My Speaking Score · L1 Pronunciation Guide

Spanish → English: the sounds that cost you points

The English sounds and patterns Spanish doesn't use — with mouth diagrams, minimal pairs, and drills.

Why this matters for your TOEFL Speaking score

Spanish has five clean vowels, no /v/–/b/ contrast, and no words that begin with s + consonant. English breaks all three rules, so your mouth fills the gap with the nearest Spanish habit. Those habits read as unclear words and lower your Intelligibility construct. A few targeted fixes go a long way.

/b/ vs /v/ — boat/vote, berry/very

In Spanish, b and v are the same sound. English keeps them apart.

The Spanish habit"vote" → "bote", "very" → "berry", "vest" → "best". Both come out as a soft b.
The fix — /v/: top teeth on the lower lip + voice (buzz).
/b/: both lips together, then pop. Teeth never touch the lip for /b/.
bote → voteberry → verybest ↔ vest

Drill (30s): teeth-on-lip buzz vvvv → very, vote, save; lips-together → boat, best, big. Alternate vote-boat.

/v/ — teeth on lip /b/ — lips together no teeth
/v/ = teeth + lip + voice. /b/ = both lips, no teeth.

Construct: Intelligibility. vote/boat, vest/best, vase/base are different words.

No "e" before S-clusters

Spanish words never start with s + consonant, so an "e" gets added.

The Spanish habit"school" → "eschool", "Spain" → "Espain", "student" → "estudent", "stop" → "estop".
The fixStart the word on the /s/ — no "e" first. Hiss the s, then go straight into the next consonant.
eschool→school
Espain→Spain
estudent→student

Drill (30s): hold the hiss first — sssss-chool, sssss-pain, sssss-tudent — then speed up. Never an "e".

school start on /s/ ✓ eschool added "e" ✗
Begin on the hiss; drop the extra vowel.

Construct: Intelligibility + Fluency. The extra vowel adds a syllable and marks the accent.

/z/ — zoo, prize, dogs

Spanish has no /z/; it becomes /s/.

The Spanish habit"zoo" → "Sue", "prize" → "price", and plural/verb -s endings lose their buzz: "dogs", "is", "was".
The fixMake an /s/, then turn the voice on → /z/. Hand on throat: it should vibrate.
Sue → zooprice → prizebus → buzz

Drill (20s): sssss → zzzzz. Then zoo, zero, is, was, these, dogs.

voice ON /z/ = /s/ + vibration
Same mouth as /s/; just add the throat buzz.

Construct: Intelligibility. English plurals and verbs constantly use /z/.

/ʃ/ vs /tʃ/ — she vs cheese

Many Spanish dialects lack /ʃ/ and replace it with /tʃ/ ("ch").

The Spanish habit"she" → "chee", "shoe" → "chew", "wash" → "watch".
The fix/ʃ/ is a smooth, continuous hiss (shhh), lips a little rounded, no stop. /tʃ/ starts with a /t/ "punch". For "sh", remove the punch and just flow.
chee → shechew → shoewatch ↔ wash

Drill (20s): hold shhhhh (no t) → she, shoe, wash, nation. Then contrast ship/chip, wash/watch.

sh —— (smooth hiss) ✓ t·sh (punch first) = ch For "sh", drop the /t/ punch.
/ʃ/ is continuous; /tʃ/ begins with a stop.

Construct: Intelligibility.

Y vs J — yellow vs jello

Spanish "y/ll" and "j" don't map onto English /j/ and /dʒ/.

The Spanish habit"yes" → "jess" or "shess"; "jeans" → "yeans". The two get swapped.
The fix — /j/ (yes): a soft glide, like the start of "ee", no contact.
/dʒ/ (jeans): a firm "j" — tongue presses, then releases with voice.
jess → yesyeans → jeansyear ↔ jeer

Drill (20s): glide yes, year, you (soft) vs press jeans, job, age (firm).

Also watchSpanish "h" is silent and "j" is a harsh throat sound. In English, say the /h/ softly (house, who) and don't harden English "j" into a throat sound.

Construct: Intelligibility + Language Use (word clarity).

Vowels & the schwa

Spanish has 5 full vowels; English has more, plus a weak "uh" (schwa).

Keep these apart
sit /ɪ/ vs seat /iː/full /ʊ/ vs fool /uː/cat /æ/ vs cut /ʌ/
The Spanish habitevery vowel gets a full, clear value, so unstressed syllables sound too strong: "banana" with three equal a's instead of weak "uh" sounds.

Drill: reduce unstressed vowels to "uh": bə-NA-nə, ə-BOUT, COM-pə-ny. Stress one syllable, weaken the rest.

Construct: Intelligibility. English rhythm relies on weak vowels; full vowels everywhere sound heavily accented.

Your 10-minute daily drill

  1. Warm up (1 min): vvvv (teeth on lip) / zzzz / shhhh.
  2. Minimal pairs (3 min): vote/boat and zoo/Sue, 5× each, recorded.
  3. Your worst sound (3 min): usually B/V or the added "e" on s-words.
  4. Sentences (2 min): real practice sentences, weak vowels reduced.
  5. Check (1 min): upload to My Speaking Score and watch Intelligibility rise.