The Catalan alphabet is nearly identical to the English one, but the sounds will give your mouth a fun new workout. It uses the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet. The good news is that, for the most part, words are pronounced exactly as they are written. Once you learn the rules, you can confidently sound out almost any word.

Catalan has seven vowel sounds, which is a bit more nuanced than Spanish. The letters A, I, and U are straightforward, sounding much like the "a" in "father," the "ee" in "feet," and the "oo" in "boot."

The letters E and O are the tricky ones. Each can make two different sounds: one "open" and one "closed." Think of the difference between the "e" in "bet" (open) and the "a" in "late" (closed).

Accents tell you which sound to make. A grave accent ( ` ) marks an open vowel, while an acute accent ( ´ ) marks a closed one.

• È and Ò are open, like in "pet" and "pot."
• É and Ó are closed, more like the "ay" in "say" and the "o" in "boat."

When E and O have no accent, their sound depends on whether the syllable is stressed. For now, just listen carefully to native speakers to get a feel for it.

Many consonants sound similar to their English counterparts, but a few have unique pronunciations you'll need to master. Let's look at the most important ones.

The letter 'G' follows a similar pattern. It's soft before 'e' and 'i' (like the 's' in 'pleasure'), but hard before 'a', 'o', and 'u' (like the 'g' in 'go').

Another interesting sound is 'X'. At the beginning of a word or between vowels, it often sounds like 'sh' in 'shoe'. For example, xocolata (chocolate).

Two consonant combinations are hallmarks of the Catalan language: 'LL' and 'NY'. Mastering these will make your pronunciation sound much more authentic.

The 'NY' combination is pronounced like the 'ni' in 'onion' or the 'ñ' in Spanish. It's a single, fluid sound made with the middle of your tongue against the roof of your mouth.

Figuring out which syllable to stress in Catalan is fairly simple. The rules are consistent, which helps a lot.

If a word ends in a vowel, a vowel + s, or the combination '-en', the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable. For example, ca-sa (house) and ta-u-les (tables).

If a word ends in a consonant (other than those mentioned above), the stress falls on the last syllable. For example, can-tar (to sing).

If a word breaks these rules, it will have a written accent mark on the vowel of the stressed syllable. For instance, ca-fè (coffee) ends in a vowel, but the accent tells you to stress the final syllable.

Time to review these new sounds.

Let's check what you've learned.

With these rules, you have a solid foundation for pronouncing Catalan. The best way to improve is to listen to native speakers and practice repeating what you hear.