Pronunciation Errors Part #2

 Short and Long Vowels

 The single biggest pronunciation for Spanish speakers is that their language does not have a distinction between short and long vowels. For example, the long "ee" sound in "seat" with the short "I" sound in "sit". If you confuse these sounds, you end up saying completely different words. This can get confusing in conversation and force people to draw much more from the context of your speech than the speech itself.

Some examples:

bit/beat

Not/note

batter/barter

pull/pool

These words are pronounced with different mouth positions as well as different lengths, focusing on that can help students distinguish between the minimal pairs above even if they don't fully get the hang of vowel length. 

First Exercise:

Sometimes short and long vowels are difficult to pronounce and distinguish, the next exercise consists of reading and analyzing the different words and circulating the option you believe is correct.

1. mail, nail, came, game, tray, play-------- Short/a/    Long/a/
2. tap, van, vat, act, apt, ask------------------Short/a/     Long/a/
3. day, paint, sale, take, gain, made----------Short/a/     Long/a/
4. cat, cap, cab, dad, dab, Dan---------------Short/a/      Long/a/
5. gap, gab, gal, gas, ham, has---------------Short/a/      Long/a/
6. Save, wake, lay, may pay------------------Short/a/      Long/a/
7. Cake, lake, make, bake, take,--------------Short/a/      Long/a/
8. Tape, tail, ape, name, game----------------Short/a/     Long/a/
9. Gate, date, late,----------------------------Short/a/       Long/a/
10. Train, spray, eight, table------------------Short/a/       Long/a/

Second Exercise:

Identify words with a short “a” sound, color the words found in green.

Words beginning with "S"

In the Spanish language, many of the words begin with "ES" in this way Spanish speakers confuse the words that begin with "s" sometimes they pronounce the "e" before the -s.

There are many exercises to practice using the s- these exercises aim to improve pronunciation, the most popular are tongue twisters.

First Exercise

Slowly read the tongue twisters and then quickly practice using the -s.

1. Some see shootings as something sinister.

2.  Sam said she is jealous because she has no salad.

3. Seven glasses of fizzy champagne splashed over the sofa.

4. She should serve the ice-cold dessert as soon as possible.

5. Susan’s sock shop has surely stopped selling.

6. Six sausages slowly sizzled in the sun.

7. She shrieked when she saw Jerry’s shirt.

8.  Sunshine is the sweetest in the summer season.

9. Simon shouted abuse at some shepherds.

10.She sells seashells by the seashore but the seashells she sells are not seashells I’m sure.

Second Exercise

Slowly read the song and pronounce the S- initials correctly.

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No, I won't be afraid
Oh, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me

So darlin', darlin'
Stand by me, oh, stand by me
Oh, stand, stand by me
Stand by me

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry
No, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me

And darlin', darlin'
Stand by me, oh, stand by me
Oh, stand now, stand by me
Stand by me

Darlin', darlin'
Stand by me, oh, stand by me
Oh, stand now, stand by me
Stand by me
Whenever you're in trouble
Won't you stand by me?
Oh, stand by me
Won't you stand now?
Oh, stand, stand by me