spanish pronunciation problems

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Click on the error type you wish to readabout.

Error Type 1: Adding /!/ or epenthetic

vowel

Error Type 2: Substituting the schwa

sound /!/

Error Type 3: //

Error Type 4: /i/ & / "/

Error Type 5: /#$/Error Type 6: /u:/ & /%/

Error Type 7: /o%/

Error Type 8: /e"/ &

/a"/

Error Type 9: /&/ &

/"/

Error Type 10: /m/

Error Type 11: /n/ &

/'/Error Type 12: /d/ &

/t/

Error Type 13:/r/

Error Type 14: /l/

Error Type 15:Voiced Vs.

Voiceless

Error Type 16: /h/

Error Type 17: /j/ & /(/

Error Type 18: /w/Error Type 19: /v/

SPANISH PRONUNCIATION

PROBLEMS IN ENGLISH

Error Type 1: Adding /!/ or epentheticvowel

ERROR DESCRIPTION EXAMPLES

One of the most common errors for Spanish learners of English is inserting

a schwa sound or what is known as the epenthetic vowel in phonetics

before words beginning with /s/ + another consonant. This results in

adding a syllable to the word and consequently in distorting the overall

intonation and rhythm of the learners speech.

Stop; Speak; Snow; Snake; Story; Smile etc.

Error Type 2: Substituting the schwasound /!/


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Another common error for Spanish learners is substituting the schwa

sound (as in the case of most vowels) for another vowel based on spelling.

Spanish learners pronounce the English letters as in Spanish. Unlike

English, Spanish letters are written as pronounced and so the learners are

not confused with the di#erence between spelling and sound. Since, in

spoken English, the schwa sound is the most common vowel in English,

mispronouncing it has a severe impact on the learners intelligibility. For

example in words such as [available], the first two schwa sounds are

represented by letter [a], which is normally pronounced as vowel /a/ or /#$/

in Spanish.

Responsib(!)le; Personality; Vegetab(!)les; stationary etc.

Error Type 3: //


Again, the confusion between sound and spelling causes the Spanish

learner to substitute vowel // for /a/ or /#$/. Even when corrected, the

learners could produce // as /e/ which is an even shorter and more

relaxed sound. Although // is categorized as a short vowel, it sounds

slightly longer than /e/ especially before the voiced consonants /b/ and /d/

as the jaw opens wider and the tongue falls lower inside the mouth.

Have; Cat; Fat; Rat; plaid; apple; advertising; address etc.

Error Type 4: /i/ & /"/


Another major error Spanish learners commit is confusing the vowels / i/

and /"/. Usually both vowels are pronounced as a short Spanish letter [i],

which somewhat sounds similar to the Australian vowel /"/. The learners

brains are programmed to produce this sound when they see the letter [i]

regardless of the language theyre learning. Highlighting the di#erence

between the American /i:/ and /"/ is easier for Spanish learners to grasp as

its more distinguishable.

/i/: Need; read; treat; believe; meat; wheel; receipt etc./"/:

Knit; rid; tit; live; mitt; will; sit etc.

Error Type 5: /#$/


Spanish learners usually like to chop vowels or tend to shorten them

considerably. The vowel /#$/ is also either replaced with /)/ or /*/ partially

due to the learners confusion with spelling. In general however, Spanish

learners need to be trained on stretching long vowels for a better

production of the English rhythm and music.

Robot; caught; call; mall; fought; stop; wall etc.

Error Type 6: /u:/ & /%/ERROR DESCRIPTION EXAMPLES

As in the case of /i/ and /"/, Spanish learners confuse the vowels /u/ and /%/

and have great di#iculty in specifically producing /u:/ as it requires

retracting the tongue backwards high inside the mouth. What learners do

automatically when they see the letter [u] is produce a tense /%/ (though it

is a lax vowel in English), a sound that is somewhat uncommon in Native

English.

/u:/: Room; tooth; food; mood; rude; wooed etc./%/: Book;

put; foot; hood; could; would etc.

Error Type 7: /o%/


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This vowel is classified as a diphthong. This means that the learners have

to produce two sounds at the same time, a vowel /)/ and a consonant /w/.

Spanish speakers only pronounce the vowel and leave the consonant out.

Their lips do not form a tight circle at the end of the sound as they should.

Wrote; old; boat; coat; mode; road; showed etc.

Error Type 8: /e"/ & /a"/


Both of these vowels are again diphthongs, which means that Spanish

speakersstruggle to combine a vowel with a consonant. This gets harder to

perform when the vowel occurs between two consonants such as [name] or

[wide]. Its extremely di#icult for Spanish speakers as it is for most English

learners to move the tongue down and then immediately back up to the

highest point inside the mouth to produce consonant /j/ followed with a

consonant. This leads Spanish speakers to omit the /j/ altogether at times

or mispronounce the vowel preceding it whether it happens to be /e/ or /a/.

/e"/: Name; date; wait; train; great; same; wage etc./a"/:

right; fight; side; light; tried; hide; night etc.

Error Type 9: /&/ & /!/


Both of these consonants require that the speakers place the tip of the

tongue between the teeth and and let the air escapethrough a little gap

between the tongue and teeth but Spanish learners ,as with most learners

of English, seem to find this quite di#icult to manage. What happens then is

that they keep their tongue inside and press the tongue tip against their

teeth resulting in /t/ instead of /&/ and /d/ instead of /"/.

/&/: thin; wrath; moth; thigh; Ruth; truthetc./"/: weather;

loathe; then; writhe; scythe; rather etc.

Error Type 10: /m/


It needs to be remembered that this is a consonant producedby closing the

lips and pushing air through the nose at the same time. Spanish speakers

have no problem pronouncing this consonant when its in the beginning of

the word as in [miss] or [mister] but when it occurs in the end of the word,

they fail to close their lips. Instead, they only raise their tongue tip up

towards the gum producing /n/. The students need to be reminded to close

their lips completely when they see /m/ in the end. The real challenge

though is when Spanish learners have to pronounce [th] a$er /m/ as this

requires stickingthe tip between the teeth immediately a$er closing the

lips for /m/.

Dream; rhyme; fame; William; sitcom; someetc.

Error Type 11: /n/ & /!/ERROR DESCRIPTION EXAMPLES

When /n/ is either in the beginning or middle of the word, Spanish speakers

place the the tongue tip between the teeth instead of bringing it into

contact with the alveolar ridge. Although this does not a#ect the sound

much, it delays the production of the succeeding sounds. Consider the

word [anything]. When /n/ is the final sound of a word, Spanish speakers

tend to confuse it with /'/ and thus fail to raise their tongue tip up to

contact the gum ridge and when they are instructed to do that, they have

an issue synchronizing the movement of the tongue with releasing the air

out. /n/ then does not sound entirely clear when its at the end of the word.

Ironically, when Spanish speakers see [ng] in the end, they sometimes

pronounce it as /n/ raising the tip of their tongue to touch the ridge area.

/n/ (beginning and middle):

name; knight; north; listener; onion etc.

/n/ (end):

corn; thin; pen; can; listen; Huston; pardonetc.

Error Type 12: /d/ & /t/ !


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In general, for Spanish speakers, all phonemes that involve contact with the

alveolar ridge, including /d/ and /t/, are di#icult. Some learners will place

the tip of the tongue between the teeth and stop the air by pressing their

teeth on the tip of the tongue. While this does not cause a major change in

the sound, it a#ects the production of either the preceding or succeeding

sounds.

/d/: date; confide; inside; Dominic; doctor; murder etc./t/:

better; fertility; until; maternity; material etc.

Error Type 13:/r/


As with most English learners, Spanish learners encounter

(http://englishspeaklikenative.com/resources/common-pronunciation-

problems/spanish-pronunciation-problems/#) enormous problems in

producing the English /r/ especially the American /r/ sound. The Spanish /r/

is produced as a result of holding the tip of the tongue very close to the ridge

area and moving it so fast that it creates sound vibration. The students need

to be instructed to keep the tip of their tongue away from the gum to avoid

making such vibration.

Right; over; cartoon; bird; there; service etc.

Error Type 14: /l/


Like in most European languages, the Spanish /l/ is not the same as that in

English as the bottom and body of the tongue are quite elevated compared

to English. The English /l/ on the other hand requires that the speaker

lower the bottom and body of the tongue inside the mouth as is in the case

of /#/ without opening the jaw. Most Spanish speakers place the tip of the

tongue against the ridge as you would instruct them but still fail to produce

the correct sound and this is due to their inability to correctly position the

backside of their tongue low and deep inside the mouth

Like; love; call; fallen; sold; deal; field etc

Error Type 15:Voiced Vs. Voiceless


One of the most frequent errors for Spanish learners is voicing and

de-voicing consonant. Quite a significant problem for them is /z/ + vowel

as in [zero] which is pronounced as /si:ro%/ but also /s/ + consosnant as in

[sleep], which is sometimes pronounced as /zli:p/. It remains most di#icult

for them however to voice the final [s] in the word as in [please].Voicing and

de-voicing consonants is an issue that does not only a#ect /s/, it also

a#ects /f/ and /v/, /k/ and /g/, /t/ and /d/, /t+/ and /(/, /,/ and /-/, /p/ and

/p/ and finally /&/ and /"/. Sometimes the above consonants are also

omitted from word endings depending on what comes a$er them.

/z/: zero; please; is; rise; hazard; hazel;hesill etc. /f/ and

/v/: fiveand fife/k/ and /g/: logand lock/t/ and /d/: kid

and kit

/t+/ and /(/ (especially at word endings): bridgeand

breach

/,/ and /-/: usually and ushully

/p/ and /p/: Boband bop

/&/ and /"/: withand width

Error Type 16: /h/


Not all Spanish learners make the same error as it depends on the area they

come from as well as the level of proficiency. The error occurs when

Spanish students move the root of the tongue back towards the velum

narrowing the air passage considerably. Such a soundis also known to be a

feature of the Arabic language. In English, the voiceless consonant /h/ is

madeby relaxing the tongue completely and letting the air flow out of the

mouth without interference from the tongue. Commonly, Spanish learners

mispronounce this consonant at the beginning of the word as in [have].

/h/: have; height;hell;husband; helicopter; haste etc.

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Error Type 17: /j/ & /'/


Spanish learners find it extremely di#icult to begin a word with consonant

/j/ as in [yes]. Producing /j/ correctly requires that learners hold their

tongue up very high and close to the hard palate without touching it.

Beginning a word in such a position seems to be quite problematic for

Spanish speakers whose tongue involuntarily comes into contact with the

palate when attempting to do this resulting in a consonant that sounds

very similar to /(/ and sometimes /dj/. Strangely, when Spanish learners

come across a word that starts with a /(/, they start it with /j/.

/j/: yes; yell; yet; you; University etc./(/: John; germs;

job; gel;jewelry etc.

Error Type 18: /w/


The major issue with this consonant only occurs when it precedes vowel /%/

as in [would]. What happens is that Spanish learners involuntarily insert a

/g/ before /w/ which makes [would] sound like [good]. The reason this

occurs is that when we usually produce /%/, our tongue goes backwards

towards the so$palate, but in the case of Spanish learners, it goes further

back until it touches it resulting in [g].

/w/: would; wood; wool; wolf; womb etc.

Error Type 19: /v/


Apart from de-voicing or omitting /v/ at word endings, Spanish learners are

not able toprevent the upper lip from coming into contact with the lower

lip when producing /v/, the result is /b/. The greatest challenge for Spanish

learners is representedby the word [over] when they are supposed to

produce the vowel /o%/ prior to /v/ which requires them to move both lips,

then freeze the upper lip and move the lower lip independently against the

upper teeth.

/v/: over; oval; rove; novel; hover; drove

but alsoProve; move; Iveetc.

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