Español para Todos

Zanahoria

2008-03-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

"Zanahoria" = carrot in English.
The pronunciation of the word may be difficult for English speakers. First you divide the word in the correct way in Spanish thus, za-na-ho-ria.
The 'z' in Spanish has two possible sounds.
1. Like an English 's' as in Sam.
2. Like an English 'th' as in think.
The Spanish 'h' is always silent.
The Spanish single 'r' in the middle of the word sounds like the American English middle sound of the 'd' or 't' when said fast ==> metal, medal, (the tongue does not touch the alveolar region but a little further back), never like an American 'r' (it sounds very foreign to Spanish ears and makes comprehension hard).
All Spanish single vowels are said clearly (without schwa).
The combination 'ia' forms a diphthong and the 'i' is considered a semi-vowel.

Finally, zanahoria = sah-nah-oh-djah.
Bold syllable=stressed one.

The Sounds of Spanish

2008-03-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

Spanish and English share some similar consonant sounds. For instance, the 'c' before a, o, u (hard c) is said like a 'k' (casa = kah-sah, color = koh-lohR, culpable [guilty] = kool-pah-bleh).

On the other hand, single vowel sounds are somewhat different. Some are similar but not identical. The Spanish single 'a' is similar to the English 'a' in father. The Spanish single e is similar but less open than the English 'e' in met. The Spanish 'i' has a sound that falls between the English short and long i sounds. The Spanish 'o' is similar to the British English 'o' in lock, mop and so on. The Spanish 'u' is similar to the 'oo' sound in a cow's moo.

English speakers should always use a full single vowel sound in Spanish regardless of where the stress falls in the word. English speakers use a 'schwa' sound in many unstressed vowels and that sound is never used in Spanish for single vowels. Let's use this comparison for clarification. In Spanish metal = metal, but the pronunciation is completely different in the two languages; in Spanish metal = meh-tahl, in English = me (= open e) - tal (= schwa sound for the unstressed a).

ESPAÑOL PARA TODOS

2008-03-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

¡Hola a todos!
Este blog es para las personas que estudian español