Differences/Similarities between Spanish and English

• Both languages use the Roman alphabet. 
• 30% to 40% of all English words have word in Spanish with similar sound, writing, and meaning, these are called cognates that help students transferring their knowledge between both languages.
• The sentences in both languages have the similar basic structures with some exceptions like put the adjective before noun in English and noun before adjective in Spanish. 
• Reading & writing  requires same basic processes in English and Spanish like phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, comprehension, writing mechanics.

Vowels and consonants in Spanish and English

 - In written Spanish there are 27 letters: 5 vowels (A E I O U) and 22 consonants (B C D F G H J K L M N Ñ P Q R S T V W X Y Z




 - "In written English, . . . the 26 letters of the alphabet comprise 5 vowels (A E I O U) and 21 consonants.  In spoken English, there are 20 vowels and 24 consonants. It is this discrepancy, of course, which underlies the complexity of English spelling." (David Crystal, How Language Works. Overlook Press, 2006)

vowels IPA examples listen ʌ cup, luck Amer ɑ: arm, father Amer / Brit æ cat, black Amer e met, bed Amer 1 ə away, cinema Amer 2 ɜ:ʳ turn, learn Amer / Brit 2 ɪ hit, sitting Amer i: see, heat Amer ɒ hot, rock Amer / Brit 3 ɔ: call, four Amer / Brit 4 5 ʊ put, could Amer u: blue, food Amer aɪ five, eye Amer aʊ now, out Amer eɪ say, eight Amer oʊ go, home Amer 6 ɔɪ boy, join Amer eəʳ where, air Amer / Brit 1 7 ɪəʳ near, here Amer / Brit 7 ʊəʳ pure, tourist Amer / Brit 7

consonants IPA examples listen b bad, lab Amer d did, lady Amer f find, if Amer g give, flag Amer h how, hello Amer j yes, yellow Amer k cat, back Amer l leg, little Amer m man, lemon Amer n no, ten Amer ŋ sing, finger Amer p pet, map Amer r red, try Amer 8 s sun, miss Amer ʃ she, crash Amer t tea, getting Amer 9 tʃ check, church Amer θ think, both Amer ð this, mother Amer v voice, five Amer w wet, window Amer z zoo, lazy Amer ʒ pleasure, vision Amer dʒ just, large Amer

International Phonetic Alphabet

This chart contains all the sounds (phonemes) used in the English language. For each sound, it gives:

• The symbol from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as used inphonetic transcriptions in modern dictionaries for English learners — that is, in A. C. Gimson’s phonemic system with a few additional symbols.
  The chart represents British and American phonemes with one symbol. One symbol can mean two different phonemes in American and British English. See the footnotes for British-only and American-only symbols.
• Two English words which use the sound. The underline shows where the sound is heard.
• The links labeled Amer and Brit play sound recordings (Flash is required) where the words are pronounced in American and British English. The British version is given only where it is very different from the American version.

http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm

Spanish does not have the following sounds (listed by category):

• Vowel diagraphs: ou, ow, eigh, au, aw, oo
• Consonant digraphs: sh, th, wh, ph
• Consonant blends: sl, sm, sts, scr, spr, str
• Initial sounds: kn, qu, wr, sk
• Final sounds: ck, ng, gh
• Endings: -ed (pronounced /d/ or /t/ or /ded/ or /ted/)
• Endings: -s (pronounced /s/ or /z/ or /ez/ or /es/)
• Endings without a vowel: -ps, -ts
• Suffixes/prefixes: un-, over-, under-, -ly, -ness, -ful, -est
• Contractions: don't, isn't, weren't, etc.