Pronunciation · Train your ear · A2–C1 · Sample lesson

The sound map

Hello, everyone.

Lesson 1 of 10. Why English can stay locked in your head after years of study, and the twelve sounds that open the door.

Depth
Sample lesson · Clase de muestra. In class, every example is adapted to you: your name, your work, your interests. Sections marked 🔒 we do together.En clase, cada ejemplo se adapta a ti. Las secciones con 🔒 las hacemos juntos.
15 minutes · first half in class

The problem is not more English

Before you press play. Most people who feel stuck in English do not need more words or more grammar. They learned English from the page, so they hear it through Spanish spelling. This series trains your ear first, then your rhythm, then your fluency. Today is the map.

Accent’s Way English with Hadar, 10 Pronunciation Mistakes Spanish Speakers Make — youtube.com/watch?v=cwk24w8Qsy8. Watch the first five mistakes in class and the rest at home.

Which of these are you?

Tap every habit you recognise in your own English. Be honest — nobody scores this. It is your map for the next nine lessons.

ship and sheep sound the same b and v sound the same I say “eSpain”, “eschool” “walked” has two syllables th comes out as t, d or s yes and Jess sound the same I never make a z sound my h sounds like a Spanish j I drop the last consonant cat, cut and cart all sound like “a” every syllable gets the same weight I know what to say but it does not come out
Why we start here A sound you cannot hear is a sound you cannot copy. Every lesson in this series begins with listening for that reason. Lo que no escuchas no lo puedes producir. Por eso el oído va antes que la boca: primero aprendes a distinguir el sonido, y solo después tiene sentido practicarlo.
15 minutes

Five vowels against twenty

Spanish has five vowel sounds. English has around twenty, and the letters do not tell you which one you are looking at. Here are the twelve sounds that cause most of the trouble for Spanish speakers. Read the card, listen to your teacher say the words, and say them back. You do not need to master them today — each one gets its own lesson.

Vowels

/ɪ/ ship

Short and relaxed. The mouth barely opens; the tongue is a little lower than for Spanish i.

ship · sit · busy · women

No es la i de sí. Está entre la i y la e, y dura muy poco.

/iː/ sheep

Long and tense. Smile, push the tongue up and forward, and hold it.

sheep · seat · machine · people

Esta sí se parece a la i de sí, pero más larga y con más sonrisa.

/æ/ cat

Jaw down, mouth wide, tongue forward. It sits between Spanish a and e.

cat · bad · man · Spanish

Abre más la boca que para la a de casa, como si fueras a decir e pero con la mandíbula abajo.

/ʌ/ cut

Short and central. The mouth is half open and nothing is tense.

cut · bus · love · Monday

Muy parecida a la a de casa, pero más corta y sin abrir tanto. Fíjate: love y Monday no tienen o.

/ə/ about

The schwa. The laziest sound in English and the most common: any vowel letter in an unstressed syllable can be one.

about · teacher · banana · today

No existe en español. Es el sonido de una vocal que casi no se pronuncia: banana en inglés es bə-NA-nə.

/ʊ/ /uː/ full · fool

Another short-and-long pair. full is relaxed, lips loose; fool is long, lips rounded and pushed forward.

full · book · fool · food

Igual que ship y sheep: la u de tú vale para fool, pero book y full llevan una u más corta, entre u y o.

/ɜːr/ bird

Deeper. Lips slightly rounded, tongue pulled back, and the r colours the whole vowel. No e, no i.

bird · work · learn · Thursday

Los hispanohablantes la convierten en e o en o: bird → “berd”, work → “work” con o. Es una sola vocal, y no es ninguna de las cinco.

Consonants

/v/ very

Top teeth on the bottom lip, and the voice on. It is not a b.

very · have · video · Venezuela

En español b y v suenan igual. En inglés son dos sonidos distintos, y very dicho con b es berry.

/z/ zoo

An s with the voice switched on. Put a finger on your throat: it buzzes.

zoo · is · busy · dogs

No existe en la mayor parte del español. Y está en todas partes: is, was, his, these y casi todos los plurales.

/ʃ/ /tʃ/ she · cheap

sh is a long, soft hush. ch starts with a t and stops the air first.

she · shop · cheap · chair

El español tiene ch pero no sh, así que she se convierte en che y shoes en chus. Alarga el sonido y no dejes que la lengua toque.

/dʒ/ /j/ Jess · yes

j is a ch with the voice on. y is soft and open, like the start of Spanish hielo.

job · June · yes · year

Muchos acentos del español dicen yo con un sonido cercano a la j inglesa. En inglés yes es suave; Jess es el fuerte.

/θ/ /ð/ think · this

Tongue between the teeth for both. think is air only; this adds the voice.

think · three · this · mother

La z de zapato en España es exactamente /θ/. Si tu español no la tiene, la lengua tiene que salir un poco entre los dientes: ni t, ni d, ni s.

/h/ home

Just breath, like fogging a mirror. Nothing scrapes in the throat.

home · hotel · have · who

No es la j de jamón. Es mucho más suave: aire y nada más.
Spelling lies women has the ship vowel, machine has the sheep vowel, love has no o sound, and Thursday has no u. This is why learning from the page sends the sound in the wrong direction. You learn the sound, then you learn how it is spelled — not the other way round.

Tita on silent letters

Nine words with a w that is never said. Say each one before she does.

Tita (@tita__tips) — instagram.com/tita__tips

15 minutes

Can you hear it?

A · Teacher says it

Your teacher says one word from each pair. Tap the one you heard. There is no key on this page — your teacher knows which one it was. Then swap: you say one, your teacher taps. At home, the ▶ under each word says it for you.

B · Which vowel?

Spelling does not tell you. Decide whether each word has the short ship vowel /ɪ/ or the long sheep vowel /iː/. Say the word out loud first.
10 minutes

Your starting point

Read this aloud to your teacher. Do not try to be perfect; be normal. It contains every sound from the map, and your teacher will note which ones to work on. Then record yourself reading it on your phone and keep the recording. You will record it again at the end of the series.
Last Thursday I visited a very busy shop in the city. I wanted a cheap sheet for my bed, but the shelves were full of jeans, jackets and shoes. The assistant, Vicky, was thirty-three and spoke Spanish, so we chatted about her school in Seville. She said the job was stressful but she loved it. I bought a yellow jumper and a bag of beans, thanked her, and walked home through the park in the sun.

Eight words from the text

Say the word, then tap the card to see its sounds. The symbols are the ones from the map.

0 of 8 revealed
Deeper Count the syllables as you read: visited has three, wanted and chatted have two, but loved, thanked and walked have one each. The -ed ending is only a syllable after a t or a d. Lesson 5 is about this.
10 minutes

Whole phrases, not words

Listen to your teacher say each line, then say the whole line back — the rhythm and the sounds together, never one word at a time. Three times each. Then tap Hide some words and keep going until you can say the dialogue from memory.
What to listen for this and think with the tongue out. Spanish and still with no e in front. years starts soft, Jess would not. lived is one syllable.
🔒 In class · En clase

In context

This part we do together in class, adapted to your level, your work and your interests.

Esta parte la hacemos juntos en clase, adaptada a tu nivel, tu trabajo y tus intereses.

Book a free demo class · Reserva una clase de prueba

Until next class

This week

  1. Keep your recording. Name it with today’s date. You will not listen to it again until lesson 10.
  2. Finish the video and add any habit you recognised to your list on tab 1.
  3. Pick one sound from your map — the habit you ticked most confidently. For one week, in whatever you already watch or listen to in English, hunt for it. Write down five words you hear with that sound, including one you use at work as a professional. Bring the list.
  4. Optional. Hadar’s free guide for Spanish speakers has audio for every sound on this map: hadarshemesh.com/sp.

More to watch

Recuerda. No necesitas más inglés: necesitas entrenar de otra manera el inglés que ya tienes. Primero el oído, para saber qué estás escuchando. Después el ritmo, para saber cómo se comportan esos sonidos cuando hablamos de verdad. Y al final la repetición, hasta que salga sin pensar. Hoy fue el mapa; la próxima clase empezamos por el primer sonido.

Next: Pronunciation 2 · Short and long vowels. Video: Accent’s Way English with Hadar on YouTube.

🔒 In class · En clase

Take it away

This part we do together in class, adapted to your level, your work and your interests.

Esta parte la hacemos juntos en clase, adaptada a tu nivel, tu trabajo y tus intereses.

Book a free demo class · Reserva una clase de prueba

Liked it? · ¿Te gustó?

This is part of a real class. The full one is adapted to your level and to what you need.

Esta es una parte de una clase real. La completa la adaptamos a tu nivel y a lo que necesitas.

Book a free demo class · Reserva una clase de prueba diana-teaches.com