your language.

Today, we’re going back to pronunciation. If you’re having any problems with pronunciation,

make sure you check out the first video I did called Spanish Pronunciation.

In this real quick video, we’re going to focus in on the special sounds that are specific

to Spain or España!

If you’ve ever been to Spain or spoken to somebody from Spain, you’ve probably noticed

right away, they speak with a lisp. No seriously, the correct way to speak Spanish in Spain

is basically with a lisp.

In Spain, lots of letters make the THHHH sound like with a th.

First, there’s c. In Spanish, c can make a kuh sound like in rico. But it can also

make a c sound like in vecino. But in Spain, in that second case, in vecino, the c makes

a th sound...so it would be vecino.

Rico means rich for the record. And vecino is neighbor.

Same thing goes for the Z. In Latin America, the z makes the s sound, like an s. But in

Spain, just like the C, it makes the th sound. So zapato in Mexico would be zapato in Spain.

Okay, I can accept that. But what hit me as really crazy is the d also follows this pattern.

It’s a little softer, but depending on the person, not really. So la mitad in Mexico

would be la mitad in Spain.

I remember when I first started learning Spanish (in Holland, living with a bunch of Spanish

people), I was having a hard time doing their accent. So I really had to focus, and remember

it every time--it hadn’t become involuntary yet.

One day during that period when I was struggling, I went up to my buddy Ramon and said something

that started with this word. So I went up to him and said “Nethethito...” I messed

up. The s is always supposed to sound like an s, so he jokingly asked “Oh nethethitaths???”

Now, unless you’re learning Spanish specifically to use in Spain, I would suggest just going

with the normal, Latin American sounds. It’s much more common and quite frankly, much easier.

Not that the Spanish way is hard, it’s just, like in Necesito, it’s harder because you

have to make one sound then switch to make the other. Whereas in Mexico it would be necesito--much

easier I think.

That’s it. Don’t forget, there’s also a difference between Spain and Latin America

when it comes to personal pronouns. If that’s news to you, then you need to watch the video

called Personal Pronouns.

For everybody else, no homework today. I just wanted you to be aware of this situation.

As I point out movies and music in the future, lots of them will feature these sounds from

Spain. Cause quite frankly, I love Spain.

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Adiós. Hasta luego.