Are you pronouncing this Spanish sound right?

Here’s a pop quiz. How do you pronounce the U in these words?

Uva

Útil

Uno

Usar

Último

Usuario

Urgente

If you grew up speaking English like I did, you most likely pronounced them something like this:

☝️Not the pronunciation you want

Uhw -va

Uhw-til

Uhw-no

Uhw-sar / You-sar

Uhwl-timo 

Uhw-suario / You-suario

Uhwr-gente

This sound looks easy. Just a U. 

But unfortunately… las apariencias engañan. 

Let’s look at the two problems most learners face with this letter (#2 is one you might be making even if your Spanish is pretty advanced).

Mistake #1: You-sar

Wherever a Spanish word starts with “us”, as in usar, uso, usuario, usualmente, Ushuaia….

We English speakers have this subconscious pattern that tells us “U at the beginning of a word = you”

In reality, this “you” sound does not exist with the U by itself. 

Each Spanish vowel is like Rambo: they work alone. 

To get them to “work together” and make a combined sound like “you”, we would need a Y sound, as in ayuda or lluvia (depending on the region). 

So remember: when you see a U by itself, never give it a Y sound.

Mistake #2: Uhw-no

This second mistake is one of the most common, even among the more advanced learners I work with. 

I see it happen for two reasons:

First: interference from English again. The English U is so often an in-between “uh” sound.

But this is a sound we need to banish from our Spanish brains — no existe. 

Instead, the trick is to round our lips and push them forward like you’re Mariah Carey singing All I want for Christmas is yooooooouuuuuuu. 

Second: self-consciousness. Because of how foreign and exaggerated it feels to do the above, it’s easy to feel self-conscious committing to the Spanish sound. 

Like you’re affecting a sound that isn’t yours. 

And that’s true – before Spanish can sound and feel natural, you’ll need to push through a phase where you feel like you’re faking it. 

Because to unlearn your English-speaking habits, you have to exaggerate. 

Really overdo it with the lip-rounding and tightness of the sound. 

After you get plenty of practice, you can relax a bit. 

But if you relax while you’re learning the sound… it’s going to fall back into the ‘relaxed’ English vowel whenever you’re not paying attention.

So let’s try it. Let’s practice these words aloud. Keep 3 things in mind:

1. Exaggerate physically (it should feel very different from your English U)
   
2. Keep the sound tight: like you were saying moose or caboose and trying to whistle. Don’t let any other sounds creep in.
   
3. Don’t focus on the other sounds. Just the U.

Practice pronouncing the U with this audio:

Uva

Útil

Uno

Usar

Último

Usuario

Urgente

Let’s put it into a sentence:

Un usuario uruguayo utiliza utensilios 

This week I’ve been busy filming new videos and working on some exciting new stuff for spring/summer, so I’m keeping today’s newsletter short and sweet. 

Hope you’ve found it useful. Have a great Saturday!

Connor 

P.S. Working on one sound is a great start. But all the sounds in Spanish are connected — so if one is off, it makes it harder to pronounce others. For example, if you struggle to say the R in tres, it may be because of your T more than your R. So if you want to set yourself up to feel less tongue tied and more confident in the way you speak, this can help.