Spanish is one of the most regularly spelled languages there is. Each letter almost always stands for the same sound, so once you know the patterns on this page you can read any word aloud — and the written accent even tells you which syllable to stress.
This course teaches the Spanish of Spain. Its one big difference from Latin American Spanish is the letter z, and c before e or i: in Spain they sound like the 'th' in 'think', and across Latin America they sound like s. Both are correct everywhere, and this guide points out the other differences as they come up.
Every vocabulary card shows its pronunciation between slashes, like /ˈɡɾa.θjas/ for gracias. That is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); the dots split the syllables, and nouns are shown with their article, as in /la ˈka.sa/. Press 🔊 next to any example to hear it.
If you only remember five things, make it these. Each one is covered in more detail further down.
Spanish has just five vowel sounds, and each one stays exactly the same from start to finish. They never slide like English 'go' (which ends in 'oo'), and they are never weakened to 'uh' in unstressed syllables.
A single r between vowels is one quick tap of the tongue. rr is a trill. They make different words.
At the start of a phrase they sound much as in English. Between vowels the lips or tongue only come close, without closing — a softer, breathier sound.
As in 'think', never as in 'this'. It even tells words apart: casa and caza differ only by s against th.
Without an accent, a word's stress follows two simple rules. With one, the stress goes exactly where the accent is — and the accent can change the meaning.
Each vowel has one sound, short and clear, whether it is stressed or not. Keep your mouth still while you say it.
Like the a in 'father', but shorter.
Between the e in 'bed' and the 'ay' in 'say' — with no slide into 'ee'.
Like 'ee' in 'see', but shorter. y on its own (y, 'and') or at the end of a word is this sound too.
Like the o in 'go', but pure — round your lips and don't let it slide into 'oo'.
Like 'oo' in 'food', but shorter. Silent in que, qui, gue and gui (see Consonants).
Next to another vowel, an unstressed i or u becomes a quick glide, and the two share one syllable. Before the other vowel the cards write it j or w: bueno is /ˈbwe.no/. After it they put a small arch under it: aire is /ˈai̯.ɾe/.
a, e and o next to each other each keep their own syllable — and a written accent on i or u keeps it separate too.
f, l, m, n and s are close to English. One general difference first: p, t and k have no puff of air after them, unlike English, so they sound crisper and softer.
The same sound — there is no difference between b and v in Spanish. At the start of a phrase and after m or n, an English b. Elsewhere, especially between vowels, softer: the lips come close but don't quite close.
The tongue touches the back of the upper teeth, not the ridge behind them. Between vowels and at the end of a word it softens to the 'th' of 'this', said gently.
In much of Spain a final d is very weak or dropped: Madrid can sound like 'Madri'.
Like the g in 'go'. Between vowels it softens to a light rub at the back of the mouth.
A rasp at the back of the mouth, like the ch in Scottish 'loch'. Strong in Spain; in much of Latin America it is softer, close to an English h. Never the English j.
In gue and gui the u is silent and only keeps the g hard. With two dots, as in güe and güi, the u is pronounced.
Like k, without the English puff of air. In que and qui the u is silent.
In Spain, the 'th' of 'think' — always the soft, voiceless one, never the 'th' of 'this'.
In Latin America, the Canary Islands and parts of southern Spain this is simply s.
Always s, never the z of English 'rose'. In much of Spain it is made with the tip of the tongue, which gives it a slight 'sh' color.
Always silent.
Like the y in 'yes', often a little stronger — sometimes almost the j in 'jam'. For nearly all speakers today, ll and y sound the same.
In Argentina and Uruguay both are said like the 'sh' in 'show' or the s in 'pleasure'.
Like the 'ny' in 'canyon', said as one sound.
One quick tap of the tongue tip behind the upper teeth — the same as the tt in American English 'better' or 'water'.
A trill: the tongue tip taps several times in a row. A single r is trilled too at the start of a word and after l, n or s.
If you can't trill yet, a firm, slightly longer tap is understood. It comes with practice.
As in English 'church'.
Usually 'ks', as in English 'taxi'.
In México and a few other names it is the j sound — México is said 'Méjico'.
Like the 'ng' in 'sing'. It happens by itself when your tongue gets ready for the next sound.
Spanish stress is predictable from the spelling. Two rules cover every word without an accent mark; the accent mark covers every exception. On the cards, ˈ comes just before the stressed syllable.
This is the most common pattern by far.
Most often -r, -l, -d or -z.
Wherever the accent is, that syllable is stressed.
A few short words take an accent purely to separate them from a twin, and both are pronounced the same: sí and si, tú and tu, él and el. Others really do move the stress: esta, está.
A yes-or-no question rises at the end. The upside-down ¿ at the start warns you that a question is coming, so you can start the melody early.
Spoken Spanish flows: a consonant at the end of a word joins the vowel that starts the next, and two vowels that meet across words often merge into one syllable. Los amigos sounds like 'lo-sa-mi-gos'. Listening for this makes fast speech much easier to follow — and doing it makes you sound fluent.
Listen for where one word runs into the next.
Most IPA letters mean what you would guess. These are the symbols on the vocabulary cards that don't. Nouns are shown with their article, and a dot separates the syllables.
The syllable after it is stressed.
A syllable break: /ˈka.sa/ is ca-sa.
ɾ is the single tap; r is the trill (see Consonants).
The soft b, d and g between vowels.
The 'th' of 'think': z, and c before e or i.
The rasping j sound — not the English x.
The y of 'yes': ll and y.
ñ, the 'ny' of 'canyon'.
ch, as in 'church'.
The 'ng' of 'sing': n before c, g or j.
The glides: a quick i or u before another vowel, as in 'yes' and 'wet' — not the English j.
The same glides after a vowel: ai̯ is 'eye', au̯ is 'ow'.
The single most useful habit: say every vowel clearly, even in unstressed syllables. English speakers weaken them to 'uh' without noticing, and it is the strongest part of an English accent in Spanish.
Play an example, say it straight back, and play it again. Copy the rhythm — Spanish gives every syllable roughly the same length — as much as the individual sounds.
In any lesson, the pronunciation settings let you slow the audio down without changing its pitch, and choose the voice. Every voice is from Spain except Jorge, who is Mexican — he says z and ce/ci as s, which is useful to hear too.
The role-play in each lesson has you speak your character's lines aloud. Linking and rhythm only come with whole sentences.