The Real Fast Spanish Tips Podcast

Andrew Barr: Spanish Student, Teacher & Blogger
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  • Language Learning

Learn Real Spanish Fast and Stay Motivated

  1. 21/01/2016

    Silent Letters in Spanish – A Short But Important List

    There are only 2 regular silent letters in the Spanish language. But, you’ll need to be careful with both of these letters because they are silent in some words and pronounced in others. In addition, when I say ‘regular’ silent letters I’m referring to the pronunciation of traditional Spanish words, not words that have been adopted from Greek or other languages. In this post, I’ll give an overview of the two silent letters in Spanish including where and how you need to use them. Since this post is about pronunciation, I’ll also include some short mp3 recordings to demonstrate what the words sound like to avoid any confusion with phonetic spelling. The letter H The first silent letter in Spanish is the letter H. This letter is always silent unless it is next to the letter C. When we see the letter C next to an H we need to make a ch sound. This sound is just like the English ‘ch’ sound in words like ‘cheek’ or ‘beach’. In the Spanish alphabet, the word that represents the letter H is hache. Since this word starts with an H and has a ch, it makes for a great first example to demonstrate the pronunciation of H and ch. Hache (aitch) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/hache.mp3 Here are two more examples of words that also start with H: Hasta (until) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/hasta.mp3 Haber (to have) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/haber.mp3 Here are two examples with the letter H in the middle of the word: Ahora (now) (notice how the H creates a ‘gap’ between the A and the O) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ahora.mp3 Alcohol (alcohol) (similarly, notice the H creates an elongation between the two middle O’s) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/alcohol.mp3 To finish the section on the letter H, here are two examples with a ch: Echar (to throw) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/echar.mp3 Hecho (fact) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/hecho.mp3 The letter U In the majority of Spanish words with a U, the sound you need to make to represent the U is like a double “oo” in English and rhymes with the English word “too”. Here are two examples of words with the typical pronunciation of the Spanish letter U: Lugar (place) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/lugar.mp3 Mucho (a lot) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mucho.mp3 In contrast, the letter U is silent in Spanish words when it is next to a Q or sandwiched in between a G and an E or a G and an I as gui and gue. Here are some examples with U after a Q: Porque (because) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/porque.mp3 Pequeño (small) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pequen%CC%83o.mp3 Here are some examples with a gui: Guión (script) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/guio%CC%81n.mp3 Seguir (to follow) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/seguir.mp3 Here are some examples with a gue: Guerra (war) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/guerra.mp3 Llegué (I arrived) (the tilde on the E means you need to pronounce this word with an emphasis on the second syllable) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/llegue%CC%81.mp3 To make things slightly more confusing, whenever you see a Ü in Spanish with a double dot, you need to pronounce the U sound. You will see this letter in situations like the last two examples as either a güe or a güi.  Here are some examples with a güi: Pingüino (penguin) (Notice how the güi sounds like “gwee”) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pingu%CC%88ino.mp3 Lingüística (linguistics) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/lingu%CC%88i%CC%81stica.mp3 Here are some examples with a güe: Vergüenza (embarrassment) (Notice how the güe here sounds like “gwen”) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/vergu%CC%88enza.mp3 Bilingüe (bilingual) (Notice how the güe here sounds like “gwe”) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/bilingu%CC%88e.mp3 Adopted silent letters from other languages At the start of the post, I mentioned that there are silent letters that occur in words that have been adopted from other languages such as Greek. Here are a few examples: The m in mnemotecnia (mnemonics). The p in pterodáctilo (pterodactyl). The p in psicólogo (psychologist). These are fairly low use words so I don’t recommend you spend too much time on them (unless you are a psychologist and need this word to explain what you do). Your Turn Choose some examples from this post and practice the pronunciation by copying recordings. Also, try them out with a Spanish native in a language exchange or with a teacher. As a bonus for reading this post, if you sign up to the Real Fast Spanish School and mention this post in an email, I will offer you a free one-on-one Skype lesson as another opportunity to practice your pronunciation. If you would like to learn more about pronunciation check out this podcast episode. How can you remember the silent letters in Spanish? The post Silent Letters in Spanish – A Short But Important List appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

    1 sec

  2. 24/09/2015

    Tips 116: La Vida Te Cambia

    Follow Cristina's story as she faces her fears of moving overseas.

    24 min

  3. 19/07/2015

    Tips 115: Life in Madrid with Daniel Welsch – Part 2

    This episode is part 2 of the two part interview with ex-pat Daniel Welsch. Daniel has been living in Spain for 10 years and shares a lot about ex-pat life as well as the process of learning Spanish.

    29 min

  4. 29/06/2015

    Tips 114: Life in Madrid with Daniel Welsch

    This week you will learn about life in Madrid from ex-pat Daniel Welsch. Daniel has been living in Spain for 10 years and shares a lot about ex-pat life as well as the process of learning Spanish.

    29 min

  5. 25/06/2015

    Tips 113: An Insider’s Guide to the Canary Islands

    In today's podcast you will learn about the Canary Islands from a local. We talk about what the Canary Islands is famous for and what you should see and do if you decide to visit.

    16 min

  6. 22/06/2015

    Tips 112: The Power of Noticing

    How much do you know notice? Did you know that the ability to notice is a skill you can improve? In this week's tip you will learn how to improve your ability to notice and how to transfer this skill to language learning?

    9 min

  7. 18/06/2015

    Tips 111: Common Spanish Verbs – 6 Uses for the Verb “Acabar”

    In this week's theory podcast you will learn about the spanish verb 'acabar' and some of it's common constructions with prepositions.

    13 min

  8. 15/06/2015

    Tips 110: How to Set Yourself for Language Learning Success with John Fotheringham (Part 2 of 2)

    This episode is part 2 of a 2 part interview with John Fotheringham. Go back to tip 110 to listen to the first part of the interview.

    38 min
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About

Learn Real Spanish Fast and Stay Motivated

Information

  • Creator
    Andrew Barr: Spanish Student, Teacher & Blogger
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2016
  • Episodes
    117
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2016 Real Fast Spanish
  • Show Website
    The Real Fast Spanish Tips Podcast

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