1.
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Be realistic. This will involve time and effort. The more you put in, the more you get out. Set realistic goals with your tutor.
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2.
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Learn the Spanish Alphabet below.
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3.
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Learn the Spanish Verb System. Not as complicated as its often made out to be
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Hablo
Hablas
Habla
Hablamos
Habláis
Hablan
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4.
| Read aloud in Spanish every day for 10 minutes (leave a spanish magazine or book beside your bed and do it as soon as you wake up). |  |
5.
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Put your CD from the book into your car and listen to it even on very short trips. If you are on your own its a great opportunity to repeat and practice as loud as you like! And its fun to do it with a partner!
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6.
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Enter a Spanish chatroom on the Internet. Find a Spanish partner who can't speak English (a bit desperate but it works).
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7.
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Put on Spanish subtitles when you are watching a DVD or, better still, watch it in Spanish with English subtitles.
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8.
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Put on Spanish radio whilst you are busy doing other things. It is not important that you understand - your brain will pick up on the intonation and accent.
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9.
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Go to Spanish meetup groups (they usually meet in pubs) where you will meet other peoplepracticing their Spanish and having fun.
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10.
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Expect to make loads of mistakes, and to keep on making mistakes - think about the number of mistakes you made when you were learningEnglish and how embarrassed you felt about that?
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11.
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Label your furniture (small post-its) with its equivalent in Spanish.
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12.
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Congratulate yourself for having the courage to go forward and do something different. Party with it!!!!
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GETTING STARTED
1. The Spanish Alphabet is formed by the following twenty-nine letters:
a, b, c, ch, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, za, b, c, ch, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
The names of the letters of the alphabet are:
| A: a | E: e | J: jota | N: ene | R: ere | W: uve doble |
| B: be | F: efe | K: ka | Ñ: eñe | S: ese | X:equis |
| C: ce | G: ge | L: ele | O: o | T: te | Y: i griega |
| CH:che | H: hache | LL: elle | P: pe | U: u |
Z: zeda or zeta
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| D: de | I: i | M: eme | Q: cu |
V: ve
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These letter names are, of course, prounounced with Spanish pronunciation; not "ay," "bee," "cee," (as in English), but:
"ah," "bay," "say" ("thay," in Spain), "chay," "day," "ay," "AY-fay," "gay"," "AH-chay," "ee," "HOH-ta," "kah," "AY-lay," "AY-yay," "AY-may," "AY-nay," "AY-nyay," "oh," "pay," "coo," "AY-ray," "AY-rray," "AY-say," "tay," "oo," "OO-vay," "OO-vay DOH-blay" (or "DOH-blay OO"), "AY-kees," "EE gree-AY-gah," and "SAY-tah" ("THAY-tah," in Spain).
Consonant Pronunciation
Some consonants are pronounced in a markedly different way from their equivalent in English. The most important of these differences are as follows:
1. b and v have the same sound:
bueno barba vino varios
2. (i) Before a, o and U: c is a hard sound as in come:
campo arranc coste banco cuando
(ii) Before e and i: c is a soft sound as in the English th in
thin:
cena acento cine incidente
3. (i) g - before a,o and u, g is a hard sound as in go
garage ganar gordo gol gusto
(ii) before e or i; g is a sound made in the throat, like ch in Scottish 'loch'
gente gerente giro gitano dirige
(iii) gu followed by a is pronounced 'gw' (as in Gwen):
guapo agua guardar
(iv) gu followed by e or i is a hard sound (as in 'go'): u is silent:
guerra llegué guitarra Miguel
(v) In the combinations gue and gui a diaeresis is placed over the u.
This indicates that the sound is 'gw' (as in Gwen):
averigue verguenza arguir
4. h h is always silent: hombre is pronounced 'ombre' 'otel' etc
5. J is a sound made in the throat, like ch in the Scottish 'loch':
hijo jardin Jorge paja Méjico
6. ll ll is pronounced like lli in 'pillion';
llave calle llegar hallar
7. r, rr
(i) A single r at the beginning of a word is normally 'trilled' r 'rolled',
eg. the r in el río. Otherwise it is a single trill or 'flap' as n cara.
(ii) rr, as in burro, sierra, is not considered to be a separate letter. It
cannot be split to form part of two different syllables. It is always
rolled like the Scottish 'r'.
8. x - x is pronounced
(i) between vowels; can be either 'ks' (as in expert) or 'gs'
(as in example):
exento existir exito
(ii) before a consonant: 'ks' or, more usually 's';
excepto exclamar experiencia
9. z In Castillian Spanish (spoken mainly in the North and centre of Spain)
this sound is pronounced like 'th' in 'thin. In much of Spain and Spanish
America the sound is 's'.
zona zigzag zozobra
