Pronunciation Course for Spanish Speakers

Free 21-Day English Pronunciation Course for Spanish Speakers

Introduction

Is Spanish your first language?

Do you believe people sometimes have trouble understanding your English?

Improve your English pronunciation in 21 days with this free course. The goal of the 21-Day English Pronunciation Course for Spanish Speakers is to improve intelligibility and raise awareness of common pronunciation challenges faced by people who speak Spanish as their first language.

Again, the goal is to improve intelligibility and raise awareness of Spanish speakers' common pronunciation challenges.

Why did I say the goal twice?

Because this is not intended to be a magic cure for all your speaking problems, instead, expect significant improvement in your English-speaking intelligibility. In other words, by the end of this course, people will be able to understand you better when you speak English.

Over the next 21 days, we will target twelve specific sounds (four consonants, four vowels, and four consonant clusters) that often give Spanish speakers trouble. When you practice each sound, you will complete five different activities:

• Minimal Pairs
• Vowels
• Syllable Stress
• Reduced Sounds
• Tongue Twisters

The sounds of English do not exist in a vacuum, so we practice these sounds on the word level and sentence level. These activities will improve your understanding of American English stress patterns, reduced sounds, and speech music.

There are a multitude of Spanish dialects with distinct features. This 21-day course is a general guideline, so feel free to tweak the recommended daily practice based on your needs.

If you would like more ideas on how to work on your pronunciation outside of this program, you can jump to the section Additional Resources for Spanish Speakers.

Do You Need This 21-Day Pronunciation Course?

Many English language learners believe pronunciation is their biggest weakness.

A student recently confessed, “If I improve my pronunciation, my English will be perfect.”

She was wrong.

The fact is you might NOT need to work directly on your pronunciation.

Listen to these three speaking samples from Spanish speakers preparing for the TOEFL iBT. The original questions can be found on TST Prep’s official website.

Read the summary below each response and compare your pronunciation.

01, Male, Spanish, Talking About Paper Books and Digital Books

This speaker should work on pronunciation and enroll in the 21-day pronunciation course. He has a wide vocabulary and speaks confidently, but there are instances where it takes effort to understand. Examples of sounds covered in the course include particular consonants and vowels in words like campus, just, and natural.

02, Male, Spanish, Reporting on Aggression

The first thing you might notice about this student is that he needs some help with spoken grammar, for example, subject-verb agreement. This student DOES need help with pronunciation as well, so this 21-day pronunciation course is a good fit. Here is a list of some of the words he struggled to pronounce well, and the sounds within most of these words are included in the course: professor, theories, aggressive, mates, conserve, and through.

03, Female, Spanish, Talking About Switching Jobs

This student does NOT need help with her pronunciation. She spoke clearly and deliberately. She may need to work on her speaking speed, but she could do other activities to help with this issue.

If you want feedback and pronunciation advice from an experienced teacher, send an email to Josh at [email protected].

The 21-Day Pronunciation Course for Spanish Speakers

The Speaker English collection of sound practice includes 18 consonant sounds, 20 vowel sounds, and 25 consonant clusters. These are the sounds of American English.

Consonants: p, b, t, d, k, g, v, l, r, z, s, h, dʒ (dg), m, n, w, j (y), f

Vowels: æ (a), eɪ (A), e(ɛ), i: (ee), ɪ (i), aɪ (ai), ɒ (o), ɘʊ (O), ʌ (u), Ʊ (oo), u: (oo), aʊ (ow), ɔɪ (oi), ɪə (eer), ə (“uh”/schwa), ɜ: (er), ɔ: (aw/or), a: (ar), eə (air), ʊɘ

Consonant Clusters: zh (ʒ), ng (ŋ), sh (ʃ), ch (tʃ), th (ð, voiced), th (θ, unvoiced), bl, br, st, sw, cl, cr, dr, fr, fl, gl, gr, pl, pr, tr, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp

Each day, you will complete various activities on four different sounds.

Even though there may be other sounds you struggle to pronounce well, we have selected 12 sounds most Spanish speakers find challenging. This represents a large sample size that will target current weaknesses and improve your overall intelligibility.

Consonants:

• z
• j (y)
• dʒ (dg)
• v

Vowels:

• i: (ee)
• ɔ: (aw/or)
• Ʊ (oo)
• ɒ (o)

Consonant Clusters:

• st
• sh
• th (voiced)
• sm
  

Follow the links below and complete the given assignments. Set aside approximately 30 minutes each day to complete all activities.

Additional Resources for Spanish Speakers

It is important to note that this 21-day pronunciation course is not a one-size-fits-all solution. I encourage you to tweak this plan based on personal preference.

Regarding particular sounds, I have highlighted sounds often identified as troublesome for Spanish speakers.

Consonants: p, b, t, d, k, g, v, l, r, z, s, h, dʒ (dg), m, n, w, j (y), f

Vowels: æ (a), eɪ (A), e(ɛ), i: (ee), ɪ (i), aɪ (ai), ɒ (o), ɘʊ (O), ʌ (u), Ʊ (oo), u: (oo), aʊ (ow), ɔɪ (oi), ɪə (eer), ə (“uh”/schwa), ɜ: (er), ɔ: (aw/or), a: (ar), eə (air), ʊɘ

Consonant Clusters: zh (ʒ), ng (ŋ), sh (ʃ), ch (tʃ), th (ð, voiced), th (θ, unvoiced), bl, br, st, sw, cl, cr, dr, fr, fl, gl, gr, pl, pr, tr, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp

If you went through the pronunciation course, you know there are five activities to complete each day:

• Minimal Pairs

• Vowels

• Syllable Stress

• Reduced Sounds

• Tongue Twisters

While these activities are helpful, Spanish speakers should emphasize working on consonant clusters and word stress. Many students who speak Spanish as their first language must refrain from inserting vowels between consonants and with proper stress.

Consonant clusters that begin with an /s/ give Spanish speakers trouble because Spanish words that begin with an /s/ are followed by a vowel sound. Eight consonant clusters in English begin with an /s/: sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, sh, and sw.

Consonant clusters not only give Spanish speakers trouble with the /s/ sound. Words that end with a consonant may also frustrate Spanish speakers because it is rare for words to end with a consonant cluster in Spanish. However, in English, words often end with consonant clusters. For example, “breakfast” will sound like “breakfas” when uttered by some Spanish speakers.

Word stress in Spanish follows a regular pattern. According to this article, there are three patterns:

• For words ending in a vowel, or n or s, the second to last syllable is stressed.
• For words ending in a consonant other than n or s, the word stress falls on the last syllable.
• For any exceptions to the above two rules, the stressed syllable is indicated with an accent mark.

Unfortunately, word stress and syllable stress in English are more complicated, which is why Spanish speakers should pay extra attention to pronunciation activities that help identify proper stress patterns.

Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or feedback below. I’m always learning :)