How to Pronounce Spanish Vowels
The Spanish vowels include the letters A, E, I, O, U, and once in a while the letter Y. They are easy to distinguish because they are a single letter. Easy to say and easy to hear, they make learning Spanish a whole lot easier for the novice. Doesn't that make you feel better? It did for me when I was taking Spanish back in school. There are no trailing sounds following the Spanish vowels like you hear in English.
Coming into the learning curve of the Spanish language, people who speak English do find these vowels easy to learn. They are easy to learn because they are exactly the same vowels that the English language uses. The English vowels look the same way, although they may sound different depending on the context or word they are used in. All of these vowels have basically the same sounding nature. The letter E might give a few problems as well as the U.
The sounds of the Spanish vowels are very unique. They remain distinct and unslurred for the most part. You will try to over-pronounce them when you start to speak the language but try to get away from this. You want to approach this language with a free mind remember? There are no vowels in Spanish that you really overlook, unlike the many words in English. Ok, well let us start with the vowel learning then.
- A: This letter has a broad sound to it. Try to picture yourself yawning when saying this letter. This is different from a lot of the short quick sounds we hear in English.
- E: This vowel almost sounds something like "ey" or "eh". It is said a little differently depending on what location you are living in but for the most part it is the same. This doesn't sound really just like the English letter A. It varies a little between that and more of a "ee" sound.
- I: The letter I sounds very much like the English letter E. An example of this is when you say "my name is". Mi llamo (name goes here). The word "mi" sounds like the English word me.
- O: You can think of this vowel as sounding like the English word "oh". There are a couple different sounds of the Spanish "O" which you will hear in various parts of Latin America.
- U: Think of this letter as a double letter "O". You could also think of it like your highschool class all "ooooing" and "ahhhhing" at something. Don't pronounce this letter as if there was a letter "Y" in front of it. That is the wrong way to do things. Just think of this as a double "O" and you are good to go. Spanish Diphthongs>>