"Ojalá" - how do you pronounce it'?

Question

Hi, i am doing a speech in spanish soon and i was just wondering how you would pronounce ojalá... just in english sond terms..
thanks

Answer 1

lazarus1907 said:

"o ha la" will not sound more like Spanish, but like Spanish with very strong English accent, and even hard to recognize for some natives. Spanish is one of the few languages where you can read accurately any word just by following simple rules (you can't in English), and even know where to put the stress. I recommend that you learn these rules rather than asking how to pronounce each word following a remotely similar approximation of the original sound.

Ojalá shouldn't sound Spanish, anyway! It's derived directly from Arabic and has a bit of an Arabic sound to it, even when pronounced "properly" in Spanish.

Answer 2

The "j" in this instance is pronounced almost the same as the "ch" in the scottish word "loch". It is not like the English "lock" where the "ck" is hard and is sounded from the middle of the mouth. It is softer and sounded at the back of the throat.

Answer 3

"o ha la" will not sound more like Spanish, but like Spanish with very strong English accent, and even hard to recognize for some natives. Spanish is one of the few languages where you can read accurately any word just by following simple rules (you can't in English), and even know where to put the stress. I recommend that you learn these rules rather than asking how to pronounce each word following a remotely similar approximation of the original sound.

Let me tell you what a native will hear If you follow that "o ha la": the first 'o' will sound like a transition between two sounds to Spanish ears ("ou") rather than one, which is how we pronounce it; the first one very foreign to our ears, and the second one a slightly strange (as we have neither). The "h" will sound too soft -but not that bad-, but the 'a' in "ha" will be another sound that does not exist in Spanish, so more foreign sounds. In "la" the same thing: that 'a' is another sound which we don't have. In a nutshell: you'll get a perfect L out of the whole thing.

Take my advice: Get some clear sound files, and learn how to pronounce the individual sounds; then you'll be able to read clearly and accurately all words.

Answer 4

thanks, that sounds more spanish like!

Answer 5

also the j is pronounced as an h so oha lA

Answer 6

o ha la'

Answer 7

the strongest stress is in the last vowel, where the accent is...
so you pronounce it ojaLA...
Hope I'm making any sense....
Ciao..