How to Pronounce 'Tres' in Spanish

Trying to get ahead with Spanish pronunciation? Check out this simple and quick technique using English to master your Spanish speaking! Just click anywhere on the picture of the handsome gentleman. You can also view the full video it at the bottom of this post.

This particular video was filmed with you in mind on the streets of beautiful Havana, Cuba!

Linguistix is a premium pronunciation coaching service that makes these types of associations in your practice to sound more natural and build confidence when speaking. And we do this in a few different languages too!

Here's the thing: When native English speakers are learning to speak Spanish, we tend to pronounce words using the rules of English. In other words, we read Spanish as if, for some reason, it's an English word. This happens ALL THE TIME and is proven in words like "Tres".

We take the initial TR, look at it for a moment, and assume it must be pronounced like the TR in the word Trace, which is exactly what most English speakers will default to in the pronunciation of the number three in Spanish.

Uno, Dose, Trace.

If that's how you say it, we do want to make a quick and slight modification, but don't feel bad. It's not your fault!

It's a natural habit for anyone to pronounce a foreign word with the rules of their native language. What else would you think to try if you had no idea how to say it?? I'm totally with you. And trust me, I'm only an expert on the languages I've taken time to perfect. You definitely don't want me to help you with French or German... at least not yet ;)

Luckily with this blog and my coaching, I have put together a series of videos that simplify this whole deal with word tricks and techniques that make your pronunciation sound natural and native-like without going into details of the phonetics (i.e. where to put your tongue and teeth, how to create the sound) or phonology (i.e. introducing the available sounds within a given language).

So, if you're working on your Spanish pronunciation, let this video be a guide to not only pronounce the number three, but to gain a deeper understanding of how the letters TR are pronounced in Spanish, no matter where they fall within a word. They are not pronounced like the English TR, unfortunately.

Taking the technique of using "Today" to flip your R's also shows how there are many sounds that are nearly identical among languages that you would have never thought to connect! There are hundreds of words with this common consonant cluster that give us problems and we want to use this technique to apply to other words. If that's not easy for you, no worries. Just come back often to learn more tricks like this one!

If you're someone who can't hear the subtle differences between foreign pronunciations, or if you don't consider yourself a 'language person', that's quite alright! Let me make the associations for you and simplify the entire process so you can just worry about memorizing vocabulary and solidifying your grammar.

The best thing about these pronunciation techniques (and practicing pronunciation in general) is that, unlike grammar and vocabulary, acquiring the proper, natural pronunciation never goes away and you'll never have to relearn it! It's a little thing called muscle memory, my friend. And your brain will defer to whichever pronunciations you have found most comfortable and correct.

So, if you have developed bad habits when speaking Spanish, you can modify and improve them! You will just by watching this short video. It's about relationships! The most efficient way for your brain to learn something new is to relate it to something you already know. Neurons fire like a pinball flying back and forth between rubber bumpers and those little flappy things at the bottom. Only, like, a lot faster!

So, if you're still reading this and haven't subscribed to the YouTube channel, take a reading break and do that now. I welcome your comments and suggestions for future videos. There's a ton more where this came from.

Pronunciation for me is the best way to show off your overall level in any language, but in particular for Spanish, it clearly separates the way people think about you and respond to you, since there are so many gringos floating around the world just saying 'Trace' all the time. But it's cool, they just haven't stumbled upon this video yet! But they will, because you will likely share this with them, and I thank you for it!

Did you like this video? Oh! You did! No way, that's fantastic! I thought you might.

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OK, that's all for now!

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