Spanish Pronunciation Guide for Australian English Speakers

Spanish Pronunciation for Australians

Australian English speakers actually have some advantages when learning Spanish pronunciation — our vowels are closer to Spanish vowels than American English speakers, for example.

The Spanish Vowels

Spanish has only 5 pure vowel sounds — a, e, i, o, u — and they are always pronounced the same way, unlike English.

• A — like the "a" in "father"
• E — like the "e" in "bed"
• I — like the "ee" in "feet"
• O — like the "o" in "more"
• U — like the "oo" in "food"

The Tricky Sounds

• RR — the rolled R. Practice by saying "butter" fast with a British accent.
• J — a guttural H sound, like clearing your throat lightly.
• Ñ — like "ny" in "canyon".