunciations. Just like in English, there is the soft 'c', the hard 'c' and the 'ch' sound. The pronunciation of the soft 'c' sounds a lot like the 's' in English, and the hard 'c' sounds a lot like a 'k;' The 'ch' sound is also the same as in English. Below you will find a handy chart with examples of the different types of pronunciation!

The last sound in this diagram, 'cu', has a sound exactly the same as 'kw' in English. Words like 'clockwise' and 'kwanza' are good examples. The 'ch' sound is very similar to the English sound for these letters. Words like lime, champion and clutch all have the same 'ch' sound as the Spanish wordschili, chocolate,Inchewing gum(pepper, chocolate and chewing gum).

Did you know?

One of the first differences between Spanish and Latino accents is the way we do thempronounce our C's? In Spain they separate the 'c' from the 'er', while in Latin America we use the same soft pronunciation for both! This is just an interesting nuance of the language between continents and does not affect intelligibility at all.

Say the letter "G".

When I was in high school, I remember feeling overwhelmed trying to learn the different ways the letter "g" is used. While it's certainly not difficult, it does take some memory and practice before it becomes second nature. The basic rules for "g" are similar to those for "c", so try to master the pronunciation of "c" before this one to minimize the difficulty during practice.

There are two main sounds with this letter: the strong and soft 'g.'

The strong 'g' is probably the easiest to start with because it is exactly the same as the 'g' used in English. The word 'gulp' is the perfect example of how to pronounce the soft G. The soft 'g', on the other hand, is a sound that is not standard in the English language. So how does the soft 'g' actually work? The fastest way to learn this is to hear it in our detailed guidevideoabout Spanish pronunciation! To give you an idea of ​​what a strong 'g' sounds like, think of the letter 'h' in English. The soft 'g' is like a raspy version of it.

When do you pronounce a soft or strong G?

Special use of G

Now we know when a 'g' should be strong or soft! However, sometimes you come across words that sound like 'ge' and 'give', but with a hard sound. Oh no! How can we tell the difference?

There is actually a very easy way to determine when to use a strong 'g' on these occasions and it has to do with the letter 'u'. If you find a 'u' between 'ge' or 'gi', you should use a strong G, while the U itself remains silent.

Did you know?

The terms strong and soft g are reversed in English and Spanish? What native Spanish speakers think of as a 'soft g' is actually a 'hard g' when you speak English! Keep this fact in mind and you might surprise your Spanish teacher in your next lesson.

Practice time!

The great thing about learning a language is that you can learn it by communicating and connecting with others. If you want to learn more and practice with some expert teachers, check out oursSpanish learning programs. You can also register for itfree themfor a one-on-one lesson with one of our certified teachers!

Remember: practice makes perfect! Keep practicing with our video!

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