Spanish has only five vowel sounds, and they never change. Getting them clean does more for your accent than any single consonant.
The five sounds
| Letter | Sounds like | Example |
|---|
| a | "ah" in "father" | casa |
| e | "eh" in "bed" | mesa |
| i | "ee" in "see" | libro |
| o | "oh", short | como |
| u | "oo" in "food" | uno |
Each vowel keeps the same sound in every word, stressed or not.
Mistake 1: gliding
English vowels slide. "No" is really "noh-oo" and "day" is "deh-ee". Spanish vowels hold still. Say no and de nada with your mouth frozen at the end of each vowel, and keep them short.
Mistake 2: turning vowels into "uh"
In English, unstressed vowels shrink to a lazy "uh": "banana" is buh-NA-nuh. Spanish never does this. Every a in Barcelona and Guadalajara is a full "ah", and the o's in chocolate stay "oh". This is the single biggest giveaway of an English accent.
Vowels that join: diphthongs
I and u are "weak" vowels. Next to another vowel they glide into the same syllable: bueno (BWEH-noh), tiempo (TYEHM-poh), ciudad, aire.
A, e and o are "strong". Two strong vowels stay in separate syllables: leer (leh-EHR), museo (moo-SEH-oh), paella.
A written accent on í or ú breaks a glide into two syllables: día (DEE-ah), María, Raúl (rah-OOL), sangría.
A quick drill
Say a, e, i, o, u slowly, then fast, without letting your jaw slide. Then read these and compare with the audio: tomate, ocho, pequeño, Puerto Rico.