Ask a Question

(Create a thread)
Go Back   Spanish language learning forums > Teaching & Learning > Teaching and Learning Techniques


Vowels vs. consonants

 

Teaching methodology, learning techniques, linguistics-- any of the various aspect of learning or teaching a foreign language.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old September 04, 2014, 02:08 PM
Glen Glen is offline
Emerald
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: USA
Posts: 718
Native Language: English
Glen is on a distinguished road
Vowels vs. consonants

What do you all think, is it a good suggestion to recommend that English learners of Spanish concentrate more on getting the vowel sounds right, than the consonants? Lately I've been working on trying to make pure-sounding vowels, not the careless ones a native English-speaker uses, and people seem to respond better even when I mangle the consonants.
Reply With Quote
   
Get rid of these ads by registering for a free Tomísimo account.
  #2  
Old September 04, 2014, 02:59 PM
AngelicaDeAlquezar's Avatar
AngelicaDeAlquezar AngelicaDeAlquezar is offline
Obsidiana
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Mexico City
Posts: 9,038
Native Language: Mexican Spanish
AngelicaDeAlquezar is on a distinguished road
Consonant sounds usually don't interfere with our comprehension of what a foreigner is saying in Spanish (not even with a foreign "r"), but "impure" vowel sounds do.

When a person has spelling mistakes, for example writing "carretero" instead of "carretera", or "ame" instead of "ama", it's normally because they pronounce vowels as they do in English, so the right word doesn't come to them immediately. The meaning of the word changes with a single vowel, which makes it more difficult to understand the foreigner.

When the vowels are pronounced like in English, they may become dyphthongs in Spanish ("ei", "ai", "iu"), so the words can actually lose any meaning; the same happens when schwa sound gets in the way, because we only hear grumbling.
__________________
Ain't it wonderful to be alive when the Rock'n'Roll plays...
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old September 19, 2014, 10:51 AM
Hiperbólico's Avatar
Hiperbólico Hiperbólico is offline
Ruby
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 63
Native Language: American English
Hiperbólico is on a distinguished road
Having taken the fifth year of a Spanish learning sequence with other students, I've had the chance to hear native English speakers (of somewhat advanced level in Spanish) speak the language. It definitely seems like most have a better grip on the consonants compared to vowels.

I think this is because most native English speakers already know almost all the consonant sounds in Spanish before ever starting (or at least close approximations), because those sounds are already found in English. The challenge then becomes how to correspond those sounds to the Spanish spelling, which is much different than English. For example, "y" (yes) → ñ, ll, certain diphthongs. And also "h" (hot) → j (ignoring non-trivialities like yeísmo). After years of exposure to the language, this correspondence comes much more easily for the native English speakers. And sure, their consonant pronunciation isn't reflective of any native dialect, but more-often-than-not it is perfectly understandable.

Many however still struggle with correct pronunciation of vowels, because IMO the Spanish vowel sounds are (overall) more foreign to the English tongue, and in several cases more crucial to a word's meaning. So yes, hammer in those vowel sounds! And don't get me started on intonation.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old September 19, 2014, 11:45 AM
aleCcowaN's Avatar
aleCcowaN aleCcowaN is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Posts: 3,127
Native Language: Castellano
aleCcowaN is on a distinguished road
I'd rather say Spanish has roughly five vowels (hint: check the alphabet /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/) while English has roughly twelve (/a:/ /ӕ/ /ʌ/ /ɒ/ /ɔ:/ /e/ /ɜ:/ /ә/ /i:/ /ɪ/ /u:/ /ʊ/). So I reckon English speakers pretty much know all Spanish vowels. The problem is the syllabic rhythm in Spanish vs. the stressed-syllable based rhythm in English: in Spanish, vowels in stressed and unstressed syllables are pronounced in a very similar fashion with a pretty constant rhythm. In English, vowels in unstressed syllables are mostly changed into /ә/ /ɪ/ and /ʊ/

Compare "The capital of Canada is Ottawa" with "La capital de Canadá es Ottawa", mainly /'kӕpɪtәl/ with /kapi'tal/ and /ˈkænədə/ with /kana'da/. In my experience there's a lot of problems with English speakers trying to acquire the right pronunciation. Two extremes of the problems are beginners using compound vowels like /oʊ/ or /әʊ/ instead of single ones like /o/ or intermediate students becoming extremely monotonous as if every single syllable in Spanish is stressed.

The key problem -with a huge easier said than done in it- is making the student to understand that a full vowel in Spanish is not a stressed vowel in English, meaning that /'kiero/ is not pronounced the English way /
'kierә/ neither the English way /'kieroʊ/, that sometimes is corrected by toning it down the English way /'kierәʊ/. You got a lot of examples of half cooked Spanish accents in TV programs and movies with Hispanic types speaking what is supposed to be native Spanish. Some 95% of the instances fall in this category -to my astonishment-. I think that during all the seasons of Southland I never heard anyone pronouncing "ese" in Spanish -most of the times /'esә/, sometimes /'ɜ:sә/, a few times /'ɜ:se/ and ocasionally /'e'se/, but never /'ese/ in Spanish -though I reckon it is Californian jargon and not supposed to be really in Spanish-.
__________________
[gone]
Reply With Quote
Reply

 

Link to this thread
URL: 
HTML Link: 
BB Code: 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Site Rules

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
The consonants S and T Glen Teaching and Learning Techniques 4 June 22, 2012 08:55 PM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:19 AM.

Forum powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

X