I'm having a concerted crack at Spanish en ce moment - that's French, by-the-way. I have a problem though; the course I'm following in still in the development stage. The first resource - the pronunciation guide - is overdue by a couple of months and I'm keen to begin. I think I might need to crack on and improvise. I'm not bad at improvising, but I'm no Charlie Parker.
Still, Spanish is a rigorous tongue when it comes to phonemes. I shudder to think how foreigners learn to pronounce English, what with its hideous spelling system. I delight in telling non-native English speakers that we cradle Anglophones have as much bother as they do. It's extraordinary that if I happened across a village called Roughton for example, I would have no idea how to pronounce the place's name - none. I'd have to wait for a local to give me an audible steer first. Ludicrous.
So I just need to count my Spanish blessings and get on with it. Apart from the bilabial fricative bee and the soft dee, Spanish contains sounds that an English speaker should already have at his disposal. My only other worry is the fact that I can't roll my ars. Never have been able to. But I'm told Spanish speakers have come to expect this of English speakers, so it's understood. It's like us and the Japanese struggles with el and ar. We basically know what they're trying to say, so it's not an issue.
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