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Spanish differs from English in a significant number of ways. Some of these differences make Spanish simpler or more difficult for the native English speaker, depending on your outlook. Here are a few:

Pronunciation

Spanish, unlike English, is absolutely consistent in its pronunciation (and spelling) rules. The way to learn how Spanish is pronounced, hence spoken, is to first learn how each letter in Spanish sounds. Here's the easy part: There is no such thing, for example, as a long or short vowel. In Spanish, a vowel is a vowel, and unless it is accompanied by another vowel or follows a specific consonant that renders it silent, the beginning Spanish student can rely 100% on the learned rules and very few exceptions. A note for the beginning Spanish learner: Concentrate fully on Spanish pronunciation rules; you will be grateful later when you encounter spelling changes in verbs that strive to maintain pronunciation consistency.

Vocabulary

Spanish also differs from English in that every noun (book, chair, boy) is either masculine or feminine. The three previous English examples in Spanish would be "el libro" (masculine), "la silla" (feminine), and "el chico" (masculine - becomes feminine "girl" by changing the word to "la chica"). We don't confer gender on most of our nouns in English, and this tends to give newcomers some problems. Also, Spanish adjectives (noun modifiers) take on the gender endings of the nouns they modify. For example, if you wanted to say "handsome boy" in Spanish, it would be "el chico guapo." A "pretty girl" would be "la chica guapa." (Spanish also has some pesky nouns that fool the beginning with their spelling that breaks gender rules. For example "mano" meaning "hand," should be masculine since it ends in "o." However, it is feminine. These exceptions must be learned.)

There are also many so-called "cognates" in Spanish. A cognate is a word that is spelled the same or nearly the same and means the same in Spanish that it does in English. For example, "el profesor," "interesante," "la bicicleta (bicycle)," and many more. Unfortunately, Spanish will sometimes throw the learner a curve with what are known as "false cognates." One example would be the verb "asistir," which does not mean "to assist." It means "to accompany." Actual (pronounced "ak-twal") in Spanish normally means "present" as in current.)

Word Order

Did you notice in the previous examples of "el chico guapo" and "la chica guapa" that the adjective followed the noun? Most adjectives

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