Study plan for learning Spanish pronunciation

[@nicholassonck2817]

Just wanna say that your channel is so unbelievably helpful and in depth! It has helped me so much and I cannot thank you enough

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy to hear that you're finding it useful. Please do me a favor and like, subscribe, and share my videos. I'm trying to grow my channel, and that would really help.

[@walterwheeler4344]

Another great video. I am surprised you don't get more viewers and subscribers. But I love them!

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy you enjoyed my video.

[@akatz29]

Thank you so much for this video!

[@tenminutespanish]

You're welcome. I hope you find it helpful.

[@cometier]

Amazing content. I’ve been looking for this type of content for Spanish learners for ages!

[@tenminutespanish]

So happy you like the channel. Thank you.

[@kingjimmycraftofcalderonia2017]

I never thought that learning my native phonology might help with Spanish...

[@someonerandom704]

Can you do a video about improving speed of pronunciation? Many natives speak at rapid fire pace and being able to speak somewhat close to that speed improves your ability to understand it

[@tenminutespanish]

I do not recommend that students practice speaking fast. Speed comes with practice, and not practicing for the purpose of getting faster, just practicing pronouncing things correctly. Once your mouth can easily pronounce all the sounds correctly, you'll pronounce them more quickly. Spanish speakers don't speak faster than English speakers. Students think that they do, because students can't keep up. But this is because students aren't yet good at listening comprehension, not because Spanish speakers talk fast.

[@orfrisbee2121]

Muchas gracias por el video, en cada video me ayudas mucho, sigue asi, lo bueno para mi es que soy hablante nativo de hebreo y creo que la pronunciacion del hebreo es mas similar al español que ingles al español asi que es mas facil para mi

[@tenminutespanish]

Gracias. Me alegro mucho de que te haya gustado el video.

[@mohamedkamara8225]

Thank you

[@kingjimmycraftofcalderonia2017]

I learn one time in an English learning video-I don’t know why I was watching it-which is about voice placement that supposedly help sound more like a native English speaker. I just want to ask: A) If you are aware of placement, and if it is used in linguistics. B) If placement is useful to also develop a native, or at least neutral Spanish accent. And C) If responses of A and B were correct, can you make a video about the topic?

[@tenminutespanish]

I don't believe voice placement is a concept in linguistics. I don't believe it has anything to do with learning foreign languages.

[@kingjimmycraftofcalderonia2017]

@@tenminutespanish Thanks for your answer.

[@Hannib4lBarca]

Great video as always. As someone focusing on learning Iberian Spanish, I would be interested to learn more about "S" and its pronunciation. In particular you mention it is typically aspirated in some Iberian Spanish contexts. I would also be interested to learn about some of the rules associated with its use, pronunciation, and an overview of its geographical variation.

[@tenminutespanish]

That's a great idea for a future video. To clarify, s is aspirated in some positions in southern Spain and coastal Latin America (broadly speaking). S is pounced as an apical sibilant in north central Spain.

[@Hannib4lBarca]

@@tenminutespanish Many thanks.

[@dgoins6]

I would ask that you explore the pronunciation of R when surrounded by vowels. The best example is mira which is pronounced me da. Or aire. Eye day. Closest I can get in writing. The R changes to a D sound.

[@tenminutespanish]

Your observation is accurate, and I think this is a good suggestion for a video. Thank you.

[@dgoins6]

@@tenminutespanish That's great! I always focus on pronunciation. I use to say gracias as grassy ass until I found your video on dipthongs. I notice Spanish speakers will do the same with the R when speaking English. Tired comes out as tide -ed. Listen to the theme song of "La Casa de Papel". When she sings "I don't care at all" care sounds like ked - ed. Anyway, thanks

[@tompeled6193]

You forgot to mention that ⟨qu⟩ is how /k/ is written in Spanish before ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩. By the way, would you consider doing a video on Spanish orthography. It's somewhat related to phonology.

[@tenminutespanish]

Tom, I didn't forget to mention that information, I deliberately didn't mention it, because that discussion was not the topic of this video. In other words, the video wasn't about how to spell in Spanish, but rather, how to derive the Spanish phonemes from the Spanish alphabet. I did mention that qu equates to the /k/ phoneme. I didn't go into detail about what letters may or may not follow qu, because that information belongs to a different topic. Regarding your question about orthography, I don't currently have any plans to make videos on common topics, such as basic grammar, vocabulary, and orthography. There is tons of information on those topics on the internet, and I would simply be duplicating stuff that's already easy for students to find. On this channel I focus on phonetics/phonology, dialectology, and concepts in linguistics because there's less information available on those topics, and my videos probably represent an actual contribution.

[@tompeled6193]

@@tenminutespanish OK. Thank you for clarifying.

[@johnmallaney290]

Thank you for some of those specific references in the video (the youtube channel, books you're reading, etc.). I picked up an old favorite in Spanish "A Wrinkle in Time" and I remember it just well enough to be able to have good comprehension. I had a question--did you search out specifically an audiobook with a Mexican reader? I'm focusing on Mexico as I try to relearn my high school (1980s) Spanish and can't figure out good search terms to find one. Though my midwestern tongue continues to mangle my pronunciation your videos have definitely helped my listening comprehension.

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm happy you liked the video. To answer your question, I do not seek out narrators from a specific place. I look for books I'd like to listen to and then see what's available. On Audible you can listen to a short sample from the book to decide if you like the narrator. Audiobooks are generally not narrated in Spanish that is heavily Mexican-sounding (as opposed to Standard Latin American). There are generally two options: Standard Peninsular Spanish (Spain), and Standard Latin American. If the narrator sounds Latin American, there is probably very, very little difference between their accent and something you would hear from a professional Mexican narrator, since professional Mexican narrators make an effort to sound Standard Latin American when they narrate.

[@johnmallaney290]

@@tenminutespanish Thank you very much!

[@tenminutespanish]

@@johnmallaney290 You're welcome.

[@akatz29]

Do you think there is any benefit to studying minimal pairs? Also is it more practical to read out loud a transcript from a podcast (for example Radio Ambulante) and then listen to the audio (vs reading aloud from a book)?

[@tenminutespanish]

Yes, studying minimal pairs is good. I think reading a transcript and listening is great. Reading a book and listening to the audiobook would be good, too.

[@mle3699]

¡Ojalá que pudiera darle like más de una vez a este video! Gracias. 🙂

[@tenminutespanish]

Gracias!

[@marcoscuervosantos8594]

What resources are you aware of that explain in such a thorough and methodical way as you do, but for languages other than Spanish, like German or English? Its a pity that the only channel that offers such a deep and useful lesson on pronunciation is on a language that I already speak from childhood. Thanks.

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm sorry, but I'm not aware of resources for other languages.

[@yoshitoki23]

When reading aloud, how do I know that I'm pronouncing well? How do I get feedback? It doesn't seem useful to read aloud if you can't tell how well you're doing it.

[@tenminutespanish]

Work on one sound at a time. For example, work on pronouncing /d/ as an interdental fricative. Only focus your attention on that one sound. Do that every night for a week. Next week, work on a different sound. (Of course, continue practicing the fist sound correctly). Do this sound by sound with each of the sounds in the language.

[@furiogiunta556]

I’m new to learning Spanish, can you recommend any practice/learning books?

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm very sorry, but I'm not familiar with programs for beginners. A comprehensive book would be a university-level textbook. You could probably google "best college Spanish textbook" and see what you find.

[@darthmaul6446]

Nice video as always especially for attracting new students but something tells me that a linguriosa cross over is incomig😂

[@tenminutespanish]

Im glad you liked the video. I'm sure Linguriosa has no idea this channel exists.

[@Zain-nc1ww]

6:24 How different are the allophones of L from regular L, and how do you preserve the "lighter sounding" sound of the Spanish L with each of them? I wasn't aware that L had several pronunciations.

[@tenminutespanish]

They're barely different at all. The point of articulation of /l/ assimilates to the point of articulation of the following coronal consonant, but that doesn't alter its pronunciation in a way that an ordinary person would notice.

[@Zain-nc1ww]

@@tenminutespanish would you recommend just pronouncing all Ls the same then or is there still worth to learning to assimilate it?

[@tenminutespanish]

@@Zain-nc1ww You'll probably assimilate without even thinking about it. Pronounce higher, brighter, more forward and less rounded than English l. Don't worry about assimilating. It'll happen on its own.

[@maki9462]

20 years reading spanish books?? we need a backstory video

[@tenminutespanish]

Ha, ha. I have promised other subscribers that I would post a complete backstory video when this channel reaches 50,000 subscribers.

[@jordany9807]

What's your day job? Do you have tips for becoming a translator?

[@tenminutespanish]

I am a dentist. I studied Spanish Translation & Interpretation as my undergraduate degree, and I worked a little in that field as a college student. Times have changed a lot since I was a student, and I don't think I have any useful information about the field today. My main advice would be not NOT go into that field. It has never been a great career. As a dentist I have enjoyed a much better lifestyle than I ever would have as a translator, and this has allowed me to enjoy those things about language that I enjoy most. In other words, I've done more interesting things with language as a dentist than I ever could have afforded to do as a translator.

[@jordany9807]

@@tenminutespanish bummer but thank you for the honest answer and keep up the awesome videos.

[@tenminutespanish]

@@jordany9807 You're welcome, and thanks for the compliments on the videos. Don't be too bummed out about translating. There are ways of enjoying that on the side, even if you don't do it as a career. How old are you? What do you do now? What sorts of the careers are you considering?

[@jordany9807]

@@tenminutespanish I am 31. I work as a cook right now, do food delivery, and do odd jobs. I got my undergraduate degree in exercise science and though I truly enjoyed my major there are no jobs in it. So now I'm about 100k in school debt and barely make enough money to pay my bills and save a little here and there. I want a remote job so I can travel more. And since I really love Spanish I was considering translation.

[@tenminutespanish]

@@jordany9807 I see. Well, you may want to look into it. Problem is, there are a TON of English/Spanish bilinguals who grew up speaking both languages, and no shortage of Spanish translators. And computer translating programs, while still imperfect, are getting better and better all the time. You might be able to make some income at it, but I don't think it would be easy to set yourself apart and get regular clients.