Hello Deplorable Spanish-learning Tankies.

I want to draw your attention to The Linguistics of Spanish.

If you are learning Spanish, you may find it useful to read up on the linguistics. The following link gives

"information and analysis on the following subjects:

• the pronunciation of standard European Spanish
• variation in the Spanish-speaking world
• aspects of Spanish syntax
• the history of Spanish"

This website is very useful for helping you understand the sounds of Spanish, to better understand / parse what you hear, and how to improve your accent. The section on phonemes and minimal pairs is especially helpful.

Minimal pairs will help you learn to distinguish the different sounds in Spanish. These allow you to learn what each letter sounds like when it is next to each other letter.

Once you read the theory, you can search Youtube for audio examples. You can also practice speaking the minimal pairs if you struggle with any of them, although I advise you to listen first and lots to ensure that you are practicing the correct sound. Some minimal pair examples:

paso, peso, piso, poso, puso

And:

capa, cata, caca, cava, cada, caga, caza, casa, etc

Do any of you other Spanish learners / speakers have any other useful suggestions for learning about Spanish linguistics?

Any tips on pronouncing the ‘lr’ sound in e.g. ‘alrededor’ will be welcome!