The Flow of Spanish
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  • Table of Contents
    • Sound System Primer >
      • Vowel Awareness
      • Spanish Vowels
      • English Speaker Vowel Mistakes
      • Spanish Consonants
      • Spanish R Sounds
      • Phonetic Notation Key
    • Course Tutorials >
      • Your First Recording
      • Benchmark Exam #1
      • Primer Submission Page
    • Phonetic Training >
      • Introduction
      • Basics
      • Construction
      • Memorization
      • Mimic & Meaning
      • Benchmark Exams
    • Song Lessons >
      • Unit 1 - La Negra >
        • La Negra Lesson 1 >
          • Basics (La Negra Chorus)
          • Construction (La Negra Chorus)
          • Memorization (La Negra Chorus)
          • Submission Page (La Negra Chorus)
        • La Negra Lesson 2 >
          • Basics (La Negra V1L1-4)
          • Construction (La Negra V1L1-4)
          • Memorization (La Negra V1L1-4)
          • Submission Page (La Negra V1L1-4)
        • La Negra Lesson 3 >
          • Basics (La Negra V1L5-8)
          • Construction (LA Negra V1L5-8)
          • Memorization (LA Negra V1L5-8)
          • La Negra Lesson 3 Submission
        • La Negra Lesson 4 >
          • Basics (La Negra V2L1-4)
          • Construction (La Negra V2L1-4)
          • Memorization (La Negra V2L1-4)
          • La Negra L4 Submission
        • La Negra Lesson 5 >
          • Basics (La Negra V2L5-8)
          • Construction (La Negra V2L5-8)
          • Memorization (La Negra V2L5-8)
          • La Negra L5 Submission (La Negra V2L5-8)
        • La Negra Mimic >
          • Mimic Practice (La Negra M&M)
          • Meaning Practice (La Negra M&M)
      • Unit 2 - Clandestino >
        • Clandestino Lesson 1 >
          • Basics (Clandestino V1L1-4)
          • Construction (Clandestino V1L1-4)
          • Memorization (Clandestino V1-4)
          • Final Activity (Clandestino V1L1-4)
        • Clandestino Lesson 2 >
          • Basics (Clandestino V1L5-8)
          • Construction (Clandestino V1L5-8)
          • Memorization (Clandestino V1L5-8)
          • Final Activity (Clandestino V1L5-8)
        • Clandestino Lesson 3 >
          • Basics (Clandestino V2L1-4)
          • Construction (Clandestino V2L1-4)
          • Memorization (Clandestino V2L1-4)
          • Submission Page (Clandestino V2L1-4)
        • Clandestino Lesson 4 >
          • Basics (Clandestino V2L5-8)
          • Construction (Clandestino V2L5-8)
          • Memorization (Clandestino V2L5-8)
          • Submission Page (Clandestino V2L5-8)
        • Clandestino Mimic >
          • Clandestino Meaning
      • Unit 3 - Pies Descalzos >
        • PD Lesson 1 >
          • Construction (PD Chorus 1-5)
          • Memorization (PD Chorus 1-5)
          • Submission Page (PD Chorus 1-5)
        • PD Lesson 2
        • PD Lesson 3 >
          • Basics (PD Refrain)
          • Construction (PD Refrain)
          • Memorization (PD Refrain)
          • Submission Page (PD Refrain)
        • PD Chorus Mimic >
          • PD Chorus Meanings
      • Unit 4 - Shakira Rap >
        • PD Rap Lesson 1 >
          • Basics (PD Rap V1L1-4)
          • Construction (PD Rap V1L1-4)
          • Memorization (PD Rap V1L1-4)
          • Submission Page (PD Rap V1L1-4)
        • PD Rap Lesson 2 >
          • Basics (PD Rap V1L5-8)
          • Construction (PD Rap V1L5-8)
          • Memorization (PD Rap V1L5-8)
          • Submission Page (PD Rap V1L5-8)
        • PD Rap Lesson 3 >
          • Basics (PD Rap V2L1-4)
          • Construction (PD Rap V2L1-4)
          • Memorization (PD Rap V2L1-4)
          • Submission Page (PD Rap V2L1-4)
        • PD Rap Lesson 4 >
          • Basics (PD Rap V2L5-10)
          • Construction (PD Rap V2L5-10)
          • Memorization (PD Rap V2L5-10)
          • Submission Page (PD Rap V2L5-10)
        • PD Rap Mimic >
          • PD Rap Meanings
      • Unit 5 - Lo que Pasó (Speed Training) >
        • LQP Lesson 1 >
          • Basics (LQP V1)
          • Construction (LQP V1)
          • Memorization (LQP V1)
          • Submission Page (LQP V1)
          • Speed Training
        • LQP Lesson 2 >
          • Basics (LQP V2)
          • Construction (LQP V2)
          • Memorization (LQP V2)
          • Submission Page (LQP V2)
          • Speed Training (LQP V2)
        • LQP Lesson 3 >
          • Basics (LQP V3)
          • Construction (LQP V3)
          • Memorization (LQP V3)
          • Submission Page (LQP V3)
          • Speed Training (LQP V3)
        • LQP Lesson 4 >
          • Basics (LQP V4)
          • Construction (LQP V4)
          • Memorization (LQP V4)
          • Submission Page (LQP V4)
          • Speed Training (LQP V4)
        • LQP Mimic >
          • LQP Meaning
  • Drills & Practice
    • Phonetic Notation Key
    • Alveolar Bootcamp >
      • Tap in Isolation
      • Easy Combos
      • Tricky Combos
      • Difficult Combos
    • Bonus Content
  • Help

Difficult Combos

Combining some of the alveolar consonants (/d̪/ /t̪/) with the alveolar tap can be quite difficult. What's more, these are very common and are always articulated completely. So it's important to spend a lot of time getting these right.

If you recall from Spanish Consonants, the Spanish /d̪/ and /t̪/ differ from the English /d/ and /t/ in the part of the tongue used. So what's the significance of this? 


  1. Combining the English /d/ and /t/ with /&/ sound requires the same part of your tongue to strike the same part of your mouth TWO times. It is impossible to do this with any kind of real speed.
  2. Combining the Spanish /d̪/ and /t̪/ with /&/ is done in ONE smooth motion. Any Spanish speaker can perform this fluid movement quickly.
  3. Therefore the only way to consistently hit these combos at fast speed is if you do the Spanish /d̪/ and /t̪/ sounds (blade of the tongue; NOT tip of the tongue). 

​​This is why I always emphasize your building a habit of ALWAYS making the /d̪/ and /t̪/ sounds. The acoustic differences between these sounds is small, but the physiological effects are huge.

/d̪/ and /t̪/ Combos 

Build Awareness

Level 1 gets you started by placing each vowel in between the two consonants. This will build the basic tongue flick motion that you need for the actual consonant combo.

Build Strength

Level 2 will build your strength and speed. Choose a vowel (e.g. /u/) and start by placing it between the two consonants (e.g.  d̪u&a). Chant this two-sylllable consonant over again over again while gradually building the speed. Eventually, you will go so fast that you will have to drop the vowel and create the consonant combo (e.g.  d̪&a). Keep building the speed until you burn out.

Build Endurance

Level 3 will build your consistency and precision.  Choose any vowel (e.g. /e/) and make the consonant combo sound with either consonant (e.g.  d̪&e).  Clap a stead beat and repeat that sound on each beat for a full measure. Then, while keeping the same beat, do it double time and chant the two twice per beat for a whole measure. Then go back to once per measure, and etc.

Workout Plan

To get the full benefits out of these drills, you need a structure in practicing them. In general, your goal should be to workout until you feel "fatigue" in your mouth. Any soreness you feel today will translate to newfound strength and speed tomorrow.  

Try this regimen:
  1. The audio files for Level 1 represent one set. As a warm-up, do 5 sets each for /d̪/ and /t̪/.
  2. Do 10 sets each of Level 2 /d̪/ and /t̪/
  3. Set a timer and do Level 3 at a comfortable speed for 1 minute and 30 seconds for one set. Do 3 sets each for /d̪/ and /t̪/, taking a short break between sets to rest your mouth.

If you really want to push yourself, try to do two sessions a day, one in the morning and one before bed. 
If you do this consistently for 2 weeks, eventually you will never struggle with these combos in normal Spanish Speech.

Trill Tap Combo

As I said before, the trill sound /+/ is the least common sound in Spanish. Most of the time, you can replace the trill with a tap and you'll be fine. Of course, I strongly encourage you to strengthen that sound since it can be tricky to use in Spanish at normal speed.

The drill below develops you ability to alternate between the trill /+/ and tap /&/, which you will need to occasionally do in Spanish. At the end of the file, you will hear me say some words like "ka...+e...&a" and "fe...+o...ka...+il."
With these last drills, you will have covered ALL the problematic consonant sounds and combos. As you progress through the lessons, return to this index often to get your Spanish conditioning up. With this conditioning, you'll be able to mimic and speak Spanish with little to no physical effort much faster than just doing the song lessons alone. 

<<Tricky Combos

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