Abc's

ABC’s ¡Bienvenidos! Welcome!

Parents: You need to learn the pronunciation of the Spanish letters. That way you can teach your children! ¡Buenos suerte! GOOD LUCK!

Parents: There are a few things you should know before we begin:

A Phonetic Language • Spanish is very phonetic, which means it’s easy to sound out.

A Phonetic Language • Spanish is very phonetic, which means it’s easy to sound out. • Unlike English where the “A” has 33 sounds!*

*see diacritics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C8%A6

Also; you may have to reread and reread the words and alphabet before you get it down.

Use the A like in the sound “caught” ahora - now abre - (you) open afuera- out

Use the B like in the word “book” bajo – low/short/ground bebe – baby beso – kiss

Use the C like in the word “candy” corto – short/small conejo - rabbit Cuidado! – Careful! *when followed by an “I” “C” makes an “S” sound

cinco - five

Use the Ch like in the word “chat” chico/chica – boy/girl muchos – many cuchillo – knife

D makes a light “d” sound like in “done” dedo – finger derecha – right dos - two .

* Some dialects use “th” as in “the”

Use the E like in the word “mess” el – the (masculine esto – this entrada - arrival/entry

Use the F like in the word “four” fuego – fire fiesta – party café – coffee

Use the G like in the word “good” gafa – glasses gato – cat goma – glue

The H is a silent letter hola – hello habla – (you) speak hombre – man

At the beginning of a word: Use “I’ as in the word “in” importante – important izquierda – left In the word or at the end: Use “I” like “me” mi – me arriba – up

The J makes an “H” sound like in “hot” ¡ja! – ha! jardín – garden julio – July

Use the K like in the word “kite” kiwi – kiwi kínder – kindergarten

Use the L like in the word “lake” la – the (feminine) lago – lake leer – to read

ll The ll makes a “y” sound like in “you” llave – key lloro – crying lluvia – rain

Use the M like in “move” madre – mother mismo – same mano – hand

Use the N like in the word “no” no – no noche – night numero – number nombre – name

ñ The ñ is more nasal than the N niño – boy ñapa – bonus/extra Español – Spanish

Use the O like in the word “no” ocho – eight ojo – eye otro – other

Use the P like in the word “park” parque - park puerta – door pronto – soon

Use the Q like in the word “car” ¿Qué? – What? ¿Quien? – Where?

Use the R like in the word “rock” rodillo – knee rey – king reina – queen

rr The rr is a rolled R perro – dog

Use the S like in the word “snake” Lo siento – sorry sur – south escalera – stair

Use the T like in the word “top” todo – all termina – (you) finish tiempo – time

Use the U like in the word “move” uno - one un/una – a último/última – last

Use the V like in the word “very” venga – (you) come ventana – window viaje – trip/vacation

Use the W like in the word “water” *not a common letter; transliterated web – web walkie-talkie – walkie-talkie

The X is uncommon as well xilografia – xylography/wood carving * I had to look in the dictionary to find a word… there were 5.

Use the Y like in the word “yarn” yelmo – helmet ya – already yerno – son-in-law

Use the Z like in the word “sad” zoo – zoo zanahoria – carrot lapiz – pencil