Difficult Business English Words for Spanish Speakers to Pronounce
/v/ sounds at the beginning or in the middle of a word
Due to the fact that a 'v' spelling is pronounced /b/ in Spanish, many Spanish speakers make the error of pronouncing 'v' sounds as a /b/ in English. Words with an English 'v' spelling should also be pronounced /v/. Here are the most classic advanced Business English examples:
very
avoid
delivery
value
averse
risk-averse
vision
review
develop
various
available
availability
Words with 'dv'
There are some very important business words with /dv/ sounds, which can actually be more difficult than /v/ sounds.
advantage
disadvantage
advise
advice
advertise
Words with 'nv'
Words with 'nv' are also very common in advanced Business English. These can also be quite challenging:
environment
involve
invite
invest
conversation
convert
invent
/ks/ sounds (mainly words with an 'x')
In spanish, the /ks/ sound does not exist. When Spanish speakers pronounce words with an 'x' in them, they sometimes pronounce them with an /s/ sound, which can be difficult to understand. Here are the most common Business English examples:
example /ek sam pul/ /e sam pul/
explain /ek splain/ /e splain/
expert /ek spert/ /e spert/
expand /ek spand/ /e spand/
experiment /ek spe ri ment/ /e spe ri ment/
extensive /ek sten sive/ /e sten sive/
expensive /ek spen sive/ /e spen sive/
experience /ek spe ree yence/ /e spe ree yence/
exit /ek sit/ /e sit/
excited /ek sai ted/ /e sai ted/
access /ak ses/ /a ses/
success /suk ses/ /su ses/
Words with 'j' in the spelling
Spanish speakers sometimes pronounce English words spelt with 'j' with a 'y' sound. This can sometimes cause confusion.
project /pro djekt/ /pro yekt/
major /may djor/ /ma yor/
majority /ma djo ri tee/ /ma yo ri tee/
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