English Letter Sounds For Spanish Speakers. In other words, the english [ɹ] is softer and weaker than the spanish one. In spoken spanish, b and v are indistinguishable, and they both sound exactly like the english letter “b” in most situations.
European spanish speakers, in particular, probably find english pronunciation harder than speakers of any other european language. spanish has 5 pure vowels and 5 diphthongs. In most spanish dialects, the sounds for english letter “j” /dʒ/ and english letter “y” /j/ are allophones, meaning that they can subsitute for one another. La a, la be, la ce, etc.
Consequently, one letter, a diphthong or any combination could be pronounced surprisingly differently in various words.
Correct pronunciation and spelling is an ongoing issue not only for non native learners but also for those who are native speakers. There is a book that i use sometimes for beginning english speakers titled inglés para latinos, $11 new. Perhaps the single biggest pronunciation problem for spanish speakers is that their language does not have a distinction between short and long vowels. A diphthong is a glide from one vowel sound to another within a single syllable (e.g., the phoneme /aɪ/ in the words i, my or try).