7/23/2019 10 Problems Spanish Learners Have When Speaking

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8 Common mistakes Spanish learners have when speaking English

He has blue eyes or he has eyes blues?

1.Vowels/ Consonants are diferent in Spanish and English:

Spanish has 5 vowel sounds and English has 12. The other problem is that the

length of the vowel sound is not an important feature In Spanish whi!h leads to

!lassi! misunderstandings su!h as"

In Spain, there are many hot  /bet ∫es/  instead of   /bi:t ∫Iz / 

2. Consonants also cause prolems !or Spanish speakers.Some English phonemes have e#uivalents in Spanish but others are distin!tivesounds.$ %& % ' % ( % ) % * % h have no real mat!h in Spanish.

". Consonant Clusters #a group o! consonants which have no interveningvowel like: /spl/$ are !ar more common in English than in Spanish.+ simple word ,for native English spea-ers li-e /reak!ast% is tough for Spaniardswho will often pronoun!e it /brefas0 and omit the /f0 and the nal /t0 be!ause theyare atta!hed to another !onsonant. This also happens with pronoun!ing names li-e/Stephen0 inserting a vowel sound before the rst !luster of s/t and will often say/Estephen0.

&. 'he relationship in English etween pronunciation and orthograph(#sound and spelling$ e.g." laugh throughout !ons!iousness vegetable!omfortable business busy et!.

). English is generall( categorised as a stress*timed language an Spanishis usuall( considered to e a s(llale*timed language.

e.g. " The Beatles were bigger than El vis.

+ Spanish spea-er might pronoun!e ea!h syllable e#ually and this might soundroboti! to English spea-er ears and we might struggle to identify the -ey !ontent" The % eat % les % were % big % ger % than % El % vis.

+. 'he Spanish language doesn%t reall( have contracted !orms in the samewa( as English. This means they !an0t always hear them ,I0ll see you tomorrow" 3es I see you tomorrow or they misuse them ,+re you 4edro? 3es I0m.

,. Su-ect personal pronouns # 0ou She e e t 'he($ are o!tenunnecessar( in Spanish as the !orm o! the main ver identi3es thesu-ect.This is why you0ll hear Spanish spea-ers say things li-e"/Is ob here?0 /3es is here.0/Is it possible to pass the eam?0 /3es. is possible.0

8. 4alse 4riends.e.g." ‘Sorry professor, I couldn’t assist  the class because of my strongconstipation.’ 

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