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SavannahYear 8
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LanguagesEl mundo hispanohablante18 min★★ difficulty

Pronunciación: the sound system

Spanish spelling is almost perfectly consistent. Learn nine rules and you can read aloud any word you have never seen.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Grammar and vocabulary: Use and understand the sound system of the language, applying phonic knowledge to new words

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Use and understand the sound system of the language, applying phonic knowledge to new words

Key learning points

  • • Vowels
  • • Consonants to watch
  • • Stress and accents

This lesson at a glance

  • 18 minutes
  • 15 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

systemlanguageapplyingphonicknowledge

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 15 · Discover7%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 15

Watch first

Pronunciación: the sound system

An English teaching video on this topic from aprenderUCDM. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Use and understand the sound system of the language, applying phonic knowledge to new words

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 15

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Vowels

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 15

Learn

Vowels

Five pure vowels, always the same: a as in 'father', e as in 'bet', i as in 'machine', o as in 'lot', u as in 'boot'. They do not glide the way English vowels do, and holding them steady is the single biggest improvement most learners can make.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 15

Learn

Consonants to watch

h is silent (hola). j is a throaty sound (jamón). ll sounds like 'y' (llamo). ñ is 'ny' (España). z, and c before e or i, are 'th' in most of Spain and 's' in Latin America. r at the start of a word or rr in the middle is rolled (perro).

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 15

Quick check

Which letter is silent in Spanish?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 15

Quick check

How is 'll' pronounced?

7

Reset break

Part 7 of 15

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 15

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Stress and accents

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 15

Learn

Stress and accents

Words ending in a vowel, n or s stress the second-to-last syllable (ventana). Words ending in other consonants stress the last (hablar). A written accent marks any exception (jamón, música) and sometimes separates meanings: si (if) and sí (yes).

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 15

Quick check

Where is the stress in 'ventana'?

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 15

Quick check

What does a written accent usually show?

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 15

Worked example

Worked example: reading a new word aloud

'Guitarrista'. Break it: gui-ta-rri-sta. The u after g is silent before i, so 'gui' is 'gee'. Double rr is rolled. It ends in a vowel, so stress falls on the second-to-last syllable: gui-ta-RRIS-ta. You have never seen the word before and you can still say it correctly.

13

Challenge round

Part 13 of 15

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

14

Mastery quiz

Part 14 of 15

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Pronunciación: the sound system

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. The circumflex in 'forêt' often marks...

  2. 2. Which letter is silent in Spanish?

  3. 3. How is 'll' pronounced?

  4. 4. Where is the stress in 'ventana'?

15

Lesson round-up

Part 15 of 15

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Extract

Une journée à Lyon

Samedi matin, je me lève à sept heures et demie. Je prends le petit déjeuner avec ma sœur — du pain, du beurre et un chocolat chaud. Ensuite, nous prenons le bus jusqu'au centre-ville.

J'aime beaucoup Lyon parce qu'il y a un grand marché près du fleuve. Ma sœur préfère les magasins, mais moi, je préfère le marché : c'est moins cher et c'est plus intéressant. À midi, nous mangeons un sandwich au parc.

L'après-midi, il commence à pleuvoir, alors nous rentrons à la maison en tram. Le soir, je fais mes devoirs et je regarde un film avec mes parents.

Original text written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. In English, say what the writer does in the morning, at midday and in the evening.
  2. Find the phrases that give an opinion and a reason, and copy them out.
  3. Write 8–10 sentences about your own Saturday, using at least three phrases from the text.

  • Written practice

    Writing

    Write the sentences out in the language, then translate them back into English.

    8–10 sentences

  • Vocabulary page

    Working out

    Copy the new words, cover them, and test yourself. Note the ones you keep missing.

    15 words

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 15 · Watch & discover

How this is going

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    Use and understand the sound system of the language, applying phonic knowledge to new words

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