Free Spanish lessons: At the restaurant - pronunciation on mp3

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Lesson 4: At the restaurant - pronunciation practice. Text and mp3

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• Tips on how to make the most of this free Spanish pronunciation practice

Pronunciation practice on mp3

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• Repeat after the Spanish speaker: ra, re, ri, ro, ru
• Now, let's practise the 'r' sound in: tardes, eres, gracias, pronto, María, hora, claro, dar, ordenador, sirve
• Notice the difference between the 'r' and the 'rr' sounds: radio, cafetería, reserva, firme, recepcionista, ver. Don't forget that an 'r' at the beginning of a word always has a 'rr' sound
• How to stress Spanish words: It is good to learn where the stress goes on each word. Many Spanish words are stressed on the second last vowel, or group of vowels, but not all of them. Practise saying: adiós, también, estás, hotel, algún; teléfono, electrónico
• Linking words. Practise saying these sentences like the Spanish speaker: ¿qué van a tomar? (what are you going to have?), ¿dónde están los servicios? (where are the toilets?), las sardinas asadas y el atún (the grilled sardines and the tuna), ¿tienen algún plato vegetariano? (do you have any vegetarian dishes?). Notice that when a word ends in a consonant and the next one starts with a vowel (like sardinas asadas) these two words are run together and sound like one long word with no break. Also, when a word starts with the same letter that the previous word finishes with (like the 'e' in dónde están) you only say that letter once
• Difficult words: Listen to these words and practise saying them: tiene, volver, primero, filete, pollo, vino, servicios, recomienda, vegetariano, tortilla, mayonesa, arroz, pimienta

Tips on how to make the most of this free Spanish pronunciation practice:

• First listen to the recording without looking at the text
• Then read the text carefully, and the Spanish words out loud
• Now listen to the recording again, but this time read the words and phrases out loud along with the Spanish speakers
• Compare your pronunciation with that of the native speakers. Are you making any obvious mistakes? If so, repeat the words until you get them right
• If you come back to this pronunciation page every few days for a couple of weeks, you'll see a great improvement not only in your pronunciation, but also in your intonation, speed and confidence
• To reinforce what you've learned, go back to the dialogues and the speaking exercise of the lesson you're on

Spanish set phrase
Sembrar la alarma

English literal translation
To sow the alarm

English equivalent
To cause alarm