The Spanish Vowels

​In this educational video, I try to teach my good friend Louise all about Spanish vowels. Her experience teaches valuable lessons that will help you with your own pronunciation over this sound primer.

In it, you'll learn about Spanish vowels and the most common English-speaker vowel mistakes. You can always refer back to this section later in the course.

a...i...u...e...o

/a/

  • This sound is slightly more OPEN (tongue lower in mouth) and FRONT (tongue closer to teeth) than the vowel sound in the American English words "not", "pot", "hot", and "tot".
  • There is a strong tendency to CLOSE this vowel (as explained in the next section). Be sure to exaggerate its openness by lowering your jaw as much as possible.   
This audio first reviews this Spanish vowel sound and then compares the English and Spanish Pronunciation of the name "Ana." Mimic my pronunciation so that you can feel the difference.

/i/

  • This sound has the exact same tongue position as the vowel sound in the English words "see", "knee", "he" and "she." 
  • When this sound occurs in Spanish, it is shorter in length than in English.  The audio reviews this vowel sound then compares the pronunciations of "see" and "sí."

/u/

  • This sound has the exact same tongue position as the vowel sound in the English word "who", "shoe", "two", "zoo."
  • When this sound occurs in Spanish, it is shorter in length than in English.
  • Typically, this sound is rounded in English, meaning you will curl your lips at the end of the sound. Rounding does NOT occur in Spanish.

/e/

  • This sound is slightly more OPEN (tongue lower in mouth) than the vowel sound in the English words "hey", "bay", "say", "lay."
  • This sound is more CLOSED (tongue higher) than the vowel sound in words "head," "bed," "said"
  • English speakers typically turn the /e/ into /ei/ (like the word "hey" in English). This does NOT occur in Spanish.
This audio first reviews this Spanish vowel and compares the English and Spanish pronunciation of the words "se" and "sed." Notice the errors with the English "say" and "said." Mimic my pronunciation so that you can feel the difference.

/o/

  • This sound is more OPEN (tongue lower) than the vowel sound in the English words "so", "go", "toe." 
  • English speakers tend to turn the /o/ into /oʊ/ (like the word "no" in English). This does NOT occur in Spanish.
  • The English sound is rounded, meaning you will curl your lips at the end of the sound. Rounding does NOT occur in Spanish.
This audio first reviews this Spanish vowel and compares the English and Spanish pronunciation of the words "no." Mimic my pronunciation so that you can feel the difference.
Do not fret if you are unable to recreate or understand all these sounds yet. It will come with practice and exposure to these Spanish sounds. I recommend that you refer to these sections regularly as you begin to make sense of these insights. 

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