Spanish Pronunciation Problems

Spanish Pronunciation Problems
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SPANISH PRONUNCIATION
PROBLEMS IN ENGLISH
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Click on the error type you wish to read

about.
Error Type 7: /o/
Error Type 1: Adding // or epenthetic
Error Type 8: /e/ &
Error Type 13:/r/
vowel
/a/
Error Type 14: /l/
Error Type 2: Substituting the schwa
Error Type 9: // &
Error Type 15:Voiced Vs.
sound //
//
Voiceless
Error Type 3: //
Error Type 10: /m/
Error Type 16: /h/
Error Type 4: /i/ & //
Error Type 11: /n/ & Error Type 17: /j/ & //
Error Type 5: //
//
Error Type 6: /u:/ & //
Error Type 12: /d/ & Error Type 19: /v/
Error Type 18: /w/
/t/
Error Type 1: Adding // or epenthetic

vowel
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
Stop; Speak; Snow; Snake; Story; Smile etc.
adding a syllable to the word and consequently in distorting the overall

intonation and rhythm of the learners speech.
Error Type 2: Substituting the schwa

sound //
ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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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,
Responsib()le; Personality; Vegetab()les; stationary etc.
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.
Error Type 3: //
ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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
Have; Cat; Fat; Rat; plaid; apple; advertising; address etc.
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.
Error Type 4: /i/ & //

ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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
/i/: Need; read; treat; believe; meat; wheel; receipt etc.//:

Knit; rid; tit; live; mitt; will; sit etc.
between the American /i:/ and // is easier for Spanish learners to grasp as
its more distinguishable.
Error Type 5: //
ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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
Robot; caught; call; mall; fought; stop; wall etc.
learners need to be trained on stretching long vowels for a better

production of the English rhythm and music.
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
/u:/: Room; tooth; food; mood; rude; wooed etc.//: Book;
automatically when they see the letter [u] is produce a tense // (though it
put; foot; hood; could; would etc.
is a lax vowel in English),a sound that is somewhat uncommon in Native

English.
Error Type 7: /o/

ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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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.
Wrote; old; boat; coat; mode; road; showed etc.
Their lips do not form a tight circle at the end of the sound as they should.
Error Type 8: /e/ & /a/

ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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
/e/: Name; date; wait; train; great; same; wage etc./a/:
learners to move the tongue down and then immediately back up to the
right; fight; side; light; tried; hide; night etc.
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/.
Error Type 9: // & //

ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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
//: thin; wrath; moth; thigh; Ruth; truth etc.//: weather;
of English, seem to find this quite di#icult to manage. What happens then is loathe; then; writhe; scythe; rather etc.
that they keep their tongue inside and press the tongue tip against their
teeth resulting in /t/ instead of // and /d/ instead of //.
Error Type 10: /m/

ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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
Dream; rhyme; fame; William; sitcom; some etc.
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/.
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
/n/ (beginning and middle):

name; knight; north; listener; onion etc.
/n/ (end):
corn; thin; pen; can; listen; Huston; pardon etc.
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.
Error Type 12: /d/ & /t/

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ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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
/d/: date; confide; inside; Dominic; doctor; murder etc./t/:
teeth on the tip of the tongue. While this does not cause a major change in
better; fertility; until; maternity; material etc.
the sound, it a#ects the production of either the preceding or succeeding

sounds.
Error Type 13:/r/

ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
As with most English learners, Spanish learners encounter

(http://englishspeaklikenative.com/resources/common-pronunciationproblems/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
Right; over; cartoon; bird; there; service etc.
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.
Error Type 14: /l/

ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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
Like; love; call; fallen; sold; deal; field etc
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
Error Type 15:Voiced Vs. Voiceless

ERROR DESCRIPTION
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.
EXAMPLES
/z/: zero; please; is; rise; hazard; hazel;hes ill etc. /f/ and
/v/: five and fife/k/ and /g/: log and lock/t/ and /d/: kid
and kit
/t/ and // (especially at word endings): bridge and
breach
// and //: usually and ushully
/p/ and /p/: Bob and bop
// and //: with and width
Error Type 16: /h/

ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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
/h/: have; height; hell; husband; helicopter; haste etc.
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].
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Error Type 17: /j/ & //

ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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
/j/: yes; yell; yet; you; University etc.//: John; germs;
Spanish speakers whose tongue involuntarily comes into contact with the
job; gel; jewelry etc.
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/.
Error Type 18: /w/

ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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
/w/: would; wood; wool; wolf; womb etc.
towards the so$ palate, but in the case of Spanish learners, it goes further
back until it touches it resulting in [g].
Error Type 19: /v/

ERROR DESCRIPTION
EXAMPLES
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,
/v/: over; oval; rove; novel; hover; drove

but alsoProve; move; Ive etc.
then freeze the upper lip and move the lower lip independently against the
upper teeth.
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