Spanish Alphabet Song - Letters and Pronunciation

Brief introduction: <br></br> The Spanish alphabet has one letter that the English alphabet does not have. Can you find it? The letter ñ is not an English letter. Even though we do not have this letter in English, there are English words that have the same pronunciation as the Spanish ñ. For example, canyon and companion make the same sound as the ñ in the Spanish words cañón and compañero. <br></br> You may have also heard of rr in Spanish. The rr does have a different pronunciation than the r. Can you roll your rs? That is what the Spanish r sounds like! If you roll your r longer, that is what the rr sounds like! Ch and ll are two more letter combinations that produce distinctive sounds when the letters are combined. <br></br> The Spanish alphabet is easier than the English alphabet because most of the letters have only one sound. The English a can be: a like in cat, like father, and like in pane. In Spanish, a always sounds like when you say "ah." It is a lot easier to learn. Practice saying these words in Spanish: "Hasta mañana." Like English, Spanish has five vowels: a, e, i, o and u. The Spanish vowels only have one sound. English vowels can have more than one sound. <br></br> Content of the video: <br></br> According to the Royal Spanish Academy, the Spanish alphabet has 29 letters. It includes the same 26 letters as the English alphabet, plus “ch:, “II”, and “n”. This song also includes the sound “RR” for English speakers. While officially include in the alphabet, “ch” and “II” are treated as sounds, not letters, when alphabetizing. For this reason, many people think the letters have been dropped from the alphabet. <br></br> “Name” of the Letter & Pronunciation Examples: <br></br> A -- a -- casa, taza <br></br> B -- be -- bien, bebé <br></br> C -- ce -- casa, cine <br></br> CH -- che -- chico, leche <br></br> D -- de -- día, verdad <br></br> E -- e -- mesa, cine <br></br> F -- efe -- café, fruta <br></br> G -- ge -- jugo, general <br></br> H -- hache -- hola, hijo <br></br> I -- i -- cine, hijo <br></br> J -- jota -- hijo, jugo <br></br> K* -- ka -- kilo, kiosko <br></br> L -- ele -- hola, leche <br></br> LL -- elle -- calle, llama <br></br> M -- eme -- mesa, llama <br></br> N -- ene -- noche, nada <br></br> Ñ** -- eñe -- señor, niño <br></br> O -- o -- niño, hola <br></br> P -- pe -- papá, peso <br></br> Q -- cu -- queso, quién <br></br> R -- ere -- señor, fruta <br></br> RR -- erre -- perro, carro <br></br> S -- ese -- casa, señor <br></br> T -- te -- taza, fruta <br></br> U -- u -- jugo, mucho <br></br> V -- ve -- vaso, vive <br></br> W* -- doble ve --whiski <br></br> X -- equis -- México, excelente <br></br> Y -- i griega -- ya, Yucatán <br></br> Z -- zeta -- taza, azúcar <br></br> Yo se el alfabeto ! Ole! <br></br> Now lets sing it a little faster. You can do it. A B C CH D E F G H I J K L LL M N N O P Q R RR S T U V W X Y Z Yo se el alfabeto ! Ole! <br></br> One more time and a little faster. A B C CH D E F G H I J K L LL M N N O P Q R RR S T U V W X Y Z Yo se el alfabeto ! Ole! <br></br> Further Comments on Spanish Vowels and Comparisons to English Vowels: The vowel system of American English is much more complicated than that of Spanish. Spanish has 5 vowel phonemes and glides occur only in diphthongs, which are always represented in writing (compare Pena and peina). Spanish vowel sounds are always clear and full, while consonants may be obscured or suppressed. Spanish vowels do not have “length”; that is, they are not short or long. A, E, I, O, U, <br></br> Thanks for watching!