The Spanish alphabet, or el abecedario, is your starting point for reading and speaking. It's very similar to the English alphabet, but with one extra letter. It has 27 letters in total.

The most notable difference is the letter ñ (pronounced enye). You'll also notice that some older alphabets include ch and ll as separate letters, but they were officially removed in 2010. For learning, we'll stick to the modern 27-letter version.

Here's some great news: Spanish vowels are simple and consistent. Each vowel has only one basic sound, unlike in English where a letter like 'a' can be pronounced in many different ways.

Master these five sounds, and you've already won a huge part of the pronunciation battle.

Let's see them in action. Notice how the sound stays the same in each word.

While most Spanish consonants sound like their English counterparts, a few have very different rules. Pay close attention to these, as they're common pitfalls for new learners.

The J in Spanish is never pronounced like the 'j' in 'jump'. Instead, it sounds like the 'h' in 'hello'. Think of it as a breathy sound from the back of your throat.

The Spanish R can be tricky. When it's a single 'r' in the middle of a word, it's a light tap of the tongue, similar to the 'dd' sound in the American English pronunciation of 'ladder'. When it's a double 'rr' (or a single 'r' at the beginning of a word), you need to roll or trill it. This takes practice!

Finally, the letters B and V. In many Spanish dialects, these two letters are pronounced almost identically. The sound is softer than an English 'b' and made with the lips barely touching. Don't pronounce the 'v' with your teeth on your lip like you do in English.

Here is a quick summary of other important consonant sounds:

Time to review what you've learned.

Ready to test your knowledge?

Getting these core sounds right from the start is a huge advantage. It makes speaking clearer and understanding others much easier. Keep practicing, and listen to native speakers as often as you can.