Spanish spelling is beautifully regular — once you know the alphabet and the sound rules you can read almost any word aloud. This lesson builds your ear and voice: the sound–symbol rules for reading aloud, and how each part of the WJEC course works — the Oracy and Reading & Writing Non-Exam Assessment (45%) plus the Listening and Reading & Writing exams.
Make a guess: what decides whether a c or g sounds hard or soft?
Mission 1What decides the sound of a Spanish c or g?
Work through each screen and answer the questions as you go — some ask you to recognise the right sound, some ask you to type the word. Collect ⭐ stars and press Start.
The five vowels
Five pure, short vowels
Spanish has just five vowel sounds and they are always short and pure — you never glide or "drift" them the way English does. Say each one crisply:
a — "ah" — casa (house)
e — "eh" — mesa (table)
i — "ee" — sí (yes)
o — "oh" — no (no)
u — "oo" — tú (you)
Why this matters: in reading aloud the vowels never change. English speakers tend to say "KAH-suh" — the final a is a full clear "ah", not a mumbled "uh".
The Spanish alphabet: it's the English 26 letters plus ñ. The screens that follow are your sound–spelling table — learn which letter makes which sound and you can read almost any Spanish word aloud, even ones you've never seen.
Quick check
The letter that says nothing
?When you read hola and hombre aloud, what happens to the h?
c, qu and z
Hard and soft c
The letter c has two jobs, decided entirely by the vowel that follows it:
c + a/o/u = hard [k] — casa, como, cuando.
c + e/i = soft — cena, cine. In Spain a "th" sound; in Latin America an "s".
qu = [k], used only before e/i — que, quién. The u is silent.
z = soft "th"/"s" — zapato, luz. Same sound as soft c.
To keep the [k] sound before e/i you must use qu; for [k] before a/o/u you write c (and cu + vowel: cuatro, cuenta).
Read-aloud tip: never say "kwe" for que — the u after q is silent, so it is just "keh".
g, gu and j
The throaty sound: g and j
Like c, the letter g changes with the next vowel — and there's a trick to keep it hard:
spelling
sound & example
g + a/o/u
hard g — gato, gordo, gustar
g + e/i
throaty [x] — gente, gimnasio
gu + e/i
hard g, silent u — guitarra, guerra
j (any vowel)
throaty [x] — jamón, joven
The "loch" sound:g before e/i and j everywhere make the same rasping sound at the back of the throat — like the "ch" in Scottish loch. So gente and joven both start with that throaty noise, not a soft English "j".
Special letters
ll, ñ, ch, v and the rolling r
A handful of letters and pairs make sounds English doesn't spell the same way:
ll ≈ "y" — llamar (to call), calle (street).
ñ = "ny" — España, niño (like the "ny" in "canyon").
ch = "ch" — chico (boy), mochila (backpack).
v sounds like b — vivir (to live), vaca (cow). No English "v" buzz.
single r = a tap — pero (but). One quick flick of the tongue.
rr, and r at the start of a word or after n/l/s = a rolled trill — perro (dog), rojo (red), Enrique.
Minimal pair:pero ("but", single tap) vs perro ("dog", rolled). The trill is the difference between them — worth practising for reading aloud.
Sort it
How does it sound?
Choose the correct sound for each letter or word.
Mission 1 check
What decides the sound of a Spanish c or g?
?Lucía writes «cocina» (kitchen) on the board. Sam must read it aloud. How should its two c's sound?
Quick check
Which sound?
?How is the g in gente (people) pronounced when you read it aloud?
Sort it
Hard c or soft c?
Sort each word by the sound of its c. Hard [k] before a/o/u; soft "th/s" before e/i.
Hard c — [k]
Soft c — "th/s"
Game · Match
Match the letter to its sound
Tap a letter/pair on the left, then tap its sound on the right.
LETTER
ll
ñ
h
j
rr
z
SOUND
silent
like "y"
"th" / "s"
throaty (like loch)
"ny"
rolled / trilled
Quick check
Hear the roll
?Which word contains the rolled / trilled r sound?
Type it
Gap-fill — the right verb form
1Gap-fill. Choose and write the correct form: (yo) ____ español = "I speak Spanish" (from hablar).
Hint: the yo ("I") form of an -ar verb ends in -o.
Unit 1 Oracy (NEA) · Unit 3 Listening
Speaking and listening
WJEC GCSE Spanish is untiered (grades A*–G) and 45% of it is Non-Exam Assessment (NEA) done in class. Here are the two skills where your sound rules pay off:
Unit 1 — Oracy (NEA, 30%). Three tasks: a read-aloud plus a role play; a prepared presentation on your own interest followed by an unprepared discussion; and an unprepared conversation. Apply your sound rules out loud — silent h, soft c/g, rolled rr, ll≈"y", ñ="ny".
Unit 3 — Listening (exam, 20%). You listen and answer questions. Your answers are written in Welsh or English, so you show you understood — you don't have to write in Spanish.
Read-aloud checklist: before you speak, scan for silent h, any rr to roll, and soft c/g. Getting these right sounds far more Spanish than perfect grammar with an English accent.
Sort it
Read it aloud correctly
Choose how each item sounds — as you would say it in the reading-aloud task.
Unit 2 set work (NEA) · Unit 4 Reading & Writing
Reading and writing
The other two units cover reading and writing — one in class, one in the exam hall:
Unit 2 — Reading & Writing (NEA, 15%). You study a Spanish set work — a graphic novel, short story, film script or novel — and write a response in Spanish about it.
Unit 4 — Reading & Writing (exam, 35%). This is the biggest single unit. It has three parts: reading comprehension, a translation from Spanish into English, and a writing task. Reading answers may be given in Welsh or English; the translation goes into English.
You'll meet some unfamiliar words. Not every word will be on your vocab list — that's expected. Use the context, any cognates (words that look like English), and the sentence around it to deduce the meaning. In the translation, don't leave a gap: a sensible best guess usually earns more than a blank.
Type it
Translation into Spanish
2Translate into Spanish: "there is a house". Three words.
Hint: "there is / there are" = hay; "a house" is feminine → una casa.
Type it
Spelling with ñ
3Write the word for "Spain" — remember its ñ.
Hint: Es-pa-ña — the ñ ("ny") near the end. It ends in a vowel with the stress on -pa-, so there is no written accent — only the ñ.
Recap
Your sounds & exam toolkit
Vowels: five short, pure sounds — a, e, i, o, u — never drifting.
c / g: hard before a/o/u; soft (c) or throaty (g) before e/i. qu/gu keep the hard [k]/[g] before e/i, silent u.
The r: single = tap (pero); rr / start / after n,l,s = rolled trill (perro).
The 4 units (untiered, 45% NEA): Unit 1 Oracy (NEA, 30%); Unit 2 set-work Reading & Writing (NEA, 15%); Unit 3 Listening (exam, 20%); Unit 4 Reading & Writing with Spanish→English translation (exam, 35%).
Unfamiliar words: deduce meaning from context and cognates — never leave a translation gap.
Nail these and every paper gets easier. Press Finish to see your score.