Top 5 Spanish Mistakes to Avoid

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Lesson Transcript

Hi everyone.

Welcome to The Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide.

In this lesson, you'll learn the top 5 Spanish pronunciation mistakes to avoid.

These are common mistakes that students of Spanish tend to make.

So pay close attention and make sure that you don't make these same mistakes too.

Are you ready?

Then let's get started!

Number 1. Pronouncing the letter H.

The letter H is silent in Spanish.

Most people learning Spanish try to pronounce it when in fact it should be silent.

English speakers in particular are used to pronouncing it in their own language, so they try to do so in Spanish as well.

But don't make this same mistake.

Take 'hello' for example...

Hola (hello)

Notice that the native speaker does not pronounce the H sound.

Hola (hello)

She instead pronounces the letter which follows.

Let's move on to Number 2.

ñ [ɲ]

Many Spanish learners tend to pronounce this consonant incorrectly.

Listen to the native speaker pronounce this consonant in a few words.

niño (boy)

niña (girl)

baño (bathroom)

This letter can be difficult for students of Spanish to pronounce, mostly because they don't have this sound in their language.

One trick to pronouncing this sound, is by saying the word 'onion', or 'canyon'.

It kind of sounds like a combination between an N and a Y sound doesn't it?

But don't worry about much of the specifics for now, as we'll break down this consonant in lesson 7.

Number 3: Mis-pronouncing the letter J.

j [x]

The letter J sounds a bit like a H-sound in English.

This is confusing for many speakers, particularly if their language also uses the roman letters H and J.

But not only this, because if you listen very carefully, it's not the same sound as the H in the English word 'how' for example.

Listen to the native speaker again.

j [x]

It's pronounced further back, close to the throat. In fact you should feel a little tickle in the back of the throat.

This sound is also pronounced with a bit more force.

Listen to the native speaker pronounce this letter in a few words.

jamón (ham)

eje (axis)

reloj (clock/watch)

We'll go over this a little more in lesson 5.

Number 4: Pronouncing Spanish vowels.

When pronouncing vowels in Spanish, many speakers tend to stretch out the vowels for too long.

Spanish vowels should be pronounced short and simple.

Listen to the native speaker.

a, e, i, o, u

Now listen to the speaker pronounce these vowels in a few words. Pay close attention to the duration of the vowel in each word.

amigo (friend)

enero (January)

ir (to go)

oro (gold)

uva (grape)

and finally, Number 5: Mispronouncing the double LL sound.

ll [ʎ]

Double L's are not pronounced the same as the English L sound.

Many Spanish learners tend to pronounce it as such or try to extend the sound to compensate, however the actual sound quite different.

Listen to it again.

ll [ʎ]

It sounds like a combination of an L and a Y sound.

Now, let's listen to how the native speaker pronounces this sound in a few words.

llamar (to call)

llave (key)

pollo (chicken)

We'll breakdown this sound in lesson 6.

Now you know the top 5 Spanish pronunciation mistakes to avoid.

Try to be careful so that you don't commit these same mistakes.

In the next lesson, we'll starting learning vowel sounds in Spanish.

"What's your biggest challenge with Spanish pronunciation? Is it one of these top 5 mistakes?