Learn English – English pronunciation by Spanish speakers

pronunciation

A typical pronunciation problem for Spanish speakers is that of words that begin with 'S + consonant'. For example, Spain may be pronounced eh-spain. What are other standard (eh-standar) pronunciation issues for Spanish speakers?

(Note: This is a query for specific examples; thus, we do not have here an exact duplicate of this question, which was a little more vague.)

Best Answer

Whatever English phonology has that Spanish doesn't.

  • Distinction between tense and lax vowels. For example, Spanish speakers may pronounce “bit” like “beet” and “full” like “fool”.
  • Additional consonant phonemes:
    • /v/ (confused with /b/)
    • /z/ (confused with /s/)
    • /ʃ/, /ʒ/, and /dʒ/ (confused with /tʃ/).
    • /θ/ (confused with /s/ in some Spanish dialects)
    • /ð/
  • Initial consonant clusters /sk/, /sp/, /st/. Spanish speakers tend to add an epenthetic /e/, as you have mentioned.
  • More complex consonant clusters, like /str/ and /ŋkθs/ in “strengths”.
  • English is stressed-timed rather than syllable-timed like Spanish.
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