Hello, my name is Alejandra and the question I'll be answering now is: Spanish is spoken as it is spelled (phonetically), but what are some good rules for better pronunciation? I’m assuming you know the alphabet. The vowels have pretty straight forward sounds. A E I O U. And they are always pronounced the same. Examples: Andar. Escribir. Interesante. Olvido. Uso. The letter D sounds like the TH in ALTHOUGH. Example: Dedo. Doble. The letter J sounds like a very rough H in HOT. And so does the letter G when paired with E and I. Examples: Jícama. Juan. Geranio. Giro. With the vowels A, O, U , the letter G sounds like the G in Goat. Examples: Gata. Gol. Gusto. And we can give the same sound to the vowels E and I, if we put a U in between. The U in this case, is silent: Examples: Guerra. Guitarra. And if we add two dots above the U, it’s not silent anymore. Examples: Güero. Güisqui. The H in Spanish is silent. But when paired with a C (CH) it sounds like the TCH sound in NOTCH. Examples: Bicho. Noche. Chiste. The letter Ñ is similar to the NY sound in the word CANYON. Example: Niña. Cañón. The letter R has two sounds. As a general rule, when you see a RR, then you have to roll your tongue. You also have to roll your tongue when you see a single R at the beginning of a word. The rest of the time, that is, when the single R is in the middle of a word, it sounds like R. Examples: Perro. Gorro. Cerro. Roberto. Restar. Ridículo. Pera. Esfera. Coro. Finally, when you see this: ´ which is called “tilde” or “acento”, you need to stress that syllable. Examples: Canción. Víbora. Hacía. I hope this cleared your doubts. Remember private sessions are also available if you would like ONE ON ONE learning. Feel free to message me to schedule a session. See you around and have a nice day!