The Real Fast Spanish Tips Podcast

There are only 2 regular silent letters in the Spanish language.

But, you’ll need to be careful with both of these letters because they are silent in some words and pronounced in others.

In addition, when I say ‘regular’ silent letters I’m referring to the pronunciation of traditional Spanish words, not words that have been adopted from Greek or other languages.

In this post, I’ll give an overview of the two silent letters in Spanish including where and how you need to use them.

Since this post is about pronunciation, I’ll also include some short mp3 recordings to demonstrate what the words sound like to avoid any confusion with phonetic spelling.

The letter H

The first silent letter in Spanish is the letter H. This letter is always silent unless it is next to the letter C.

When we see the letter C next to an H we need to make a ch sound. This sound is just like the English ‘ch’ sound in words like ‘cheek’ or ‘beach’.

In the Spanish alphabet, the word that represents the letter H is hache. Since this word starts with an H and has a ch, it makes for a great first example to demonstrate the pronunciation of H and ch.

Hache (aitch)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/hache.mp3

Here are two more examples of words that also start with H:

Hasta (until)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/hasta.mp3

Haber (to have)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/haber.mp3

Here are two examples with the letter H in the middle of the word:

Ahora (now)

(notice how the H creates a ‘gap’ between the A and the O)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ahora.mp3

Alcohol (alcohol)

(similarly, notice the H creates an elongation between the two middle O’s) https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/alcohol.mp3

To finish the section on the letter H, here are two examples with a ch:

Echar (to throw)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/echar.mp3

Hecho (fact)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/hecho.mp3

The letter U

In the majority of Spanish words with a U, the sound you need to make to represent the U is like a double “oo” in English and rhymes with the English word “too”.

Here are two examples of words with the typical pronunciation of the Spanish letter U:

Lugar (place)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/lugar.mp3

Mucho (a lot)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mucho.mp3

In contrast, the letter U is silent in Spanish words when it is next to a Q or sandwiched in between a G and an E or a G and an I as gui and gue.

Here are some examples with U after a Q:

Porque (because)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/porque.mp3

Pequeño (small)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pequen%CC%83o.mp3

Here are some examples with a gui:

Guión (script)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/guio%CC%81n.mp3

Seguir (to follow)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/seguir.mp3

Here are some examples with a gue:

Guerra (war)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/guerra.mp3

Llegué (I arrived)

(the tilde on the E means you need to pronounce this word with an emphasis on the second syllable)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/llegue%CC%81.mp3

To make things slightly more confusing, whenever you see a Ü in Spanish with a double dot, you need to pronounce the U sound. You will see this letter in situations like the last two examples as either a güe or a güi. 

Here are some examples with a güi:

Pingüino (penguin)

(Notice how the güi sounds like “gwee”)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pingu%CC%88ino.mp3

Lingüística (linguistics)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/lingu%CC%88i%CC%81stica.mp3

Here are some examples with a güe:

Vergüenza (embarrassment)

(Notice how the güe here sounds like “gwen”)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/vergu%CC%88enza.mp3

Bilingüe (bilingual)

(Notice how the güe here sounds like “gwe”)

https://rfs-post-audio-2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/bilingu%CC%88e.mp3

Adopted silent letters from other languages

At the start of the post, I mentioned that there are silent letters that occur in words that have been adopted from other languages such as Greek.

Here are a few examples:

The m in mnemotecnia (mnemonics).

The p in pterodáctilo (pterodactyl).

The p in psicólogo (psychologist).

These are fairly low use words so I don’t recommend you spend too much time on them (unless you are a psychologist and need this word to explain what you do).

Your Turn

Choose some examples from this post and practice the pronunciation by copying recordings. Also, try them out with a Spanish native in a language exchange or with a teacher.

As a bonus for reading this post, if you sign up to the Real Fast Spanish School and mention this post in an email, I will offer you a free one-on-one Skype lesson as another opportunity to practice your pronunciation.

If you would like to learn more about pronunciation check out this podcast episode.

How can you remember the silent letters in Spanish?

The post Silent Letters in Spanish – A Short But Important List appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

Imagine your partner says to you that as a couple you should move together to the other side of the world to start a new life. Could you do it? Would you do it?

This week we talk to Cristina Orts about her experience of moving to a new country that doesn’t speak her language.

These days, Cristina is comfortable in her new environment. But there was a point where she almost didn’t come. And the thing that nearly stopped her was something that affects all of us.

In the episode, we will explore Cristina’s story. We start the story at the point where her partner Borja proposes that they should move to Australia to experience a different way of life.

Cristina’s initial reaction was to say yes (‘vale’) but when Borja started looking at flights, things started to get real and Cristina had to come clean about what she was really thinking.

Later we discover how Cristina overcame her fears and after going through the experience we learn what advice Cristina would give her younger self or anybody who is considering a move to another country.

If you are having trouble understanding the Spanish section of the podcast or if you would like to get more out of the podcasts and take your Spanish to next level you can get access to the accompanying Spanish podcast transcripts in The Real Fast Spanish School here.

What advice would you give if someone said they were afraid to move to a new country?

The post Tips 116: La Vida Te Cambia appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

This episode of the podcast is part 2 of a two-part interview with Daniel Welsch.

If you missed part 1 of the interview you go back and listen to it here.

Daniel has some great advice for Spanish students or language students in general.  He has a lot of experience teaching English and talked about some of the challenges for his students learning English. This information is great as you may find yourself in a situation where you also want to teach English while you travel.

He has been living in Madrid for more than 10 years and shares some great advice around what you need to know if you are planning a move to Spain.

In this second part of the interview we talk about:

How movie translations from English to Spanish or Spanish to English are often strange. We talk about how the decision of what to call a movie is often based on the cultural context of the title.

The merits of dubbing and subtitles and how popular TV from the US is prepared for a Spanish audience.

Daniel gives a few suggestions for some books to read and includes his favourite Spanish book of all time (see resources below).

Daniel provides some guidance on how you could plan an upcoming trip to Spain. I give him the framework of what to see and do if you only had 1 day, 1 week or 1 month.

We ‘geek-out’ a little bit on Spanish food and how you should approach the food in Spain with an open mind.

Daniel provides some great advice on what you need to know if you want to move to Spain and live there as an ex-pat.

Resources mentioned in part 1 of the interview:

Daniel’s favourite book: Dulce Chacón – La Voz Dormida.

The movie mentioned: Ocho Apellidos Vascos.

Daniel’s favourite movie: “Bienvenido Mister Marshall” by Luis Garcia Berlanga.

Finding accommodation in Spain: idealista.com and fotocasa.es.

Daniel’s website: AprendeMasIngles.com.

Daniel’s ex-pat blog: ExpatMadrid.com.

What did you learn from the second part of the interview with Daniel Welsch?

The post Tips 115: Life in Madrid with Daniel Welsch – Part 2 appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

Ever considered an ex-pat life in Spain? This week you will hear from Daniel Welsch who has been living in Madrid for more than 10 years.

I’m very excited to welcome Daniel to the podcast. It is great to talk to someone who has focused solely on Spanish and immersed himself in the culture. This interview is a great opportunity to focus not only on some of the themes of language learning mindset but the mindset associated with a move to a Spanish speaking country.

In the interview, you will hear about some of Daniel’s thoughts on language learning and adapting to life outside of the United States.

In this first part of the interview we talk about:

How Daniel got his start with Spanish.

How a 2 week trip to Spain turned into a 10 year stay.

What is it like to transfer Spanish of Mexico to Spanish of Spain and how Daniel initially dealt with transferring his knowledge of Spanish from another Spanish region of the world.

Daniel’s approach to making mistakes and getting used to feeling silly. Daniel talks about how life maybe to short to worry about whether your Spanish is perfect or not.

Daniel has also worked as an English teacher and he talks about some the struggles of his students from Spain have with their English.

Some of the problems with literal translation and how this applies to going from English to Spanish or the other way round.

How you can see a variety of Spanish accents change from different regions of Spain.

I ask Daniel what is the best thing about living in Spain.

I then ask Daniel what is the worst thing about living in Spain.

We finish the first part of the interview talking about Spanish cinema.

Resources mentioned in part 1 of the interview:

Daniel’s favourite movie: Jamón Jamón.

Another favourite movie: Bienvenido, Mister Marshall.

The famous spanish director we mentioned in the interview: Pedro Almodóvar.

Daniel’s website: AprendeMasIngles.com.

Daniel’s expat blog: ExpatMadrid.com.

What did you learn from the first part of the interview with Daniel Welsch?

The post Tips 114: Life in Madrid with Daniel Welsch appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.

One question you have to ask yourself if you are learning Spanish is: which accent should you focus on? How do you choose an accent? Does it matter?

In this week’s theory podcast I interview Alba del Pino. Alba is from the Canary Islands. Her accent is distinctly different to the accent of the rest of Spain.

Having said that, there are subtle differences in the accents of the separate regions from within mainland Spain. But, the way the ‘c’ and ‘z’ is pronounced in the Canary Islands is much closer to the accents of South America than those of Spain.

One point worth noting is that despite the differences in accent and lexicon of all of the separate countries of the Spanish world, even if you are only focused on one region while learning, you will be able to speak to anybody from any country.

I have spent the majority of my Spanish journey practicing with the Spanish of Spain. But I have never had any real trouble speaking with people from the Dominican Republic, Peru, Columbia, Argentina or Mexico. Yes there are subtle differences in accents and vocabulary but they are rarely a barrier to communication. You can think about the the differences between the English of Australia and the English of the United States—rarely is this difference big enough barrier to make conversation difficult.

Listen to today’s podcast to get a sample of the accent from the Canary Islands and see if you can notice some of the differences.

If you are having trouble understanding the Spanish section of the podcast or if you would like to get more out of the podcasts and take your Spanish to next level you can get access to the accompanying Spanish podcast transcripts in The Real Fast Spanish School here.

Difficult vocabulary from the Spanish conversation:

Lexicon – Léxico.

Is it the same lexicon? – ¿Es el mismo léxico?

The kitchen / cuisine – La cocina.

What is the cuisine like in the Canary Islands – ¿Cómo es la cocina de las islas canarias?

Canary Islands flour – El gofio.

Canary Islands cream sauce – El gofio escaldado.

It is the most populated? – ¿Es lo más poblada?

Autonomous region – Comunidad autónoma.

El teide – highest mountain in Spain.

The peak – La cima.

The mountainside – La falda (la falda de la montaña).

What did you learn from today’s podcast on the Canary Islands?

The post Tips 113: An Insider’s Guide to the Canary Islands appeared first on Real Fast Spanish.