5 Tips for Spanish Speakers

Here are 5 tips for Spanish speakers who want to improve their English pronunciation:

1. Use a dictionary to hear the pronunciation of a word

• You can use a free online dictionary like the Oxford Dictionary
• Or just use Google.co.uk. Search for a word plus “define” (see below)

2. Look at the IPA symbols underneath

• The IPA symbols tell you the pronunciation of the word.
• In the word debt you can see that the letter b is not pronounced: /dɛt/
• IPA stands for International Phonetic Alphabet.

3. Use my interactive sound charts to hear the sounds of English

• If you don’t understand an IPA symbol, then go to my Vowel Chart or Consonant Chart to hear it.

4. Learn the /ə/ vowel

• It’s the most common vowel in English and it’s called the schwa.
• Watch my Schwa YouTube video to learn when to use it.

5. Pronounce all the consonants

• Spanish words don’t end with multiple consonant sounds.
• This means you may not pronounce all the consonants at the end of a word in English.
• For example, you may pronounce band as ban, last as las, and crisps as crip 
• Practise saying English words slowly and ensure you are pronouncing all the consonant sounds.

Want to learn more?

Take my Online English Pronunciation Course