Free material developed for students of Professional Tutors

of America

Spanish-English Interactive Student Guide

The Spanish and English Alphabets

As seen in the illustrations above, the letters of both alphabets are the same. The sounds of the letters are very different. Some vowels mean a different vowel in the other language. That can be confusing. Learning the Letter A as an A and suddenly learning it means an E in English could be tricky. Practice writing and saying the vowels and you will soon be a pro.

The Spanish VowelsSpanish uses sounds familiar to English speakers, yet

some of the same letters are used differently. Below are some ways to remember the pronunciation of Spanish.

Vowels Sound Examples

A (AH) father, Santa Barbara, latte

E (EH) bay, effort, self

I (EE) seeds, breed

O (OH) bone, only, toes

U (OO) Guru, truce

The Spanish Vowel Sounds

Let’s Repeat the vowel sounds in Spanish. Practice makes better. Repete Por Favor.

Ecuador Mexico

EstaUsted

Puerto RicoComo

ChicanoLatinaAriba

Arrivando

IguanaGraciasDias

IguanaGraciasDias

UraguayUstedPeru

UraguayUstedPeru

UnaunUnaun

1) piece - a unit or part of something

peace – harmony 3) write--to compose as in letter,

right - correct 5) part - a unit, apart – as in

distance6) waste-squander foolishly, waist-

anatomical body part7) Board - bored restless, not

motivated8) Mist – fine dew-like coating,

missed - absence

Common VocabularyCommon Vocaunit ularyVocabuCommon Vocabulary Mistakes

Please note the common misuses of the words below Although they sound the same, the words have different meanings .

Common Language Word Misspellings

Spanish English cero zero uno one dos two hola hello usted us necesita/o need recuerdo/a remember claro clear encuentra /o encounter

The three words un,una and uno are used as connectors.

These three little words are connectors in English. Although the words are either masculine or feminine in Spanish The connecting word and is neutral in English. The word “And “will bring ideas and parts of a sentence and meaning together.

Connectors

Using Songs to Learn Words

Songs can help learners to understand better. Music is a universal language. The well-known song La Bamba by Richie Valens is a good teaching tool to learn English. Music can be used as another way to reinforce learning.

Songs can help us to learn and remember words in other languages.

The Lyrics in English In order to dance the Bamba A little humor is needed for you, for me. Faster and faster Faster and faster I’ll be for you. I’ll be for you. I’m not a sailor, I’m not a sailor I ’m a captain, I’m a captain, I’m a captain.

“La Bamba “

La Bamba in Spanish

LyricsPara bailar la Bamba Se necesita una poca de gracia y arriba ya arriba por ti, por me y otra cosita arriba ire arribe ire arribe ire baila bamba Yo so no marinero You soyu no ,marinero Por yi se el capitan, el capitanEnglishOn order to dance the La Bamba . It is necessary to have a little grace, Faster and faster One other thing fast and faster to dace the bama I’m not a sailor ,For you I’ll be the captain

The vowels of La Bamba

AArriba fastBailar danceBamba name of Spanish danceGracia graceOtra otherCosita thingPara forLa ItNecesita necessary

ENecesita necessaryDe ofSe way

I

Marinero mannerCosita thingNecista necessaryTi you

O

Poca small, littleSoy amMarinero captain

U

Una One ( feminine)

Colors in English and Spanish Practice writing and saying the colors above.

Palabras Interrogativas-QuestionWords

Espanol

Como ?

Cuando ?

A donde?

Que’?

Quien’?

English

How?

When?

Where, Where to?

What?

Who?

Mas Interrogativas: More Question Words

Some common misunderstandings found in question usage from conversion of Spanish to English.

Spanish–English De Donde?.............................................From where?

Por Que?................................................Why?Cual?......................................................Which?

Cuando?.................................................How Much?Donde?...................................................Where?

De donde es usted? Where are you from? Remember that a donde means to where someone is headed.

In English, the sentence starts off with the question Where.

Spanish Resource Web links

Below are my favorite resources for understanding Spanish to English conversions.

http://www.spanishdict.com/http://www.freedict.com/onldict/sp.htmlhttp://www.wordreference.com/http://

babel.altavista.com/tr-http://education.yahoo.com/reference/doc_en_es/http://www.strictlyspanish.com

The Spanish English GuideThis informal guide is in the process of

development. The supplementary material is in an infancy stage and meant to be used away from time spent with tutors of Professional Tutors of America. More content is being developed for further lessons. Please log onto the website from time to time for updated additions and new lessons. Thanks for the visit.