I’d like to spend a bit of time talking about Spanish pronunciation, which is something I focus on in lessons. Developing an understanding of Spanish pronunciation, and practising it regularly is, to me, just as important a part of learning the language as grammar and vocabulary. And yet pronunciation is sometimes seen as an area which can be glossed over. As long as you can be understood, that’s all that matters, right?
Well, beginners can get away with this – after all, during the early stages it is difficult to focus on pronunciation as well as everything else (although the counter-argument is that it’s never too early to learn good habits and learn how the spoken language works. After all, this will also help with oral comprehension). However, I would like to clarify two things: 1) I don’t expect anyone to have or develop a Spanish accent which is indistinguishable from that of a native; this is very difficult to achieve. 2) There is a difference between correct Spanish pronunciation and an accent – more on this later.
The reality is that Spanish pronunciation is very easy. It is! The difficult part is going against what we know and the way we have always spoken. If you’re Italian, great, you’re halfway there. If you are from Oxford, however, it may be a little trickier. For someone with no particular accent, who pronounces “after” with an “ahh” sound, it could be very tempting to pronounce “hola” more like “cola” or “ohhlaaah”. “Hola” is actually pronounced with a short “o” (like “cot”) and “a” which is like a clipped version of “ahh” rather than the hard “a” of “cat”.
However, that’s not all. Spanish speakers use their facial muscles much more than English speakers do. Say “hello” to yourself. Out loud. Go on, you’ll see what I mean. We can say hello by barely using our facial muscles, and we do. Now try saying “hola” (correctly, of course) without moving your mouth. Tricky, right? It is, and this is where Spanish differs to English. Spanish pronunciation is a celebration of vowel sounds. Now say “hola” again, as you would normally. See the difference?
The five vowels in Spanish are the same as English; below I have found a few English words that correspond, more or less, to Spanish. No ahhhhh, eyyyyy, ohhhhhh and oooooo here, however.
A – “ahh/cat” – as above (try “España”)
E – “peg” (try “tres”)
I – “key” (try “fino”)
O – “cot” (try “dos”)
U – “cool” (try “único”) – the accent means the stress needs to go here: U-ni-co
So, there you go, the very basics of Spanish vowel pronunciation.
As I mentioned, there is a difference between correct pronunciation and an accent. Accents exist, and rather than being right and wrong, they just are. A Liverpool accent is no less valid than a London accent. And with that, come variances in pronunciation. Do you say “laff” or “larrf”? It doesn’t matter, both are correct. In Spanish, however, these differences are much more subtle, especially with vowel sounds. Sure, native speakers and those who have lived abroad for a while can tell the difference between a Catalan accent and a Madrileño one, but essentially the vowels are pronounced the same.
There are regional pronunciation differences, just as there are anywhere, but if you want to learn the most “correct” Spanish, aim for pure Castillian, spoken in central Spain (Salamanca is considered the place where the purest Spanish is spoken). For people learning Spanish, this is considered the easiest Spanish to understand.
Like I said, I truly believe that pronunciation matters. Apart from anything else, English speakers are famed for not knowing foreign languages, so having a good grasp of how pronunciation works will really impress native speakers. It also demonstrates either a really good capability to mimic (nothing wrong with that!) or a commitment to learning the best you can.
And finally, you really don’t want to get “peras” mixed up with “perras” (look them up).