European Languages - A Comparative Analysis

<<Spanish 't's are always pronounced
something like between an English 'th' and 't'. >>

No LAA, the "t" in Spanish sounds like any "t" in English but without the "air hit".

Aldvs,
Where are you from? This is something I would bet my life on, I am so sure of. The way an English speaker would pronounce something as simple as "taco" is very different from the correct way of saying "taco". There is a huge difference in the 't' between English and Spanish, and it is one of the main things which English speakers butcher about Spanish pronounciation.

In English, (t) is pronounced without your tounge being in between your teeth. In Spanish, you pronounce your 't' with your tounge in-between your teeth, like an English "th", only harder, (without blowing air out) so it doesn't make that "snake sound". Again, I would bet my life and all of my loved ones' lives on this. At least for Mexican Spanish, or Spanish from the north of Mexico.

<<In Spanish, you pronounce your 't' with your tounge in-between your teeth, like an English "th", only harder, (without blowing air out) >>

That's correct. Now I understand what you said. You didn't mentioned the "without blowing air out" thing. It sounded strange to me what you said that the "t" sounds like "th", I thought in how the Spaniards pronounce the 'z'.

" Spanish 't's are always pronounced something like between an English 'th' and 't'. "


After having learned spanish for 3 years, and been many times in diverse spanish-speaking countries, I never noticed a difference between the french and spanish pronouciation.
Maybe it is specifically mexican pronounciation.

Hi fab,

No, no, no.... I am Mexican and I am basically saying the same thing as you. Sp and Fr 't' sound exactly the same. English 't' is the different one. The way LAA describes Spanish 't' is not accurate, but it is perhaps due to him wanting to outstand the contrast between them. LAA, please confirm....

à bientôt

I think what LAA means is that the English 'T' is more aspirated. Personally though, I think that the difference is very small.

Well, Aldvs seems to agree with what I said. Maybe I have just heard a unique accent of French, which is impairing my judgement.

But Sergio, would you not agree that a Spanish 't' sounds like <<with your tounge in-between your teeth, like an English "th", only harder, (without blowing air out)>>

I only ask to see if we're on the same page.

Fab,
In French, do you put your tounge in between your teeth to make a 't' sound?

« Well, Aldvs seems to agree with what I said. Maybe I have just heard a unique accent of French, which is impairing my judgement. »

Didn't you say your girlfriend was from Québec or something? Or did I imagine that?

<<Didn't you say your girlfriend was from Québec or something? Or did I imagine that?>>

Yeah, but i'm afraid that's old news. I don't have the habit of sticking with one "bird" (as you would say in England) for too long.

quebecers pronounced their "t" and "d", very differently from french people. like if they were saying "tz" or "dz" instead.
This way to pronounce is very different to the French french one; and its funny to hear (and even hard to understand in some cases). To me the french French "t" sounds similar to the spanish one (at least the Spain spanish one)

Between french and spanish the sound that you need to put your tongue in between your teeth is the "c". In this case the sound is a little bit different (but completly recongnisable). Maybe you are confonding with this.

« Between french and spanish the sound that you need to put your tongue in between your teeth is the "c". In this case the sound is a little bit different (but completly recongnisable). Maybe you are confonding with this. »

Alors les derniers Cs dans le français « commerce » et l'espagnol « comercio » se ressemblent pour toi ? Para mí son totalmente diferente.

<<<<Didn't you say your girlfriend was from Québec or something? Or did I imagine that?>>

Yeah, but i'm afraid that's old news. I don't have the habit of sticking with one "bird" >>

It explains your obsession with the French language and culture. LOL
Your opinions, about the French and French culture, were all because of your love quarrels.

" Alors les derniers Cs dans le français « commerce » et l'espagnol « comercio » se ressemblent pour toi ? Para mí son totalmente diferente. "


Oui, ils se ressemblent, à la différence que dans la version Espagnole le son est légèrement "zozotant".

D'ailleurs l'exemple que tu donnes est interessant: Les versions Anglaises et Françaises possèdent la même graphie (l'un étant directement importé à partir de l'autre) : "commerce", but the pronounciation is completly different. The French sound just sound like the spanish one but without the "io" sound at the end.

In the English version : the sounds "o", "e" are pronounced completly differently to the equivalents of the French and spanish words.

So you don't pronounce the Spanish 'c' like the English 'th' in 'think'? Or is it that you can't hear the difference between the English 'think' and 'sink'?

" So you don't pronounce the Spanish 'c' like the English 'th' in 'think'? Or is it that you can't hear the difference between the English 'think' and 'sink'? "


I personally pronounce the spanish "c" as I would do in French, even If I know spaniards don't do the same way, but it is more easy and natural for me and easier to pronounce. People don't have any problem to understand that, they just see that I'm a French-speaker.

For me the difference between "sink" and "think" is very very little. I think you make the difference very strongly because the sound "th" exist in English, and when you hear a spaniard who say "c", in your mind you will hear the sound "th" and not "c". For us we don't. since both sounds are very close when we hear the spanish "c" we don't make that difference. I even have to say that for a long time I never have noticed that they pronounced their "c" like an English "th".

The same way a lot of sounds that exist in French such as "e/eu", have very little difference for non-native speakers but to our french-speaking hears they are very different.