J<\/b><\/h2>\n![\"J\"](\"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/J-778x1024.png\")
<\/a>All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\nJ is a tricky little letter that likes to confuse language learners. Take the English word jam,<\/i> which is confiture<\/i> in French and mermelada<\/i> in Spanish. This innocent-looking word is often mistaken for ham<\/i> in these countries because in French this is jambon<\/i>, in Spanish jamon<\/i>, and the mix up over letters could produce a very interesting accompaniment to your croissants.<\/p>\nH<\/b><\/h2>\n![\"All](\"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/H-778x1024.png\")
<\/a>All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\nIt is interesting how pronunciation of the letter h<\/i> can often depict where you are from in the UK. If you are constantly dropping them from words like house<\/i> and her<\/i> you are more likely to be from London rather than Edinburgh, for example. However, it is one of the friendlier letters to work with when learning a language because so often it sounds as we expect it to \u2013 in words like haus<\/i> from German for example (house<\/i>).<\/p>\nX<\/b><\/h2>\n![\"All](\"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/X-778x1024.png\")
<\/a>All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\nX is a nice little letter to play with when learning a language, simply because as you can see from the maps, it either doesn\u2019t change much or doesn\u2019t really exist aside from in loanwords!<\/p>\n
C<\/b><\/h2>\n![\"All](\"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/C-778x1024.png\")
<\/a>All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\nC is a multipurpose letter at the best of times, even within the same language. There is some comfort in seeing it (mis)behave similarly for other languages too. Take for example the English word shoes<\/i> in Hungarian \u2013 cip\u0151 <\/i>\u2013 which is pronounced tsi-per<\/i>.<\/p>\nR<\/b><\/h2>\n![\"All](\"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/R-778x1024.png\")
<\/a>All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\nIt isn\u2019t rhotacism that makes saying the letter r<\/i> differently difficult abroad, it is the way our mouths are formed pronouncing words from an early age. An r<\/i> in British English can either be \u2018hard\u2019 as in road<\/i> or disappear in words like where<\/i>. But in a vast part of Europe the r<\/i> is rolled, and this can be incredibly difficult when learning a language. The word for dog<\/i> in Spanish \u2013 perro<\/i> \u2013 is one that can make even the hardiest of learners blush with effort.<\/p>\nW<\/b><\/h2>\n![\"All](\"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/W-778x1024.png\")
<\/a>All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\nW is a good friend of the letter x<\/i> because it is so rarely used across Europe. Where it is used, it is either pronounced like the English write<\/i> \u2013 rite<\/i> \u2013 or the German wie<\/i> (as<\/i>) \u2013 vee<\/i>. So there thankfully is not much room for error.<\/p>\nQ<\/b><\/h2>\n![\"Q\"](\"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Q-778x1024.png\")
<\/a>All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\nAs a letter with such a high scrabble score, the letter q<\/i> certainly knows how to twist a tongue. Since it is in constant companionship with u<\/i> the pronunciation, depending on where you are in Europe, will be heard either as kw<\/i> or kv<\/i>. In England it is always kw<\/i> \u2013 as in queen \u2013<\/i> but in German it can be both; quoten<\/i> (rates) can be pronounced both k-vote-n<\/i> or k-wote-n<\/i>. In Spain is an exception to this since their q<\/i> sounds like a k,<\/i> as demonstrated in queso<\/i> (cheese), pronounced kes-o<\/i>.<\/p>\nG<\/b><\/h2>\n![\"All](\"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/G-778x1024.png\")
<\/a>All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\nG in English already masquerades as different sounds, from the hard sound of goat<\/i> to the softer one of Germany<\/i>. This is also true in other languages, for instance in Hungarian. Again, the sound can be hard like in gabona <\/i>(cereal) or soft in gyakorl\u00e1s <\/i>(exercise). This is more to do with which root the language originates from: more German-rooted words are hard \u2013 gut<\/i> (good, German) whereas those that are more Latin-rooted are always soft \u2013 gelato<\/i> (ice cream, Italian).<\/p>\nY<\/b><\/h2>\n![\"All](\"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Y-778x1024.png\")
<\/a>All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\nY is our final letter that has limited use throughout Europe. It most often sounds like the English yes<\/i> but this can be a little rougher in Spanish with words like yo<\/i> (I). In Hungarian the y<\/i> only ever comes out to play when the letters g, l, t <\/i>and n<\/i> need chaperoning, and serves to soften their sound \u2013 but not necessarily their pronunciation \u2013 like in gyakorlatiass\u00e1g <\/i>(practicality).<\/p>\n
So there we have it. You weren\u2019t imagining it: letters do play differently when they are on holiday too!<\/p>\n
Your own consonant adventure<\/b><\/h2>\n
If you are planning your summer holidays in Europe and this adventure in consonants has inspired you to get some basic vocabulary before your travels, why not contact us<\/a> and see what courses we have on offer in your area!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When you are learning a new language or even just travelling to a new country, you can find yourself wrapping your lips around tongue twisters that you never even expected. Letters are not necessarily pronounced the same abroad. Adventures in paella To illustrate that point, take the humble paella. To an English speaker who has(\u2026)<\/p>\n
<\/a>All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n J is a tricky little letter that likes to confuse language learners. Take the English word jam,<\/i> which is confiture<\/i> in French and mermelada<\/i> in Spanish. This innocent-looking word is often mistaken for ham<\/i> in these countries because in French this is jambon<\/i>, in Spanish jamon<\/i>, and the mix up over letters could produce a very interesting accompaniment to your croissants.<\/p>\n All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n It is interesting how pronunciation of the letter h<\/i> can often depict where you are from in the UK. If you are constantly dropping them from words like house<\/i> and her<\/i> you are more likely to be from London rather than Edinburgh, for example. However, it is one of the friendlier letters to work with when learning a language because so often it sounds as we expect it to \u2013 in words like haus<\/i> from German for example (house<\/i>).<\/p>\n All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n X is a nice little letter to play with when learning a language, simply because as you can see from the maps, it either doesn\u2019t change much or doesn\u2019t really exist aside from in loanwords!<\/p>\n All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n C is a multipurpose letter at the best of times, even within the same language. There is some comfort in seeing it (mis)behave similarly for other languages too. Take for example the English word shoes<\/i> in Hungarian \u2013 cip\u0151 <\/i>\u2013 which is pronounced tsi-per<\/i>.<\/p>\n All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n It isn\u2019t rhotacism that makes saying the letter r<\/i> differently difficult abroad, it is the way our mouths are formed pronouncing words from an early age. An r<\/i> in British English can either be \u2018hard\u2019 as in road<\/i> or disappear in words like where<\/i>. But in a vast part of Europe the r<\/i> is rolled, and this can be incredibly difficult when learning a language. The word for dog<\/i> in Spanish \u2013 perro<\/i> \u2013 is one that can make even the hardiest of learners blush with effort.<\/p>\n All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n W is a good friend of the letter x<\/i> because it is so rarely used across Europe. Where it is used, it is either pronounced like the English write<\/i> \u2013 rite<\/i> \u2013 or the German wie<\/i> (as<\/i>) \u2013 vee<\/i>. So there thankfully is not much room for error.<\/p>\n All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n As a letter with such a high scrabble score, the letter q<\/i> certainly knows how to twist a tongue. Since it is in constant companionship with u<\/i> the pronunciation, depending on where you are in Europe, will be heard either as kw<\/i> or kv<\/i>. In England it is always kw<\/i> \u2013 as in queen \u2013<\/i> but in German it can be both; quoten<\/i> (rates) can be pronounced both k-vote-n<\/i> or k-wote-n<\/i>. In Spain is an exception to this since their q<\/i> sounds like a k,<\/i> as demonstrated in queso<\/i> (cheese), pronounced kes-o<\/i>.<\/p>\n All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n G in English already masquerades as different sounds, from the hard sound of goat<\/i> to the softer one of Germany<\/i>. This is also true in other languages, for instance in Hungarian. Again, the sound can be hard like in gabona <\/i>(cereal) or soft in gyakorl\u00e1s <\/i>(exercise). This is more to do with which root the language originates from: more German-rooted words are hard \u2013 gut<\/i> (good, German) whereas those that are more Latin-rooted are always soft \u2013 gelato<\/i> (ice cream, Italian).<\/p>\n All images courtesy of Alexander Young via The Independent<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n Y is our final letter that has limited use throughout Europe. It most often sounds like the English yes<\/i> but this can be a little rougher in Spanish with words like yo<\/i> (I). In Hungarian the y<\/i> only ever comes out to play when the letters g, l, t <\/i>and n<\/i> need chaperoning, and serves to soften their sound \u2013 but not necessarily their pronunciation \u2013 like in gyakorlatiass\u00e1g <\/i>(practicality).<\/p>\n So there we have it. You weren\u2019t imagining it: letters do play differently when they are on holiday too!<\/p>\n If you are planning your summer holidays in Europe and this adventure in consonants has inspired you to get some basic vocabulary before your travels, why not contact us<\/a> and see what courses we have on offer in your area!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you are learning a new language or even just travelling to a new country, you can find yourself wrapping your lips around tongue twisters that you never even expected. Letters are not necessarily pronounced the same abroad. Adventures in paella To illustrate that point, take the humble paella. To an English speaker who has(\u2026)<\/p>\nH<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>X<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>C<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>R<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>W<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Q<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>G<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Y<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Your own consonant adventure<\/b><\/h2>\n