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Common English/Spanish Pronunciation Gaffes...

Common English/Spanish Pronunciation Gaffes...

5
votes

What are common pronunciation problems that English speakers of Spanish make that show them up / give them away & vice versa ? Are there any regional factors ?

For example, I suppose it's fairly well-known among native English-speakers than native Spanish-speakers often insert E in front of English words beginning with Sp or St etc. Hence at uni I had a very clever, well-educated & English-fluent professor, who was Venezuelan, and who, despite having lived in Scotland for 15 years (married to a Scotsman) still kept referring to us as 'Escottish estudents'.

I guess the B/V might be an issue...

We know native-French speakers often have difficulty with the English 'th'-sound, tending to pronounce it as Z, whereas Germans often pronounce it as D or T. I suppose for Spaniards (from Europe), this may pose less of a problem because they have the cecio, but then this only represents one of the two English 'th'-sounds, being the 'unvoiced' sound as in 'theatre', whereas the 'voiced' sound as in 'the'/'they'/'there' (which should perhaps really be spelled 'dhe'/'dhey'/'dhere') is quite different. How do Spaniards deal with 'dh' ? How do Latin American Spanish-speakers deal with the 'th'-sound in either version ?

And what do Spanish-speakers make of English-speakers attempts to pronounce Spanish.

Can you tell if we're American, English or Scottish ? Or Australian or whatever ? (Do we amazing Scots just blend in because we already have all the sounds (ahem) ?: our amazing rrroled R's and wonderful j/g sound as in Loch Ness, jeje)...

Genuinely interested. Of what kinds of gaffe should I remain mindful... grin

2481 views
updated Aug 5, 2015
posted by Faldaesque
The Enlgish voiced "th" is like the "d" en "hablado" pronounced "ha-bla-tho" --the "th" being like the "th" in "Although". OK? - Daniela2041, Mar 24, 2015
I can tell a Scot by the way he pronounces his vowels. Your consonants are great, but all English speakers have difficulty with the pure vowels in the Spanish and Italian languages. - Daniela2041, Mar 24, 2015
Ray from OZ gets them right. To me he has an Italian accent. :) - Daniela2041, Mar 24, 2015
Yes, I've read that about voiced 'th', although not really heard it so far. - Faldaesque, Mar 24, 2015
Surprised re Scots vowels, which tend to be much less 'diphthongised' than in other English-language accents... - Faldaesque, Mar 24, 2015

4 Answers

6
votes

The biggest problem Americans have is not the trilled rrrr but the letter "o"

They pronounce "doctor" as Dakter--terrible! Also words like "control" as

"cuhntrol" the proper symbol for the 'uh' here is the upside down "e" called "schwa" which does not even exist in Spanish. It sounds like English "uh"

Almost EVERY unstressed vowel in American English has the "uh" sound.

I pledge uhleeguhns (alligiance) to thuh flag uhf thuh United states uhf Uhmericuh, and so on.

When you put a lot of schwas into Spanish it sounds horrible. All the preterite endings ending in "ieron" or "aron" sound like "ieruhn" and "eruhn" ¡Caramba! The vowels are the hardest thing I have to deal with as far as my American Engilsh Speakers are concerned.

Now to mention the Brits--¡ Ay Chihuahua! They don't have a pure vowel in their language! ---well maybe one or two. But there is not enough room to discuss the problems they have in this space. As I also teach French once in a while, I can say that the Brits are far better than the Americans at getting the pronunciation right in that language. English is pretty goofy.smile

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updated Mar 25, 2015
edited by Daniela2041
posted by Daniela2041
That is a quote from "George Bernard Shaw" who wrote 'Pygmalion' = "My Fair Lady". - ray76, Mar 24, 2015
I think in Brit English there are 27 possible sounds for the 5 vowels - A E I O and U. The word tomorrow has 3 different Os in it. - ian-hill, Mar 24, 2015
Very well said! I agree wholeheartedly. :) - Manity, Mar 24, 2015
That was incredibly clear and shows that you really know your subject I am very impressed . - ray76, Mar 24, 2015
Apparently Scots English has 12 pure vowels, only 4 diphthongs & 3 'reduced' vowels (like the 'schwa' that Dani mentions), which tend to occur in unstressed endings... - Faldaesque, Mar 24, 2015
Guilty as charged- and clearly you know your stuff. :) - bosquederoble, Mar 24, 2015
No sé si entiendes bien español mexicano, pero te rifaste con tu respuesta :) - Kiwaiano, Mar 24, 2015
I tend to believe that depends largely upon several factors....one being education. I don't think it's fair to say that, "Brits are far better than the Americans at getting the pronunciation right in that language." - rac1, Mar 24, 2015
@rac1: With all due respect, I have taught French to both Americans and Brits, and the latter do seem to get it better. There may be an exception in Louisiana where a lot of French is spoken, so that the sounds thereof are not as unfamiliar and are more - Daniela2041, Mar 24, 2015
@Rac1, cont'd" and are more easily assimilated and reproduced by the learner. - Daniela2041, Mar 24, 2015
French is still the No.1 foreign language in the UK with 20-25% of Brits being able to have a simple conversation in it (Spanish is 5-10%). It makes sense, France being our nearest neighbour. - Faldaesque, Mar 24, 2015
This is changing, though, and British kids currently in UK primary school education are more likely (just) to learn Spanish over French. But there are still large elements of French culture & linguistic influence in Britain. - Faldaesque, Mar 24, 2015
2
votes

vowels in general, a fast D or T sounds like an R in Spanish.

The B/V is not and issue. Not in Spanish!

That's why I make this little chart for you guys

a = ah

e = eh

i = ee

o = awe (approximate)

u = oo as in moon

smile

updated Mar 25, 2015
edited by chileno
posted by chileno
1
vote

The "R" is a pretty obvious tough one. But I'm not talking about the trilled R of carro, most people get it, and get that "caro" and "carro" are two different things(although some really just can't trill their R's).

On the other side I've noticed english speakers really struggle with the softer trill of the R as in "robar" or "reparto". To my understanding, or at least in most Mexican Spanish, all four of those R's should have a soft trill, not quite like the RR's in "barril" or "ferrocarril" but A LOT of english speakers replace those situations with the english R sound; or just don't pronounce anything when the R comes before a consonant.

...this becomes most problematic with words like cargar; which I often hear sounding more like it's less friendly cousin.

For myself throwing in all of those softer trills can lead me at times to speak a lot slower than a native. It's hard for us to say combinations like "más rápido" or "me has robado" and maintain the soft trill without taking a split second break between the "ssss" sound and the "rr" sound.

updated Mar 24, 2015
edited by Kiwaiano
posted by Kiwaiano
@Kiwaiano: It is totally acceptable to omit the "s" in "más rápido" and the others that you mentioned. Every native Spanish-speaker I know does it- including me. When I say it it sounds like "marrápido.". - Daniela2041, Mar 24, 2015
¡Gracias! Acabo de hablar con mis amigos mexicanos por media hora de esto y casi dijeron los mismo. Pero también, después de práctica, me estoy dando cuenta que ahora lo puedo decir fácil y será aun más en el futuro. - Kiwaiano, Mar 24, 2015
1
vote

whats a gaffe

updated Mar 24, 2015
posted by Rey_Mysterio
Un "gaffe" es un error de pronunciación. ♥ - Daniela2041, Mar 24, 2015
When you ask for a ladies hand in marriage and she says " yes" thats a gaffe. - ray76, Mar 24, 2015
It's a giraffe that has no idea donde a 'ir'... - Faldaesque, Mar 24, 2015
It is also old English for boss , or foreman , still used in movie making look at the credits and you will see "Gaffer" - ray76, Mar 24, 2015