El alfabeto Coffee is an important export for many Central and South American countries. For extra credit, learn more about the industry and/or investigate the movement for Fair Trade coffee from Latin America.

Las vocales  A - ah  E* - ey  I * - ee  O - O  U - oo *These ones are often confusing to English speakers because Spanish E sounds like English A, and Spanish I sounds like English E. Devote some time to distinguishing these for yourself!

A - a  Alfabeto  Alberto  Hablar

B - be  B and V make an almost identical sound in Spanish, so to distinguish them, you might hear “B grande” or “B como burro”  Bandera  Burro  Beto

C - ce  C may make a hard or a soft sound. –When followed by a consonant or the vowels: a, o & u, C will make a hard “kuh” sound. –When followed by the vowels: e & i, C will make a soft “suh” sound  Cebra  Cuaderno  Campo

Ch - che  Che has been removed from alphabetized lists (like in dictionaries) but still is recognized as a letter by many people. It is kind of like Pluto… no longer a planet, but it’s still there.  Mochila  Chiapas  Champiñones

D - de  D makes a strong “duh” sound unless it is in between two vowels. If that is the case, it makes a “th” sound.  Diccionario  Terminado  Pasado

E - e  Excelente  Escritorio  Clase

F - efe  There is no “ph” spelling combination in Spanish, we just use F instead.  Teléfono  Geografía  Fotocopias

G - ge  G may make a hard or a soft sound. –When followed by consonants or the vowels: a, o & u, G will make a hard “guh” sound. –When followed by the vowels: e & i, G will make a soft “huh” sound.  Geografía  Lago  Imaginación

H - hache  The H is silent! ¡La hache es muda!  Hola  Hombre  Hermano

I - i  Dime  Imagínate  Inglés

J - jota  The J makes what we think of as an H sound.  Mujer  Jalapeño  Japón

K - ka  K is a borrowed letter, so you will only see it in words that originate from another language.  Karate  Kiosko  Karaoke

L - ele  Lápiz  Laboratorio  Libro

LL - elle  LL makes a Y sound, or depending on one’s accent is can even sound like a “Juh” or a “Shuh”  Llamar  Silla  Pollo

M - eme  Mercado  Matrimonio  Mano

N - ene  Nuevo  Natalia  Nadar

Ñ - eñe  Ñ makes the sound you will recognize from piñata. Words in English that sound this way are “onion” and “canyon”  Español  Mañana  Año

O - o  Ojo  Pulpo  Ocatvio

P - pe  Página  Policía  Pato

Q - qu  ¿Qué?  Queso  Don Quixote

R - ere  You will roll your R if the word begins with this letter. Otherwise, you make the sound by just a quick press of your tongue against the gums slightly above the back of your front teeth.  Raúl  Pero  Para

RR - erre  Also known as doble ere; however, it is not technically a letter. You roll the double R.  Carro  Perro  Correr

S - ese  Sí  Espectacular  Especial

T - te  Tigre  Tío  Toronja

U - u  Uruguay  Mundo  Estados Unidos

V - ve  As you know, B and V make extremely similar sounds. V is known as “v chica” or “v como vaca”  Vivir  Veinte  Volumen

W – doble u/v  Like K, this is another borrowed letter. It works just like the English W.  Washington  Windsurfista  Waterpolista

X - equis  Equis makes a “k-s” sound  Examen  Excelente  Experiencia

Y – i griega  Y makes our usual Y sound, just the the LL. Also, like the double L, is may sound like a “juh” or a “shuh” depending on one’s accent.  Playa  Yo  Yema

Z - zeta  Z makes an S sound. Not a ZZZZZ!  Feroz  Zapatos  Zorro

Videos  Q Q  KA0qLo KA0qLo