Now what I just showed you is the articulation of the English /t/ and /d/ sounds. The Spanish /t/ and /d/ sounds are similar in their place and manner of articulation, but they differ in one key feature: which part of the tongue is used to articulate.

Reviewing the same diagram of the mouth from above, focus now on the difference between the “tip” of the tongue and the “blade” of the tongue.

The blade of the tongue is just beyond the tip of the tongue.  Because these parts of the tongue are physically different, when you place them in contact with the alveolar ridge they create different sounds.

• In English, you articulate the /t/ and /d/ sounds with the tip of the tongue.
• In Spanish, you articulate the /t/ and /d/ sounds with the blade of the tongue

Articulating the /t/ and /d/ sounds with the blade of the tongue results in a softer sound. This is because the blade of the tongue has more surface area, so the air pressure release  is more dissipated than if you were to use the narrow tip.

In the audio file below, I articulate both of these sounds with each of the five Spanish vowels twice. The first time, I use the tip of the tongue, and the second time I use the blade. See if you can hear the difference:

Now that you got the basics, let’s see if you can recognize the difference in real Spanish words.  For each of the words below, I first articulate the /t/ or /d/ sound using the tip of my tongue (incorrect pronunciation), then I repeat the same word while articulating with the blade.

Example Words:

• tú
• todo
• tiene
• desde
• distinto 
• duele

If you are a native English speaker, you will have a strong tendency to articulate your /t/ and /d/ sounds with the tip of your tongue.  That’s why it’s important to develop an awareness of the difference and try to force yourself out of the habit.

One way to do this is to disengage the tip of your tongue completely by sticking it out past your teeth.  When practicing, you can even pinch the tip of your tongue so that you know for a fact that you are not using it to articulate.

I demonstrate this in the video below:

If the tip of my tongue is out past my teeth, then it is impossible to articulate with it. The only possible way I can make the /t/ or /d/ sounds at this point is to use the blade of the tongue, which is the natural Spanish way.

Then we finally had the difficult combos – or the ones that combined the tap with a /t/ or /d/.

If you try to create these combos with your tip-of-the-blade /t/ and /d/ consonants, you will probably find yourself tongue tied.  This is because the alveolar tap is articulated with the tip of the tongue, so to do TWO tip of the tongue movements in fast succession is a very awkward.

If, however, you articulate these consonant clusters using the blade of the tongue for /t/ and /d/, you will be able to flick your tongue back and strike both sounds in one fluid motion.  

In the videos below, I try to demonstrate the physiology of this using my hands.  The palm of my top hand is the alveolar ridge, and my bottom hand is my tongue.

In the first video, I strike this point using just my fingertips (tongue tip).  Because I am striking using the same point, I have to move my hand BACK to reset the position before I can strike again.

In this next video, I use two points on my right hand for the strike.  First I use the palm of hand (tongue blade), then I use the fingertips (tongue tip).  By using two points, I can strike the same point on my left hand in one fluid stroke without changing the momentum.

Articulating the Spanish consonant clusters /t&/ and /d&/ with an English-style, tip-of-the-tongue /t/ and /d/ articulation is like the firs GIF – striking your palm with the same single point.  It’s an awkward and inefficient movement that takes more time because you have to change momentum twice.

Articulating these /t&/ and /d&/ with the Spanish-style, blade-of-the-tongue articulation is like the second GIF – striking your palm with two points in one fluid motion.  Languages always evolve toward the path of least resistance, so it makes perfect sense why Spanish speakers articulate their /t/ and /d/ sounds this way.

Now that you know the correct way to create this combo, try to create it yourself using the drill below. First I articulate the two syllable sequence “di…&a” over and over again while building speed.  Eventually as I get faster, I drop the /i/ vowel and merge to a “d&a”.  Then I do the same drill moving from “ti…&a” to “t&a”.

Perfect the articulation of the /t/ and /d/ sounds in Spanish and you will be one step closer to perfecting your accent in Spanish.

As an English speaker, you will have no problem articulating the /l/ and /n/ sounds at the beginning of a Spanish syllable, since they are articulated the same way in English.  It’s only when these sounds show up on the END of a syllable that we English speakers start to do weird things…

Consider the difference between the “l” sounds in the English words “Lee” and “Eel”

For “Lee,” we make a normal alveolar lateral /l/ sound by placing the tongue tip against the alveolar ridge and letting the air pass around.

For the “Eel” however, we do something completely different. For this sound, we pull the back of our tongue to restrict airflow through the throat, resulting in a very guttural sound:

This is known as the “Dark L” in English, and it has no place in Spanish. Nevertheless, you will have a tendency to “darken” your /l/ sounds in Spanish whenever you have an / l/ at the end of a syllable.

In the recording below, I first say the correct /l/ pronunciation at the end of the five spanish vowels, then I pronounce it the way an English speaker might with the “Dark L” version.

In this recording, I alternate between the correct and incorrect pronunciation of Spanish words containing an /l/ at the end of a syllable:

A similar phenomenon happens for the /n/ sound. When it happens at the end of  syllable, we English speakers often nasalize the vowel instead of fully articulating the /n/.

Watch the video of me saying the word “Man” and notice how I can get away with not ever placing my tongue against the alveolar ridge.

The reason you might hear an /n/ here without me even making the sound is because /n/ is a nasal sound. By nasalizing the vowel (i.e. letting air pass through my nose) I can trick your ear into thinking I’m doing an /n/ when I’m actually not.

In the recording below, I first say the five spanish vowels with correct /n/ pronunciation, then I pronounce it the way an English speaker might with the nasalized version.

In this recording, I alternate between the correct and incorrect pronunciation of Spanish words containing an /n/ at the end of a syllable:

Instead of darkening your /l/ or nasalizing your vowel to replace /n/, focus on exaggerating both sounds as much as possible. 

Here are a few tips for articulating these sounds more clearly in Spanish:

• Try to get past the preceding vowel as quickly as possible. Remember, Spanish vowels are short. The less time you spend on the vowel, the more time you can spend on exaggerating the /l/ and /n/ consonants.  
• Focus on lowering your jaw and bottom lip to give your tongue more space to get into position. 
• Once the tongue is in position, dwell on the sound for as long as you can.  It’s always good to exaggerate when you first start out so you can build the habit faster.
• For the /n/ sound, focus on making a clear oral vowel (no nasalizing) beforehand.  

Implement these simple tips whenever you come across and /l/ or /n/ sound in Spanish and you will notice a drastic improvement in your Spanish accent.