Poor Sarky. All she wanted was a straight answer and look what happened.

I hope you are not laughing at me Walters

I am going to carry on as I have been and pronouncing the ll as a y!!

This is probably one of the most difficult letters to pronounce in Spanish for most, it does sounds as 'Y' as Keith mentions but generally you roll the first 'l', so maybe it would be more accurate to say it sounds like 'ly' but difficult... yes.

llaves, pronounce it as 'lya-vez' and you will be pretty dam close.

OK folks, while we're on this subject......................

Has anyone got any tips for how to practice rolling your Rs!?!
I don't think my tongue is capable is producing the right sound

My Spanish friends have given me a tongue twister to practice, but that doesn't help because I just don't know how to position my tongue to get the correct sound.
I'm told that not all Spanish people can do this either, but it's really bugging me

I'm currently having the Spanish equivalent of the "flied lice" problem

Thanks to anyone who can enlighten me,
Sam.

ROFL

Can´t you just practice purring like a cat? Should sound about right.

I´ve always had more difficulty with the single "r", in so much as it often sounds like a double when I say it. Eg

caro/carro
pero/perro

Regardless of which word I am saying, it usually sounds like the double r version of the word.

Well, I've tried the purring idea Keith, but as always the only sound that comes out is something akin to a zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!

Don't ask me how I do it!?

Well, if you've got an abundance of "r"s then maybe you could send a few my way
You see, as I've got a "perra", I'd really like to be able to talk about her properly!

Ah, yes, another one of my difficult words:

pera/perra.

Just be thankful you're not Jonathon Ross, he pronounces ll as a w, r as a w and rr as a w

Ahhh a pera de perros? well an on-line translator would get it right.

Hola! Buenos dias!

I thought Annabella might have joined this thread, as she has mentioned Valladolid in other posts?

A birdie told me that the "purest" (?) spanish is spoken in Valladolid. Similarly, for english, one would have to venture north to Inverness.
Well, that's what the birdie says.

Anyhow, regarding the "ll", pronouncing it as a "ly" would be my choice. In catalan, double L is written as "ly" or "l.l", and if you want you could always slip into the lingo of "j" or "ch" if the other person is more comfortable with it.

Now, for the rolling "rrr's", brisca, try this looking into a mirrror:
"RRRuffles have rrridges." Place the sides of your tongue along the inner edges of your top teeth. Smile into the mirror as you do this! The tip of your tongue now should be pointed, and gently touch, your palate or just behind your front teeth. Say "Ruffles", using your diaphragm (the muscle above your stomach) to push the air up. The mirror is a good tool to see how much you do spit at people! Good luck!

oh Keith, what's the rule/preference for the "d" at the end of a word? silent, hard, or "th"? Practice makes perfect, and I'm out of practice!

Carol

yes, brisca has a perra. I like to eat peras, but I wouldn't like "estar sin una perra"!

why is everyone getting their knickers in such a twist

spain is a very big country.....with many different accents & regional variations - not to mention the local languages which are so much more than just dialects

in english, which is 'correct'......... bath with a short 'a' or with a longer one so that it sounds more like barth?

there are so many different pronunciations, that I doubt many spanish people care which is 'correct', (or possibly even know).....especially if it is a foreigner speaking - those I know are just happy that we are trying!

& let's face it..........as adults learning a foreign language are we ever likely to speak with a 'spanish' accent.......whatever that is

Hmmm. Another tricky one to pronounce correctly. If you want a Spaniards mouth when they talk it definitely seems more like the "th". You see their tongue sticking out through their teeth.

Eg,: Madrith (instead of Madrid), or ciudath (instead of ciudad).

I wouldn´t omit it altogether though...Madri, ciuda. Sounds a bit village idiot to me!!!

And if you go for the hard "d" sound, well then you just sound English!

hhmmm...how about the letter "z"? When it's at the beginning or the end of a word: for example, Zaragosa or capaz.
Thanks,
Carol