One of the most important things to learn, when learning Spanish, is the sound of the vowels (a, e, i, o, u).
Spanish is a phonetic language, which means that the way it's written is how it's pronounced.
For example, in english, the letter "a" can have several different sounds. Here are just two examples:
- Mad.
- Made.
Thankfully, this doesn't occur in Spanish since the letter "a" is pronounced the same way. Same goes for the other 4 vowels.
How To Pronounce The Vowels
Here is the key that'll help you nail down the pronunciation of the vowels in Spanish:
- a = as in the "a" of: father.
- e = as in the "e" of: berry.
- i = as in the "ee" of: see.
- o = as in the "o" of: more.
- u = as in the "oo" of: food.
The Key To Perfecting Your Spanish Pronunciation
To master your Spanish pronunciation, keep the following tips in mind:
- Familiarize yourself with the IPA phonetic alphabet.
- As you listen to the audio recordings, follow the IPA phonetic spelling of the word (or words).
- As you repeat the pronunciation of the audio recording, break the word into syllables.
- Say the word slowly.
- Add the correct emphasis to the correct syllable.
- Practice makes perfect, so practice as much as you can.
