Learn about a group of new Spanish consonants
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| Hi everyone. | |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide. | |
| In this lesson, you'll learn 5 Spanish consonant sounds. | |
| r, ɾ, tɬ, ts, ʝ | |
| These consonant sounds do not appear in English, so they'll likely be new to you. | |
| Be sure to practice them because these are unique sounds which learners often get wrong! | |
| Are you ready? | |
| Then let's get started! | |
| The first consonant is... | |
| r | |
| rumbo (course) | |
| perro (dog) | |
| carro (car) | |
| "(voiced alveolar trill) This is also known as a rolled R, or rolling your R's. The proper term for this is a trill. | |
| Using the tip of your tongue, lightly contact the gums that are directly behind your top teeth and try to direct just enough air through it so that the opening opens and closes rapidly. You should generally feel the pressure build up and release continuous between your gums and your tongue. | |
| This sound is voiced, so you should feel vibrations coming from your throat when pronouncing this consonant." | |
| r, r (slowly) | |
| r, r (slowly) | |
| The next consonant is... | |
| ɾ | |
| bravo (brave) | |
| caro (expensive) | |
| cirio (candle) | |
| "(voiced alveolar flap) This consonant sounds like a combination between a D-sound and an R-sound. | |
| English speakers can sometimes produce this sound when saying the word 'better' or 'butter', usually quickly and lazily. | |
| The key here is to make sure that the tongue strikes very quickly and contact brief." | |
| ɾ, ɾ (slowly) | |
| ɾ, ɾ (slowly) | |
| The next consonant is... | |
| tɬ | |
| tlapalería (hardware store) | |
| Xóchitl (proper name) | |
| Tláhuac (proper name) | |
| "(voiceless alveolar lateral affricate) This consonant sounds like a combination between a T-sound and an L-sound. | |
| Using the tip of your tongue, begin by pronouncing a T-sound, and at the moment of release, very quickly transition to an L-sound. | |
| The trick is to do it very quickly as to blend the two sounds into one." | |
| tɬ, tɬ (slowly) | |
| tɬ, tɬ (slowly) | |
| The next consonant is... | |
| ts | |
| Ertzaintza (Basque police) | |
| quetzal (quetzal bird) | |
| pizza (pizza) | |
| "(voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate) This consonant sound is like a combination of a T and an S sound. | |
| It starts off as a t sound, but ends with an s sound. | |
| Here's a great tip. You can produce this sound by saying the word 'cats', so one trick is to bounce off of the ending when trying to pronounce this consonant sound." | |
| ts, ts (slowly) | |
| ts, ts (slowly) | |
| The final consonant for this lesson is... | |
| ʝ | |
| ayuno (fasting) | |
| sayo (tunic) | |
| mayo (May) | |
| "(voiced palatal fricative) This consonant sounds similar to a Y-sound, except the passage is even more constricted. | |
| Try to narrow the channel of air between your tongue and the roof of your mouth until you create turbulence. | |
| It should create a kind of buzzing noise. Listen to the native speaker pronounce this sound." | |
| ʝ, ʝ (slowly) | |
| ʝ, ʝ (slowly) | |
| Well done! You just learned 5 new Spanish consonants. | |
| r, ɾ, tɬ, ts, ʝ | |
| You've now know all of the sounds that could possibly be pronounced in Spanish! | |
| In the next lesson, you'll learn about diphthongs in Spanish. | |
| Which of these Spanish consonant sounds is the most challenging to pronounce for you? Share it in the comments. | |
| See you in the next Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide lesson! | |
| How to Trill | |
| It can take weeks or months of practicing in order to get used to this sound. | |
| Put your mouth in the position when you're about to say "truck" | |
| Take a good breath and blow air over your tongue | |
| Your tongue must be relaxed | |
| You need to keep trying until you find the sweet spot | |
| Initially people are only able to do it with a T sound |
17 Comments
HideLeave us a comment if you have any questions.
Hola Maggierao,
Please also check out this lesson about "How to Trill the /R/":
https://www.spanishpod101.com/lesson/pronunciation-5-how-to-trill-the-r/?lp=141
Keep up practicing and soon you’ll get great results! 👍
Saludos,
Cristiane
Team SpanishPod101.com
It's hard for me to make the "r" sound!😭
Hola Ceri,
Thank you for your comment.
Don't worry! You will master your "r's" with practice. Even kids struggle with this, so don't feel discouraged. ?
Try listening and pronouncing words like ferrocarril, carro, raro, rápido, tigre, tren, etc.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
I'm struggling I can't seem to roll my r's
Hola Caleb,
Please keep practicing with words like correr, carro, ferrocarril, rata, etc.
Only listening and prating will help you improve. :thumbsup:
Don't worry you will get there.
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
rolling your r's is impossable.
Hola Richard,
Thank you for your comment.
I recommend you keep practicing and pronouncing as much or R words you can.
carro
radio
rampa
rio
correr
etc
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Hola!
Love the course so far, but I'm having trouble with Rolling my Rs. I've tried everything and the suggestion about putting a pencil under my tongue to help sounded good. But when I tried, the pencil would fall out. Are there any other suggestions for getting this sound right?
Hola Forrest,
We're happy to know you're having fun with the lessons. :sunglasses:
No mainly Mexican, but is true many Nahuatl words have the "tl"
Here are some Spanish words with "tl"
atlas - atlas
atleta - athlete
triatlón - triathlon
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
The tl is really fun. I enjoy that sound! Is it mainly Mexican? It sounds like Nahuatl