No peeking!

Buenos días alumnos de Español :)
¡Espero que todos estén bien!
This week in class we have been working on the pronunciation of certain vowels.  When asked to repeat the words we were using as practice, many students asked that we write the words on the board before attempting to pronounce them.  
Today I want to give you a tip that will help you improve your pronunciation.  Instead of LOOKING at a word and trying to pronounce it, LISTEN to the word.  Close your eyes, listen carefully, ask the teacher to repeat it, slow it down, whatever you need to make it more clear, and then repeat it without having a clue how it’s spelled.
When you are LOOKING at a word, you are going to pronounce it the way the letters sound in YOUR head, which may be quite different in Spanish than in your native language.  If you LISTEN to the word however, your pronunciation of it will be much closer to the actual sound.  After you have listened to it and repeated it several times, then of course you can take a look at the spelling.
Listening and repeating are the most important parts of improving pronunciation.  So next time that you hear a new word, remember to close your eyes and really HEAR the word!

The very wise (ja, ja),
Caro