Teach English in Stony Stratford - TESOL Courses

In general the problems identified here apply to all native spanish speakers (whether in spain or South America), however there are some that are specific to spain due to differences in regional pronunciation norms, and culture. There are also a number of problems that would apply to most learners of english as a foreign language. Some of the major problems faced by learners of english in spain include: • Spelling and Pronunciation There are a number of sounds in english that do not exist in spanish, and spanish speakers may have difficulty in mastering their pronunciation. These include: - The long ‘ee' as in ‘sleep' – spanish speakers have difficulty distinguishing this from ‘slip' (both aurally and vocally) - The short ‘a' as in ‘cat' (phonetic æ) – usually pronounced by spanish speakers as ‘cut' because this is how a is pronounced in spanish, and there is no equivalent of the æ sound in spanish - Soft ‘s' or ‘z' as in ‘easy' or ‘zap' – this sound does not exist in spanish – the s is always a hard s - In spain, ‘z' and sibilant ‘c' are pronounced as a hard ‘th' (as in ‘with'), and pronouncing these consonants ‘in english' can be a difficult adjustment for spanish speakers (note – this does not apply in Latin America) The inconsistency in english spelling (or the many exceptions to the rules), also present problems, as does the inconsistency (or variety of possibilities) of pronunciation. • Vocabulary and ‘False Friends' Many native spanish speakers say that one of the hardest aspects of english to master is the vocabulary (it is conservatively estimated that english contains about twice the amount of words as spanish). Some areas where this becomes apparent include: - There are many instances where a number of words in english are represented by 1 word in spanish. Learners of english need to learn the words and their correct usage. Examples: english word/phrase spanish equivalent Fingers Toes Dedos Woman Wife Mujer To make To do Hacer Sisters Brothers Siblings Hermanas Hermanos Hermanos Go for a walk Turn around Turn things over in your head Dar una vuelta - Phrasal verbs can also be confusing, because by changing a particle, the meaning of the verb can change significantly – eg. o I put up with them o I put them up for the night o She puts him down - As with many languages that share some common origins, ‘false friends' exist between english and spanish – that is, words that sound or appear similar, but have different meanings. Examples: english word spanish ‘false friend' Meaning in spanish Embarrassed Embarazada Pregnant Ultimately Ultimamente Lately Library Libreria Book shop • Grammar There are also many points of grammar in english that can cause problems for spanish speakers. Some of these include: - Tenses – while there are many areas in which english and spanish tenses coincide, there are a number which do not. This can be a problem because there is a temptation to equate all the tenses (ie. because some of them match, it makes sense that all of them match). - Because spanish has more verb endings than english, a complete sentence in spanish does not always need a subject. As a result, spanish speakers often omit subject pronouns from their english sentences (eg. ‘is important to wash your hands' instead of ‘it is important to wash your hands'). - Forming negatives and questions with "do" presents difficulties since spanish negatives and questions do not require helping verbs. • Culture Many countries in Europe – especially northern Europe – recognise english as an important ‘world language' and hence virtually all children are taught english as a second language. In many countries english is the defacto ‘official' second language. However in spain, english is not perceived in the same way. This could be for a number of reasons – firstly, there are already 4 official spanish languages in spain (Castellano, Catalan, Galician and Basque/Euskara), and secondly, spanish is a world language itself – being the 3rd most spoken language in the world after Mandarin and english. Hence the level of english spoken in spain is generally not at a very high level. Virtually all movies and television programs of english-speaking origin are dubbed, whereas in many other European countries (and much of South America) they are presented in the original language. Learning english unless absolutely necessary (eg. for work) is generally not encouraged, and may be seen as an attempt at ‘social climbing', or showing off. As a result of all of these factors, learners here may find it difficult to gain exposure to authentic english sources and opportunities to practice hearing and speaking english.