Pronunciation starts the building blocks of any new language. When beginning to learn Spanish you need to make sure you have the entire alphabet known well to aid in reading and writing it. When working with Rocket Spanish, Amy and Mauricio make sure you can hear how every word and phrase being taught is pronounced, but it is even more critical to know how every letter sounds as well.
 

The Easy Letters

Many of the letters in the Spanish alphabet sound like the ones in the English alphabet. Just make sure you understand that sometimes Spanish speakers will pronounce their letters softer than English speakers do. When this occurs it may sound like mumbling to a person who is unfamiliar with Spanish, but once exposed to it long enough, it will become easier to understand. The letter “c” mostly follows the same rules as it does in English; it sounds like an “s” if it comes before an “e” or an “i” and sounds like a “k” all other times. The letter “ch” is something new and slightly unusual but is pronounced exactly how it is spelled. “F”, “k”, “m”, “p”, “t”, “w”, and “y” are pronounced exactly as they are in English. The letter “q” sounds like the letter “k”, and the letter “s” sounds like it does in the word “sorry”, not how it sounds in the word “fears”.
 

Vowels

Although many of the consonants are pronounced much softer than they are in English, vowels on the other hand take on a stronger sound. Some people might say they are more distinct than the other letters. “A”, “i”, and “o” all have one sound while “e” and “u” can change. Examples are as follows: The letter “a” is pronounced how it sounds in the word “father”. The letter “i” takes on the sound of a double “e”. Examples are words like “tree” or “meet”. The letter “o” is pronounced how it is in the word “smoke” or “tote”. The two more difficult vowels are “e” and “u”. “E” usually sounds like how it does in the word “set” but sometimes can also sound like the Canadian “eh” at times as well. In the case of the letter “u”, it is usually pronounced how the “oo” sounds in “moon” but the “u” can also be silent if it is placed before an “i” or an “e”, for example in the word “guerra” only the “e” is heard.
 

The Confusing Letters

There are a handful of letters that sound different than their English pronunciation. The letters “b” and “v” make the same noise, they both take on the sound like the one in the word “beat”. The letter “d” can sometimes take on the sound of a “th” when it is placed in between vowels. The letter “g” has two different sounds as well; it can either sound like how it does in the word “gun” or take on the sound that the letter “h” makes in English. Speaking of “h”, in Spanish this letter is always silent, and takes on no particular sound at all. “L” is pronounced how it sounds in the word “long” and the “ll” sounds like a “y” in the English alphabet. “N” can sound like how it does in English, but under certain circumstances can sound like an “m” too. The “Ñ” takes on the sound of “ny” or for example sounds like “ny” in “Grand Canyon”. The letter “x” has many different sounds, they range from the sound in the word “exit” to the sound an “s” makes, or the sound a “j” makes in Spanish. Last but not least, the letter “z” is pronounced like “th”, just like how it sounds in the word “think”.