I’m a singer from Chile, and my goal is straightforward: I want people to understand me when I speak and sing in English.
It’s not about sounding American or British. It’s about clarity. When I perform a song, I don’t want the audience guessing at lyrics. When I speak, I don’t want to repeat myself three times.
IPA has become my main tool for getting there. Here’s what I’ve learned. 👇
🇨🇱 The Specific Problem for Chilean Spanish Speakers
Spanish has 5 vowel sounds. English has around 15.
This means when I hear certain English vowels, my brain files them under the closest Spanish equivalent, which is often wrong. For years, I couldn’t hear the difference between “ship” and “sheep” because both sounded like variations of our Spanish /i/.
Chilean Spanish adds extra challenges:
- 💨 We aspirate and drop sounds. The way we soften or skip certain consonants doesn’t transfer well to English, where those sounds carry meaning.
- 👅 We don’t have “th.” Neither /θ/ (think) nor /ð/ (the) exists in Spanish. I used to substitute /t/ or /d/, which made “think” sound like “tink.”
- 🔀 We don’t distinguish /b/ and /v/. In Spanish, they’re essentially the same. In English, “berry” and “very” are different words.
- 🤫 The schwa /ə/ is foreign to us. That unstressed “uh” sound in words like “the” or “banana.” We tend to over-pronounce these syllables, which sounds unnatural.
💡 What IPA Changed for Me
Before IPA, I practiced by imitation. I’d listen to a recording, try to copy it, and hope for the best. Sometimes it worked. Often it didn’t, and I couldn’t figure out why.
IPA gave me specific targets. Instead of vaguely trying to sound “more English,” I could identify exactly which sound I was producing versus which sound I needed.
For example, the word “love”:
- ❌ I was saying something close to /lof/ (using the Spanish /o/)
- ✅ The actual sound is /lʌv/
- 🎯 That /ʌ/ symbol gave me a concrete goal to practice
Once I understood the mouth position and tongue placement for /ʌ/, I could apply it to dozens of similar words: “cup,” “but,” “come,” “some.”
😅 Sounds That Gave Me the Most Trouble
| English Sound | IPA Symbol | My Default Substitution | Example Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short i | /ɪ/ | Spanish /i/ | sit, bit, ship |
| Schwa | /ə/ | Full vowel pronunciation | about, the, banana |
| “Th” voiceless | /θ/ | /t/ or /s/ | think, three, bath |
| “Th” voiced | /ð/ | /d/ | the, this, mother |
| Short u | /ʌ/ | Spanish /o/ or /a/ | love, cup, but |
| V sound | /v/ | /b/ | very, love, have |
📅 My Practice Routine
Daily (10-15 minutes): ⏱️
- 🔁 Practice minimal pairs: ship/sheep, bit/beat, full/fool
- 🎙️ Record myself and listen back honestly
- 📝 Work through one verse of a song with IPA transcription
Weekly: 📆
- 🔍 Pick 5-10 words from my repertoire that feel uncertain
- 📖 Look up IPA transcriptions and drill the specific sounds
- 🗣️ Check with a native speaker or teacher if possible
What helped most: 🐢 Slowing down. I used to rush through difficult sounds hoping nobody would notice. Now I take time to place each sound correctly, then gradually speed up.
📚 Resources That Work for Spanish Speakers
🆓 Start here (free):
- 🔊 IPA Chart with Sounds. Essential for hearing the vowel distinctions we don’t have in Spanish.
- 🎼 Art Song Central. Practice with transcriptions of songs you actually want to sing.
💰 Worth buying:
- 📗 Phonetics by O’Connor ($13). The explanations are clear and don’t assume prior knowledge.
- 📘 IPA Handbook for Singers ($30-40). For when you’re ready for more detailed reference.
🐝 Specifically useful for the /b/ vs /v/ problem: Practice words in pairs: “berry/very,” “bat/vat,” “best/vest.” Exaggerate the /v/ by making it almost buzzy until it feels distinct.
📈 Realistic Progress
After about two months of consistent practice:
- ✅ Native speakers stopped asking me to repeat myself as often
- ✅ My singing diction improved noticeably (feedback from my teacher confirmed this)
- ✅ I started hearing distinctions I couldn’t hear before
I still have an accent. That’s fine. 🙂 The goal was never to sound like someone I’m not. Just to communicate clearly.
🌎 For Other Latin American Singers
A few things I wish someone had told me earlier:
- 🎯 The vowel problem is real and fixable. Our 5-vowel system isn’t a permanent limitation. With IPA, you can train your ear and mouth to produce sounds that don’t exist in Spanish.
- 🇨🇱 Chilean habits need extra attention. Our tendency to soften consonants works against us in English. Be deliberate about final consonants especially.
- 🗣️➡️🎤 Speaking practice transfers to singing. Work on pronunciation in speech first. It’s easier to monitor and correct. Then apply it to your repertoire.
- 😬🎙️ Recording yourself is uncomfortable but necessary. I hated hearing my mistakes at first. Now I consider it the fastest way to improve.
✨ Summary
| Challenge | IPA Solution |
|---|---|
| 👂 Can’t hear vowel differences | Symbols show exactly which sound to target |
| 🔄 Substituting Spanish sounds | Clear contrast between what you’re doing vs. what’s needed |
| 📉 Inconsistent progress | Systematic approach instead of guessing |
| ❓ Understanding why something sounds wrong | Technical vocabulary to identify the problem |
IPA won’t do the work for you, but it removes the confusion. For a Chilean Spanish speaker trying to be understood in English, whether speaking or singing, that clarity makes all the difference. 🎶
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