Short drills for practicing Spanish consonants

Here are some effective short drills for practicing Spanish consonants:

1. Consonant Repetition Exercises:

• Repeat pairs or small sets of syllables focusing on specific consonants to train tongue placement and sound consistency.
• Examples:
  • TAN, TANTO, TEN, TENTO, TIN, TINTO, TON, TONTO, TUN, TUNTO
  • NANDO, DANDO, NENDO, DENDO, NINDO, DINDO
  • PRANDO, RANDO, PRENDO, RENDO
• Record yourself and compare to native pronunciation for accuracy.

2. Tongue Placement Practice for Difficult Consonants:

• For the Spanish /t/, /d/, /n/ sounds, push the tongue slightly out so the blade touches behind the upper front teeth.
• Practice producing the alveolar trill (rolled “r”) by forcing air to vibrate the tongue.
• If the trill is difficult, practice the alveolar tap sound as a step toward mastery.

3. Short Tongue Twisters Focused on Consonants:

• Use tongue twisters that emphasize consonant clusters and repeated consonant sounds to improve agility and clarity.
• Examples include phrases that focus on the rolled “r”, soft “r”, and consonant blends like “tr” and “pr”.

These drills can be done in short sessions, repeating each multiple times for muscle memory and gradual improvement.

References

• The ‘Essential’ Consonant Exercises – Basic Spanish …

• Spanish Difficult Consonants: A Closer Look

• Spanish Vowels and Consonants for Beginners

• 10 Tricks to Improve Your Spanish Pronunciation and Sound …

• Vowels, Consonants, Diphthongs & Triphthongs Made Easy

• Spanish Consonants

• Short text, for those who want to practice pronunciation

• Learn Spanish Phonics in 10 Minutes

• English Pronunciation for Spanish Speakers