Hello
Hello everyone. I'm new to this website. I still don't know much about Spanish. Actually I just get start to learn Spanish seriously although I almost have no time for it and no one to practise with. I want to ask you some questions.
1.How different between Spanish Spanish and Latin American Spanish?
2.How to pronounce "C, G, J, P, R, RR, T, V, X, Z" in Spanish?
3.How different between Castellano and Español'
15 Answers
I'm very sorry for late reply. I've just come back from another province. Thanks to all answers you reply me.
I haven't found the pronunciation page in this website yet. I don't know whether this website has it or not.
Actually, there're many sound equivalent to Thai pronunciation in Spanish and I think Spanish is easy to pronounce. According to the answer, I think I know how to pronounce already.
C(before A, O, U)/K is "'" When you pronounce "Bangkok", Both of the "k" sound is k in Spanish not k in English. And "a" sound is Spanish "a" not English "a". Most people pronounce the "a" like ä in German and that is wrong according to Thai pronounciation.
By the way, I found some people still pronounce wrong P, T, C. They still pronounce like the English one.
R and RR sound is simple for me because in Thai we have those sounds.
Thanks for coming to Thailand. 
lazarus1907 said:
I was kidding, of course. You speak twice as many languages as I do.
Never doubted it for a minute (the "kidding" part, that is).
samdie said:
Yes, a source of considerable embarrassment (since I've been to Bangkok three times) It must have been the Singh Ha (Thai beer).
I was kidding, of course. You speak twice as many languages as I do. Anyway, is Thailand worth visiting'
lazarus1907 said:
samdie said:
P.S. Sorry, Nonthadej, the 4-5 words that I know in Thai are not sufficient to provide any pronunciation hints based on parallels to your language.
You don't know the features of Thai, samdie? Shame on you!
Yes, a source of considerable embarrassment (since I've been to Bangkok three times) It must have been the Singh Ha (Thai beer).
Natasha said:
I will give you a very simple (and naive) answer for # 1. As far as pronunciation, in Madrid s's sound like soft th's (using English letters), and there is a tendency to drop d's. You can listen here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/
to some Spanish from Spain.
There are many other differences, which crop up constantly on this forum, but it would basically take a whole dictionary to begin to describe them.
No, no, no, Natasha.
The "s" sounds like an "s" The "z" and "c" (before "e"/"i") sound like "th" (in "thin", for example).
I will give you a very simple (and naive) answer for # 1. As far as pronunciation, in Madrid s's sound like soft th's (using English letters), and there is a tendency to drop d's. You can listen here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/
to some Spanish from Spain.
There are many other differences, which crop up constantly on this forum, but it would basically take a whole dictionary to begin to describe them.
punisher said:
IIIas i told you Nonthadej, the big guys started to show up
jeje, I wonder why you said that....neither myself, nor James, nor Pralee, nor Eddy, nor...... have said anything yet..lol
I won't though....Lazarus outposts me all the time (big smile)
samdie said:
P.S. Sorry, Nonthadej, the 4-5 words that I know in Thai are not sufficient to provide any pronunciation hints based on parallels to your language.
You don't know the features of Thai, samdie? Shame on you!
lazarus1907 said:
the P is similar to the English one, but without the strong aspiration at the end. In Spanish, only the air from the mouth comes out; in English it is also the air from the lungs. The T is quite different: the tip of the tongue must be touching the upper teeth, and you should avoid the English aspiration, like what happened with P
If anyone cares, the presence/absence of a strong puff of air also applies to the pronunciation of K. Technically "strong puff of air" --> "plosive" while no puff --> "occlusive". Most native speakers of English are unaware of it but we have occlusive variants (technically "allophones") for p/t/k. If you listen carefully to the pairs of words "spot"/"pot", "skip"/"kip" and "stop"/"top" you should hear ones that start with "s" are occlusive while the others are plosive. If you can't hear the difference, try holding a lit match/candle in front of your mouth while saying the pairs and watch the flame move a lot for the plosive and almost not at all for the occlusive.
However, there's still the issue of tongue placement with T, as Lazarus said.
P.S. Sorry, Nonthadej, the 4-5 words that I know in Thai are not sufficient to provide any pronunciation hints based on parallels to your language.
I
I
I
as i told you Nonthadej, the big guys started to show up
The J is similar to ch in German or Scottish. It is like an aspirated h, but harder.
the P is similar to the English one, but without the strong aspiration at the end. In Spanish, only the air from the mouth comes out; in English it is also the air from the lungs.
The G sounds like J before E and I, and soft, like in "get", before A, O, U.
The T is quite different: the tip of the tongue must be touching the upper teeth, and you should avoid the English aspiration, like what happened with P.
The V sounds exactly like the B. No difference whatsoever. Don't try to pronounce it like an English V.
The X sounds like KS between vowels, and at the end of a syllable. At the beginning of a word, or at the end of a syllable and before another consonant, it sounds almost like just S.
The Z sounds like the English TH in "thin" in Spain, and like S in most Latin American countries.
The R sounds almost like the American T in butter. Avoid the sounds of the English R at all costs.
The RR is the hardest one to explain. Look for previous posts, because I have explained this one in detail before.
Your question is a topic. You forgot to ask how different is Mexican Spanish from Cuban Spanish, from Argentinian Spanish, from Chilean Spanish, from... because they are all different. Cuban Spanish is much closer to the Spanish in Spain than to the one in Argentina, and we all can talk to one another perfectly.
This question will require more space than the one allowed by the forum for a single message.
Castellano was a dialect from a small region of Spain (called Castilla), which eventually became the dominant one in the Hispanic peninsula over other dialects. The peninsula became España (Spain) at some point, and they decided to call this dialect, not just Castellano, but español (Spanish). They are, in a way, one and the same, but some people enjoy arguing forever about this.
Many thanks for your help. I'm apologise that I picked a wrong name for the topic or wrong category. Thanks for your answer anyway
I'll leave your questions to a native speaker, because my answer would be very general in nature. I'm sure the answer to your second question is going to be that it depends on where you are (what dialect you're speaking) or that it's too complex a subject to be answered in a short note and you will be given a referral to further information.
By the way, you could search the discussions. I've heard some very informative, technical answers to your question. Again, though, this is a large topic in and of itself, because the sound not only varies with dialect, but it's relationship to surrounding letters, stress, etc. in the word.
Bienvenido.
Since you are new, I might also suggest that you may not have posted this note in the correct category. Even if you did they do not like titles that do describe the question itself.
They may overlook it since you're new, but normally this note would be deleted (and may yet be so) unless it was in the Greeting/Saludos category. At the top of the forum pages are Rules/Resources suggesting how to make a proper post.
hi, this website is very helpfull,
im a begginer too so i dont want to give any answers but im sure that the big guys will, (james santiago,natasha,lazarus1907,heidita,eddy,samdie,quentin and others) sometimes they will take over the conversation and sometimes even you will be sorry that you asked a question
(kiddin)==> refering to the amount of answers that you will get wich is usefull.
so....welcome on board
