Spanish Sounds
As I've studied the Spanish language, I've realized the importance of learning pronunciation, so I started trying to learn how words commonly sound when spoken by Latin Americans. I often write the word using English sounds to help myself with the pronunciation. Below is the Spanish alphabet with what I've learned to be the sounds commonly associated with them in Latin America.
Alphabet Pronunciation
Aa = ah as in father and as in Dad.
Bb = soft b, sometimes sounds like v as in given.
Cc = hard k, except after i, e, sounds like s, as in cent.
Dd = soft d, sometimes sounds like th.
Ee = ay as in May, eh as in Set.
Ff = same as English f.
Gg = hard g as in Go, h sound after i, e, as in hit.
Hh = always silent.
Ii = ee, as in free.
Jj = h sound, as in heart, hug, heat, hope.
Kk = same as English k.
Ll = L as in long.
LLll = y as in yet or j as in jet.
M = m as in man.
N = n as in now, ten.
Ññ = sounds like ny as in canyon, pinion, onion.
Oo = always a long o as in low, no.
Pp = same as English p except without blowing any air.
Qq = sounds like k.
Rr = rolling rr at the beginning of a word, within a word it is one flip of the tongue and sounds close to 'dd as in loaded, padded, coded, added.
RRrr = rolling tongue 'rrrrr, takes practice to learn.
Ss = s as in sofa, self, last, rest.
Tt = always sounds like the t in tilt, toy, tight.
Uu = oo as in boo.
Vv = sounds like b as in boy.
Ww = same as English w.
Zz = sounds like s in Latin America as in set, lasso, loose, or th in Spain as in think, teeth, thought, with.
Examples
The word ir (to go) sounds like ee'dh; ir = ee'dh.
The word voy (I go) sounds like boy; voy = boy.
The word yo (me, I) sounds like joe; yo = joe.
The word duro (hard) sounds almost like doo-doe, but with a soft 'dd sound for the r (as in pudding); duro = doo'ddoe.
The word diez (ten) sounds like dee-ess; diez = dee-ess.
The word comer (to eat) sounds like co-mair'd; comer = co-maird.
There are many more examples. I may include more at a later time.
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