The Spanish Vowels (A, E, I, O, U)

One of the most important aspects of learning Spanish - and languages in general - is understanding the fundamentals of the language's alphabet, and how they're pronounced.

When I was learning Spanish, I found it easier to pick up on how to pronounce new words when I completely abandoned the English pronunciation of the applicable vowels and consonants. I thought that as much as some Spanish words looked like their English counterparts (a term called cognates), I had to remember that the Spanish language prefers to sound out every letter in the word. Whereas in English some words tend to have silent letters and/or "long vowels" that omit the pronunciation of all the word's letters.

So, let's begin with the Spanish vowel sounds. Luckily, the Spanish vowels: A, E, & O maintain the same "short vowel" pronunciation.

A --> ah, ejemplo - casa

E --> eh, ejemplo - verde

O --> oh, ejemplo - lobo

However, the Spanish vowels, I & U, have a different pronunciation that apply for all words that they are in.

I --> ee, ejemplo - vino (vee-noh)

U--> oo, ejemplo - fruta (froo-tah)

It is important to remember how these vowels are pronounced for Spanish words, no matter how much a word may look like their English counterparts.