More strings on a guitar than vowel sounds in Spanish.
What is so helpful about Spanish vowel sounds?
Did you know that Spanish has only 5 of them?
Compare that with the 12 vowel sounds in English (think of the short and long vowel sounds in these words: hat, heart, head, heard, heat, hit, hook, who, hall etc.).
So there are many fewer vowels in Spanish to learn how to pronounce. You realise that having just 5 is incredibly helpful if you’re learning the language – a real bonus!
What are the Spanish vowel sounds?
Here they are, each with an English word that has an approximate sound:
a – cat
e – head
i – cheese
o – hot
u – rule
What differences are there between Spanish and English vowel sounds?
In normal speaking, Spanish vowel sounds are generally more compact – taking less time to say than English ones, which tend to be stretched out a bit more.
Where can I hear some?
Have a listen to some sample spoken tracks – in the grey section part way down the page – and you’ll get the idea of vowels in Spanish generally being shorter. (In songs, sounds get stretched to match the music, just as in English.)
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