PoliceLink

The Nation's Law Enforcement Community

+6

Basic Spanish

9 Comments

The Spanish language consists of the same letters as the English alphabet and the four additional characters: CH, LL, N, and RR.

CH: Is pronounced like the “ch” in “church” at all times; LL: Like the English consonant “Y”;

N: Like the “ny” in “canyon”;

RR: Very strongly trilled, with the front top portion of the tongue on the roof of the mouth behind the teeth.

“K” and “W” appear only in foreign words and are pronounced in the same way as in the foreign word.

In Spanish, the letter “H” is always silent.

The Letter “J” is pronounced like the English “h” in “house” Spanish consonants do not differ significantly from those found in English.

Spanish vowels maintain the following pronunciations at all times:

A: Sounds like the “a” in “father”;

E: Sounds like the “e” in “they”;

I: Sounds like the “i” in “police”;

O: Sounds like the “o” in “”;

U: Sounds like the “u” in “rude”;

QU: Sounds like the “c” in “coal”.

Next: Arrest & Detention of Foreign Nationals

Previous: Seizure of Electronic Evidence

Download the FREE mini guide now: Basic Spanish

Flag as inappropriate

+6

izzy84

over 3 years ago

14 Comments

I just started learning Spanish. Very GOOD to learn in Corrections and L.E.
BongoBongo

almost 4 years ago

2 Comments

Good as a starting point. However, there are a few words misspelled.
ryanhatch

about 4 years ago

1372 Comments

good info
Twidget

over 4 years ago

98 Comments

I am currently learning spanish; it is not a difficult language at all. I plan on going full time in the Southwest so knowing spanish will be essential. I agree that it is wrong for illegals to come to this country and demand that everyone speak THEIR language; but they are here regardless. Having a language barrier between myself and the subject I'm dealing with will only complicate matters. Suck it up and learn basic spanish.
wolfspirit

over 4 years ago

36 Comments

This will help if i ever have to go to southern FL.
ybarra1574

about 5 years ago

66 Comments

I as well speak Spanish. I do find it useful while doing my job. Regardless if people are here illegally, if by me knowing Spanish helps if I am at a call, I won't complain about having to use it.
dalizzard

about 5 years ago

276 Comments

I live in southern Calif. what I can't stand is all of these ILLEGALS who sneak over here,
once they move in here and suck up our tax dollars in programs. They expect us to cater
to them in Spanish format, when they shouldn't be here in the first place !!!!!!!
cagoeth

over 5 years ago

34 Comments

Yeah, I never understood the outcry against making English the official language. If I remember correctly, even though we speak only English in the US, it isn't written in a law that says it is the only official language. I could be wrong or that could have already changed. With that being said, anyone other than vacationing, should be able to speak English very well. Yes, there are other languages spoken regularly in the US, but are not the language of the US. I agree with Sobay96 mostly. Learning multiple languages is great, especially if you want to travel the world, but that is a personal choice.

BUT...even so, if we are going to work in areas where it is obviously going to be interaction with a lot of people who do not speak English, I might learn the basics of their language for professionalism and safety sake. Especially if I move to the Southwest, I'll learn a bit of Spanish.
Sobay96

over 5 years ago

102 Comments

I do speak, and write Spanish. That being said, unless you are going on vacation, south of our borders, don't see a need for it. If people coming to my country don't defer the courtesy of learning our language, they should pay the consequences. We don't have to learn any other language unlesss it is a personal choice.