Task on Differences between Rioplatense Spanish and British English sounds.

1) SPANISH VS. ENGLISH VOWELS

Read SWAN, M. and SMITH, B. (2008) Second Edition: Learner English. A teacher’s
guide to interference and other problems. CUP. UK. (pp 1 - 3): VOWELS.

Answer the questions below after reading the text suggested above. Get ready to discuss this
in class.

A - How may Spanish speakers mispronounce the following words? Why?

1- eat - it - beach

2- suck - sack

3- pot - port

4- full - fool

5- arrive

6- sir - return

B – Which English diphthongs might be difficult for Spanish speakers given that they do not
exist in the Rioplatense Spanish inventory?

2) SPANISH VS. ENGLISH CONSONANTS

Read
A summary of the main Pronunciation problems for Rioplatense Spanish learners of English
(an adaptation from Hualde, J.I. (2014) Los Sonidos del español. Cambridge UP. )
SWAN, M. and SMITH, B. (2008) Second Edition: Learner English. A teacher’s guide
to interference and other problems. CUP. UK. (pp 3 - 6): CONSONANTS

Answer the questions below after reading the texts suggested above. Get ready to discuss this
in class.

1. Compare /p/, /t/ and /k/ in both languages:

a. In English, when in accented syllables (e.g., "time", "coming", "paying") , these consonats are

- strongly aspirated.
- not aspirated.
b. In Spanish, initial and accented /p/, /t/ and /k/ (e.g., "pésame", "cómo", "tuve") are

- strongly aspirated.
- not aspirated, so they sound like /b/, /d/ and /g/.

2. In Spanish, final /b/, /d/ and /g/ don't exist, so when Spanish speakers pronounce "opened",
"bag" and "Bob", they tend to pronounce

a. ................ for /d/.

b. ................ for /g/.
c. ................ for /b/.

3. In both languages, /m/ is

a. the same phoneme.

b. a different phoneme.

4. In Spanish, final /m/ doesn't exist, so when Spanish speakers pronounce "I'm", "sum" and
"dream", they tend to pronounce a final

5. In Spanish, /b/, /d/ and /g/ are realized differently depending on their position:

a. initially, as in "bueno", "gato", "dame", they are like

- stops (plosives), as in English.

- softer, continuous sounds, i.e. fricatives.

b. medially, as is "había", "sigo", "todo", they are like

- stops (plosives), as in English.

- softer, continuous sounds, i.e. fricatives.

6. Because of what is stated in N°5, Spanish speakers tend to pronounce /b/, /d/ and /g/ in
"consider", "logging" and "problem" as

a. stops (plosives), as in English.

b. softer, continuous sounds, i.e. fricatives.

7. /z/ does not exist in Spanish, so Spanish speakers pronounce words like "pens-pence", "ice-
eyes", "this-these", "easy", "visit" and "husband" with ... (mention the sound).
8. Which consonants don't exist in Rioplatense Spanish?

9. Taking into account the answer to N° 8, which words are difficult for Spanish speakers to
pronounce?
a. "she" and "cheap".
b. "Jane" and "television".

10. Spanish speakers tend to pronounce English /h/ (e.g. "Hello") as

a. Spanish "jota" /x/.

b. English /j/.

11. /w/ doesn't exist in Spanish. Therefore, speakers tend to pronounce "wood" as

a. "would".
b. "good".

12. Combinations of consonants (clusters) are rare in Spanish, that's why speakers tend to omit
some consonants. Which words (write them in ordinary spelling) do you think they are trying
to pronounce when they say

a. /a/.
b. /e/.
c. the written vowel.

14. Clusters /sp/, /st/ and /sk/ do not exist at the beginning of words in Spanish. So, in words
as "study", "school", "student", speakers tend to pronounce an intruding

a. "a".
b. "e".
c. "o".