Mateo Ramirez - Easy Spanish Phrase Book for Travelers: Learn How to Speak Over 1400 Unique Spanish Words and Phrases While Traveling Spain and South America

Easy Spanish Phrase Book for Travelers

Learn How to Speak Over 1400 Unique Spanish Words and Phrases While Traveling Spain and South America (Beginners Guide)

Mateo Ramirez

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Spanish and English share many, many things. Beyond cognates and a Latin base though, they differ in one very important area. Spanish is written phonetically, which for a beginning speaker, assists massively in day to day living: If you can read it, you can say it. From advertisements in the busy downtown streets to inscriptions on a local cathedral or church, your ability to speak and read Spanish are inextricably linked. Now, the first step to speaking any language is to learn the sounds, and because Spanish is phonetically written, that means turning first to the alphabet.

The Spanish Alphabet

In general, the Spanish alphabet should seem very familiar as the letters do not stray too far from the English alphabet:

AH (a), BAY (b), SAY [THAY, in Spain] (c), DAY (d), EY (e), EH-fay (f), HAY (g), AH-chay (h), EE (i), HOH-tah (j), KAH (k), EH-lay (l), EH-may (m), EH-nay (n), EH-nyay (), OH (o), PAY (p), COO (q), EH-rray (r), EH-say (s), TAY (t), OOH (u), OOH-bay (v), DOH-blay OOH-bay (w), EH-kees (x), YAY (y), SAY-tah [THAY-tah, in Spain] (z).

The points of differentiation lay in the (ch), (), (ll) and (rr) soundsEnglish does not possess these letters or sounds specifically. The sonics of the alphabet can be broken down simply:

Understanding the Spanish alphabet is critical for gaining traction in the language as a whole. It is a quick and easy way to understand the phonetics of the entire language, something that most other large languages do not have. In particular, having a native speaker work through these sounds with you is a great way to develop a strong foundation in the language. Not only will it help you with using this book to its fullest potential, it will also allow for better and more authentic interactions in your travels!

Chapter One

Country Specific Dialects

Because English is so widely used around the world, it consists of many different dialects and accents. Beyond the traditional accents of native English speakers, those who speak Engligh as a secondary language add their countries' unique vernaculars, customs, and accents to the language as well. This idea is similar in Spanish; however it remains a poor analogy for the experience itself.

If an Englishman from South London and an American from Colorado are speaking to one another, there will be some confusion. Pants and cookies in the United States are not the same as in a British dialect. However, when a British person says trousers or biscuits , Americans are not thrown. Both of those words still appear in our lexicon; though they are not the first words that come up when describing these specific items (which would be pants and cookies respectively), they make sense in context.

This level of variation is ramped up in Spanish. Native Spanish speaking countries are completely different from one another, thousands and thousands of miles apart, and have minimal interactions with each other. Often, the words are simply different. For example, if youre getting breakfast in Mexico City and would like an avocado on the side, you might ask for an aguacate . But suppose youre late for a flight and have to run out the door, jump on the plane, and land 13 hours later in Buenos Aires. Still craving an avocado, you stop your taxi by a tienda and kindly ask for an aguacate . But it isnt an aguacate in Buenos Aires, its a palta .