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Beginner Lesson 1

 

           
   
                                                       
 
     

Lesson 1
       

   
     
 


 Have you always heard that Spanish is an easy language to learn, but wondered how come you had a hard time in High School? Well, those "hard times" are gone.
          Welcome to our first lesson of Spanish.
          We'll start from the very basic, with the sound of vowels, and move on gradually, building your vocabulary, improving your knowledge of grammar, giving you the tools you need to go outside and speak Spanish with confidence.      Remember that in Spanish, spelling and pronunciation ( i.e., "ortography") go side by side.
          Spanish is a phonetic language. This means one letter has typically one sound.
          Let's put in practice what I just said: There are five vowels in Spanish: A E I O U; and there is only one respective sound for each one of them.
          Listen carefully and notice that the sounds of each vowels are very short:
       
Letter
Pronunciation
En español
Audio
 
(in English)
(in Spanish )
  
А а a as in father
amigo, azul
(friend, blue) 

E e e as in echo
ese, leche
(this, milk)

I i i as in see
isla,aquí
(island, here)

O o o as in oh
oso, poco
(bear, little)

U u u as in boot
uno, tú
(one, you-informal)

           

Spanish vowels are divided in two categories:  weak ( or closed vowels) and strong ( open vowels).

Strong vowels
Weak vowels
a
i
e
u
o
y
     

In order to pronounce  words properly, you need to understand strong and weak vowels, and how they affect pronunciation. Take a look at the example and the use of those vowels below:
     

Diphthong When two vowels are pronounced together in a same syllable. Listen how the two vowels are connected in a continuous motion. bueno, fuego, aire
 bue-no
fue-go
ai-re

Triphthong When three vowels are pronounced together in the same syllable.Listen how the three vowels are connected in a continuous motion. Uruguay, Paraguay, anunciáis U-ru-guay
Pa-ra-guay
a-nun-ciáis

Hiatus when two vowels are pronounced as two distinctive syllable. teatro, poeta, caer te-a-tro
po-e-ta
ca-er

   

     
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