Pronunciation in Spain

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Every Spanish-speaking country has a different accent. The trained ear (definitely not mine) can almost always tell you what country somebody is from just from their accent.

Not me. But even I can tell when somebody comes from Spain. Except for perhaps Argentina, Spain's accent is the most unique.

In Latin America, the different accents result mainly from saying the same sounds a different way. In Spain, that is true too, but they also make a completely different sound for several letters.

Even though I had taken Spanish for four years in high school (it was just Spanish 1 and 2 but I failed Spanish 2 so I repeated both) it was still a huge surprise to me when I met a Spanish for the first time. They basically speak with a lisp.

I love the Spanish accent (Spanish in Spain is called Castellano) but it is definitely more difficult for the beginning Spanish student.

In this video, I go over all the letters that make different sounds in Spain than they do in the rest of the world. I would suggest going with the normal, Latin American accent unless you have a reason not to. But I'll be including lots of examples from all over the world on this channel, so be ready to recognize it. Plus, it's beautiful.

English not your first language? Subtitles (CC) available--not the automatic ones, I upload them myself.

[FindThePerfectWords]

So basically, if you're European like I am and you'll be speaking with a lot of Spanish people, you should learn Spanish Spanish (preferably in Spain).

If you'll be spending a lot of time talking to people from Latin America, learn Latin American Spanish.

Guys, it's not that hard so stop fighting.

[sunbald]

Hey, i think your name is wrong, in Spain we never, EVER, use the word "gringo" that is a Mexican word. Here, we name the Americans "Yankees"

[TobiasMoes]

I'm learning Spanish at the moment, and since I live in Europe I'm going to go with the Spanish pronunciation. To be honest, I really like the /th/-sound.

[Yonkideescenario]

Only FYI: when someone pronounces the final D as the "th" sound (for instance "mitad", as your example), it's, in fact, mispronounced. Even in Spain. It's slang.
Greetings from a Spaniard!

[j.c.serranosanchez]

If you pronounce Spanish like as in America or in Andalusia, you can not differenciate the words "me voy a cazar" or "me voy a casar". In the first case it means "I'm going to hunt". In the second case means "I'm going to marry". See, the TH-sound is important

[robertk]

The Spanish prononciation makes easier the spelling. You know when to write "caza" and when "casa", for instance, because it sounds different if you pronouce it the Spanish way.

[demetriosarcolakis]

I am from Greece and when I speak spanish I find it much more easier to use the "th" sound, because
1) We also use "th" (θ) in Greece very often, maybe more than spanish.
2) You can separate the words and letters very easy (cazar - casar example)

P.S: I don't see any lisp on that. English use "th" also. It is not a lisp, it is another letter.

[kennyPAGC]

Although you might considered there's a "standard" Spanish from Spain pronunciation like the one you can hear in the TV probably, the truth is that there's A LOT of different accents all across Spain, just as it happens pretty much anywhere in Europe (take the different accents in the UK, or Italy)

[bre_me]

Spanish people do not talk with a lisp. An "s" is still an s. Also not everyone pronounces the d at the end of word as a th. People from Madrid do but not everyone in Spain (I do pronounce it as a th). Spanish from Spain is not harder. As opposed to Latin American Spanish we don't have trouble knowing how to spell words with c's and Z's. Also we pronounce every syllable basically not rushed spanish with a bunch of skipped sounds. It's not hard to say nethesito. Is it hard to to say things or thistle in English? No...

[pablitoanfetas]

Why do you say Latin American sounds are the normal ones? Spanish is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain. So the "normal" sounds are the ones spoken there. If you what to make the distinction, Latin American-Spanish will be a dialect derived from Castilian-Spanish.

[samuelliaw]

I literally subscribed many Spanish teachers, but I really must to admit that your video is the most interesting and your explanation is the most comprehensive! Keep doing that, thanks.

[Xaldin]

It is not a lisp! The proper name for it is "La Distinción", or, in English, "the distinction". It is called this because of the distinction between "c"s and "z"s as opposed to "s". Also, as some have already mentioned, the "v"s are pronounced like "b"s in Spain, and most other Spanish-speaking countries, for that matter. Spanish is m second language and I learned it in the United States, but I purposely chose to speak with the distinction because I love the accent. I have no problem understanding Latin Americans and vice versa.

[adamelhawari]

That "D" lisp only happens in Madrid, that's why people sometimes make reference to it as "Madriz" making fun about their accent

[jordimomblonadelacruz]

Pronunciar el sonido [Z] en las palabras acabadas en D, es una costumbre del centro de la península. ejemplos:
Soledad, Mitad, Hermandad, Honestidad. Un Madrileño podría pronunciarlas con sonido [Z].  Soleda[z], Mita[z], hermanda[z] Honestida[z].
En Cataluña por ejemplo se pronuncia [D], tal y como se escribe. Y en Andalucía y otras comunidades del sur de la península, directamente omiten la letra "D" final.

Hay que tener en cuenta que España no solo es un país rico en lenguaje, por tener tantos idiomas, sino que también tiene muchos dialectos diferentes dentro del mismo Castellano.

[dgheart]

If you say people in Spain talk with a lisp, then English-speakers also talk with a lisp? Because you have exactly the same /TH/ sound ("three", "thirsty", "thing", etc). We simply have these two different sounds in our language (/TH/ and /S/) just like they exist in English! We distinguish between "caSa" and "caZa", just like in English you distinguish between "Sing" and "THing"! It has nothing to do with a lisp, which is a speech disorder. Telling your viewers who are learning Spanish that we speak with a lisp is wrong and misleading for them! I just want to clarify that. Other than that, your videos are great! :)

[brx]

In Spain we don't lisp (cecear), we pronounce correctly the "C" before "E, I" and "Z" before "A, O, U" as a "/θ/ sound" (like th in thick), on the contrary to lisp (cecear) in Spain is to pronounce an "S" like a /θ/ sound, this occurs in some parts of Andalucia and is incorrect. The opposite to lisp (cecear) is "SESEAR", pronounce a "C" before "E, I" and "Z" before "A, O, U" as a /s/ sound, instead of  "/θ/ sound"  and this occurs in some parts of Andalucia, Islas Canarias and Latin America...it's a difference from Standard Spanish. SESEAR can cause mistakes or misunderstandings because, for example you can't make differences in pronuntiation in words like "Tasa" (tax, fee) and "Taza" (cup).

[tapitapi]

me siento rara viendo este video si soy española :v XDD

[marineconacentoenlae]

Thanks for this video!! The most people arround the world that wants to learn spanish, take the latino accent (from southamerica) to learn the language, and few people learn the spanish accent from Spain. Thanks for teaching people the difference, not worst or better but there is a difference!

[sitizenkanemusic]

To everyone that is learning or wants to learn spanish- Learn Mexican Spanish. It's kind of like the same advice you'd give a foreigner, (let's say, someone from Japan). You would say to her to learn American English rather than british english. Solely because most english you hear (due to American Media/movies/songs etc., are more prevalent than english from england, due to Hollywood's reach). Also, American English is the most spoken dialect of English, just how Mexican Spanish is the most spoken dialect of Spanish, and the Spanish-language entertainment industry is mostly from and broadcasted from Mexico.

Plus, English has tremendously influenced Mexican Spanish (and you can say vice-versa). For example, the english sound of "Z" doesn't exist in Spain Spanish. But because of American/English influence, most Mexicans and virtually all mexican americans say the "Z" in the american way- so you hear "Zapatos" instead of "Sapatos". Words like Almuezar (lunch) aren't used as much too... When they are having lunch, they are having "lunche". They aren't driving a "coche", but they are driving a "Carro".

[senor-achopijo]

There´s something I must say here: that "D" thing only happens in Madrid (or "Madrith", like they would pronounce it), in the rest of Spain a D is a normal D.