Spanish Alphabet Lesson, Hey, I'm teaching English at work, okay?

[Misti Wolanski]

Spanish Alphabet
Alfabeto de español

Before learning any language, knowing the alphabet is an immense help. My Spanish I class in high school didn’t teach it, and I noticed that those who didn’t already know the alphabet had more trouble than those who did.

Knowing the Spanish alphabet helps you understand what sounds the letters make. It also makes learning new words easier, because a native speaker can spell in his native tongue much more easily than he can in English, and Spanish has some letters that differ from ours.

Realizing this has made me curious about other languages’ alphabets, and I thought I’d offer some help to my fellow studiers of Spanish.

The Spanish alphabet is as follows, with a very rough pronunciation beside it. If you say it the way I show, you’ll probably be understood, but you won’t be quite right. Always stay in the front of your mouth and don’t open your jaw much.

[Note: When you see an italicized letter in the pronunciation, say that letter aloud.)

A – “ah”
B – “bay”
C – “say”
Ch* – “chay”
D – “day”
E – "eh"
F – f-“ay”
G – “hey”
H – “ah-chey”
I – e
J – “hoe-tah”
K – “kah”
L – l-“ay”
Ll* – a-“yay”
M – m-“ay”
N – n-“ay”
Ñ – n-“yay”
O – o
P – “pay”
Q – “ku”
R – “air”
Rr* – “air-ay”
S – s-“ay”
T – “tay”
U – “oo”
V – “vay”
W – “dublay vay”
X – “ah-kees” (Think “a kiss” with the i sound replaced by a long e.)
Y – “ee-grey-gah”
Z – “say-tah”

*Though these letters look like two, they are actually their own letters in themselves and make their own sounds.

If there’s interest, I can continue with the sounds the letters make.

-Misti

Guess what? Yep, copyrighted a mí… 2005

[Salvador]

Good topic.

Back when I was in Spanish 5 in high school, half the class didn't even know the alphabet, which is one of the most basic things.....!!

[Misti Wolanski]

[nods] I got this in fourth grade; none of my later teachers found it worth covering.

It's been an immense help to me, though. I can't imagine why Spanish I teachers think it's not applicable.

-Misti

[Misti Wolanski]

To continue the lesson, let's enter into the vowels.

Spanish has five, like English: A, E, I, O, U. These are the simplest to pronounce, because the pronunciation is the same as how they're said.

As a reminder:

A – “ah”
E – "eh"
I – e
O – o
U – “oo”

So, if you can say the vowels, you can pronounce them.

-Misti

©2006, Misti Wolanski