Problems in Learning English

Pronunciation and Spelling

English pronunciation is likely to give Cubans particular problems, in particular hearing the differences between consonants at the ends of words, and pronouncing these as well. Other consonant problems will be English [r], which is often difficult for Spanish speakers to hear, the th sounds at the beginning of English words, the distinction between [b], [v] and [w], and the distinction between [y] and [j] This latter is particularly important for your Cubans to master, as pronouncing a y as [j] carries negative social value.

English vowels will be a problem because English has so many more vowels than Spanish. Cubans will have difficulty hearing and pronouncing the difference between bit and beet, bait and bet, bet and bat, would and wooed.

The Spanish spelling system is a much more "phonetic" spelling system (i.e., words are spelled pretty much as they are pronounced) than English, and Cubans will be correspondingly baffled by the apparently crazy way that English words are spelled.

Grammar

Cubans have most of the same problems learning English grammatical structures as other Spanish speakers do, and there are a number of sources that you can read to help you with them (see the Bibliography). Most of these are problems that all learners of English find problematic, for example the use of the auxiliary verb do in English questions and negatives, and so they are amply treated in ESL textbooks.

A comparison of some simple sentences in Spanish and English is interesting, as it shows clearly why problems exist. Comparing the following, for example,

Yo quiero ir. I want to go.
Yo no quiero ir. I don't want to go.

Mi amigo es cubano. My friend is Cuban.
Mi amigo no es cubano. My friend isn't Cuban.

Puedo hablar inglés. I can speak English.
No puedo hablar inglés. I can't speak English.

shows that in Spanish, a sentence is made negative by simply inserting the word no before the verb, whereas in English, negatives are formed in much more complicated ways. The same is true of questions:

Juan habla inglés. John speaks English.

¿Habla Juan inglés? or
¿Juan hable inglés? Does John speak English?

Es grande. It's big.
¿Es grande? Is it big?

A look at parallel sentences also shows why Spanish speakers have trouble with English personal pronouns like I, you, or it:

Yo hablo inglés. or
Hablo inglés. I speak English.

Llueve. It's raining.

Compré un libro ayer. I bought a book yesterday.
Lo compré ayer. I bought it yesterday.

Another area of difficulty for Spanish speakers is the English articles a, an, and the. Spanish has parallel articles, but they are used in different ways from the English articles.

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