Hola, I'm Jordan and this is a Spanish Quickie--fast, easy Spanish lessons from somebody who speaks
your language.
Today, we’re going back to pronunciation. If you’re having any problems with pronunciation,
make sure you check out the first video I did called Spanish Pronunciation.
In this real quick video, we’re going to focus in on the special sounds that are specific
to Spain or España!
If you’ve ever been to Spain or spoken to somebody from Spain, you’ve probably noticed
right away, they speak with a lisp. No seriously, the correct way to speak Spanish in Spain
is basically with a lisp.
In Spain, lots of letters make the THHHH sound like with a th.
First, there’s c. In Spanish, c can make a kuh sound like in rico. But it can also
make a c sound like in vecino. But in Spain, in that second case, in vecino, the c makes
a th sound...so it would be vecino.
Rico means rich for the record. And vecino is neighbor.
Same thing goes for the Z. In Latin America, the z makes the s sound, like an s. But in
Spain, just like the C, it makes the th sound. So zapato in Mexico would be zapato in Spain.
Okay, I can accept that. But what hit me as really crazy is the d also follows this pattern.
It’s a little softer, but depending on the person, not really. So la mitad in Mexico
would be la mitad in Spain.
I remember when I first started learning Spanish (in Holland, living with a bunch of Spanish
people), I was having a hard time doing their accent. So I really had to focus, and remember
it every time--it hadn’t become involuntary yet.
One day during that period when I was struggling, I went up to my buddy Ramon and said something
that started with this word. So I went up to him and said “Nethethito...” I messed
up. The s is always supposed to sound like an s, so he jokingly asked “Oh nethethitaths???”
Now, unless you’re learning Spanish specifically to use in Spain, I would suggest just going
with the normal, Latin American sounds. It’s much more common and quite frankly, much easier.
Not that the Spanish way is hard, it’s just, like in Necesito, it’s harder because you
have to make one sound then switch to make the other. Whereas in Mexico it would be necesito--much
easier I think.
That’s it. Don’t forget, there’s also a difference between Spain and Latin America
when it comes to personal pronouns. If that’s news to you, then you need to watch the video
called Personal Pronouns.
For everybody else, no homework today. I just wanted you to be aware of this situation.
As I point out movies and music in the future, lots of them will feature these sounds from
Spain. Cause quite frankly, I love Spain.
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Adiós. Hasta luego.