Stop reducing vowels! How it affects the rhythm of your Spanish accent

[@carlosm.labanca2285]

Amazing vid!! Thanks a bunch for sharing! We Spanish-speakers have the exact opposite problem when trying to convey our thoughts in spoken English.

[@leotizi]

Tu canal merece un millón de suscriptores. Es genial.

[@tenminutespanish]

Gracias!! Son comentarios así que me motivan a seguir adelante.

[@lucasteganox9049]

I'm a native spanish speaker(Uruguay) trying to revert my acquired englishy rhythm. This is helpful.

[@Zeetrik]

Dude I'm Spanish and I'm learning so much about my language just by watching these vids.

[@tenminutespanish]

@@Zeetrik I'm so happy you're enjoying them.

[@lingo4048]

Great video. Catalan and Portuguese have centered vowels (Italian and Spanish don’t) and the vowel centering does not modify the rhythm of the sentence.

[@user-ke2mj4wy2f]

I like the video and the channel and I have a quick question about a different topic. This question is not about where to put the stress, but more like what is a stress. When I search for Spanish stress, it just tells me where the stress should be, and I wanted to know what stress is. In my search, I saw a video about English stress (I’m a native speaker) and it said that the stress of the word means it’s louder and also longer. I tried the exercises and it’s a very subtle effect. I’ve learned Spanish in various courses, and many, like Michel Thomas, really emphasize the stress and make the stressed syllable longer, so "puedo" is "pweeeh doh" with the "pweeh" part much longer. Or "quiero" is "key aiiirr roe". I saw a clip in Spanish that said that the syllable length doesn’t get longer but just gets louder which surprised me. I then went to a site where a Spanish speaker pronounced the words, and you see her face and the words underneath and word broken up into the syllables and showing the stressed one. It still sounds to me like that Spanish speaker is elongating the stressed syllable and not just making it louder. However, after listening to it a lot, I can see that it might not be longer but my English ear is hearing it longer. It might just be that it is louder but to my ear, it sounds longer/ elongated? Anyone help with this?

[@tenminutespanish]

Increased Loudness: The stressed syllable is typically pronounced with greater intensity or loudness compared to the other syllables in the word. Pitch Variation: It often experiences a change in pitch, which can be higher or lower relative to the surrounding syllables, making it stand out in the auditory perception of the listener. Length: While not as prominent a feature as in English, the stressed syllable in Spanish may be held slightly longer than unstressed syllables, contributing to its emphasis.

[@user-ke2mj4wy2f]

@@tenminutespanish thanks I’ve listened to a few of your videos and it does sound to my very English ear that you are elongating. The pitch variation you mentioned is it a higher pitch? When I pronounce English words like banana and I hear someone teach how to say banana to non native English speakers they stress second syllable, but when I speak I don’t stress it in English or it is a very very subtle stress and it’s almost unnoticeable in my English accent.

[@josephsalisbury3519]

Great video as always. Would you be able to expand on this concept a little more by doing a video on rhythm and intonation?

[@deargodwhyme]

Very well explained, as always. Would you consider doing a short add on video with some longer example sentence breakdowns for comparison?

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you! Ya, sometime I'll do more on rhythm. There's a lot more to say about it.

[@karenwilliams2858]

What about the rules of vowel reduction of Central Mexican Spanish and varieties of Andean Spanish? A video on this or talking about it sometime would be great!

[@tenminutespanish]

Here is the rule for those dialects: 1) Don't reduce vowels.

[@karenwilliams2858]

I suppose it is reasonable for English speakers to not even worry about said vowel reduction as it is different in nature and will only confuse them even more.@@tenminutespanish

[@mep6302]

1:17 I don't know. I'm a native Spanish speaker and I sometimes reduce vowels similar to this. I think it's easier however I know I don't do it all the time. Maybe this has to do with my dialect or my diction. I also tend to speak with a low volume so people don't always understand what I'm saying. When I repeat something louder, I pronounce all vowels pretty clearly but otherwise I don't. And I realized I do this after learning English and other languages that have this reduction. I remember many times my parents telling me that I should speak louder and more clearly to be understood.

[@mlowe7245]

This is a cool channel. I am learning to improve my Spanish.

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy you like my channel.

[@ImaginaryRussian]

Thank you, it's very helpful and inspiring as usual.

[@user-jk6cz8xd9v]

thank you for such good content

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy you like my videos.

[@angelt9862]

This was a very interesting and useful video!

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you!

[@dgoins6]

I don't think that I have the schwa problem, but definitely need help with cadence.

[@chocofro3]

My Spanish tutor told me my intonation, phonemes, and pronunciations are good, but I still have an accent. Is there a source or any information on how to perfect a more neutral, if not Mexican, accent that would assist in imitation and listening practice? The varying speeds of different people's speech and personality make it hard for me to distinguish a rhythm. Or are there any methods for practicing reducing the stress timed rhythm from English in my Spanish?

[@teynaranjas788]

Hey you're in a great position to improve your accent if you have a tutor! I'd suggest doing the following with them: Read some sentences or a paragraph out loud to them (including ones you've written yourself in the first person). As soon as they hear the anglo accent - whether it's vowel/consonant sound, or accent/sentence flow, etc - have them stop you. Then have them tell you: "I hear THIS (imitates your mistake, maybe slightly exaggerated so that you can hear it), whereas you want to say it like THIS (says it correctly)." Hearing the contrast, then immediately trying to say the syllable or word or sentence the right way, can make a huge difference over time!

[@octavisoler]

Fantástico canal

[@tenminutespanish]

Gracias!

[@martinkullberg6718]

I am curious how the ritme of my accent sounds, I tend to pronounce the accentos with more whight, I think I may dont do the same as anglophones, but I do notice a certain ritme in my mother tongue which may effect my speech in spanish interestingley.