The Spanish language is orthographically superior to the English language.  If you know the rules of pronunciation, you can pronounce any genuinely Spanish word in any book or newspaper that you see, whether or not you know the meaning of the word or have ever seen it before.  With Amerindian names that have come into Spanish, there are some trivial variations: México (pronounced Méjico); Ushuaia (pronounced Usuaia).

I consider myself highly literate in English, but still I occasionally find that I have been mispronouncing words for years.  For example, I have usually pronounced ‘query’ as if it were spelled ‘querry’ instead of ‘queery’.  The other day, I finally checked.  I was also saying ‘disseeminate’ instead of ‘disemminate’ for ‘disseminate’.  And there are always others.

Such a thing is impossible in Spanish, if you know the rules.  Unfortunately, it’s a one-way street.  If you know how to pronounce a Spanish word, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you can spell it.

Let me sum up the rules. 

Vowels are A, E, I, O and U, which are pronounced approximately as in father, fiancé, machine, go and rude, with the latter two being rounder and tenser.  Spanish recognizes several diphthongs, in all of which either I or U is one of the component vowels:  AI, AU, EI, EU, OI, OU, IA, IE, IO, IU, UA, UE, UI and UO.  If a diphthong has A, O or E, the accent is on that vowel.  In IU and UI, the accent is on the second vowel.  These diphthongs can be produced by merely uttering the two vowels as one syllable.  Thus AI is like I in life, and OI is like OI in void. Spanish also recognizes triphthongs.  Possibilites, not all of which may actually exist, are the following: IAI, IAU, IEI, IEU, IOI, IOU, UAI, UAU, UEI, UEU, UOI and UOU.  In other words, we prefix I or U to any of the first six diphthongs.

In any unaccented Spanish word that ends in a vowel, N or S, the accent is on the penultima (next-to-last syllable).  Otherwise, it’s on the ultima (last syllable).  But in counting syllables, diphthongs and triphthongs count as single syllables.  Thus we have farmacia (pharmacy) with the accent on the second A, because final IA counts as a diphthong.  However, in policía (police), an accent mark is necessary.  In pusieron (they put), the accent in on the E, because the word ends in N.  But in componer (to compose), the accent is on the E, because the word ends in R.  Words not obeying these rules are written with accent marks: orgánico, compás, dámelo, mandándomela, guaraná.  In a few cases, an accent mark is added to a word that doesn’t need it on orthographic grounds, just as a distinctive mark: que (that), qué (what); si (if), sí (yes).  This has no bearing on pronunciation, except perhaps for a slight difference in stress.

H is always silent, except in the combination CH, which is pronounced as in chair.  G before E or I and J in any context are pronounced like German CH, as in nacht.  G before A, O or U and GÜ before E or I are like Greek gamma or G as in get, as explained further below.  GÜE and GÜI are pronounced like gway and gwee. C before E or I and Z in any context are pronounced like TH in thick in Spain, but like S in Latin America.  C before A. O or U and QU before E or I are like K.  Traditional Spanish words do not have K and W, but when they occur in neologisms, they sound like English K and W, as in kilómetro (kilometer) and sitio web (website).  F, L, M, P, S and T, though not precisely like their English counterparts, do approach them.  Ñ is a simple palatal nasal, which is often said to resemble NY, as in canyon.  LL is pronounced somewhat like LY in Spain, while in much of Latin America, it is pronounced like Y.  In other parts of Latin America, it resembles SH or ZH.  This is probably the most troublesome Spanish sound.  Y is pronounced like English Y in Spain and some parts of Latin America, but in other parts it tends to be pronounced SH or ZH, just like LL.  Sometimes Y is used instead of I in the formation of diphthongs: doy (I give), hay (there is).  And there is the word y (and), where it sounds like I. B, D and G vary from English.  B tends to sound somewhat like V between vowels, and D tends to sound like TH in this.  G between vowels is a voiced fricative corresponding to voiceless J.  It resembles gamma of modern Greek.  After a nasal, these three consonants sound like their English counterparts: sombrero, mando, tango.  V tends to have exactly the same pronunciation as B. N sounds generally as in English, but is pronounced like NG in sing before C, when it sounds like K, before QU, before G, when it sounds like G in get, and before GÜ.  R at the beginning or end of a word or syllable, or RR between vowels, is rolled very audibly.  R between vowels is a flap that sounds something like English D. X between vowels has the sound of GZ, as in examinar (to examine), but before a consonant is sounds like S as in extranjero (foreigner).  X at the beginning of a word is like J: Xavier.  In a lot of Mexicanisms, X is a little unpredictable, and may take on the sound of J, as in Oaxac. Then there’s Xochimilco, pronounced Sochimilco.

Double letters, rare though they are, are pronounced doubly: tráigannosla (bring it to us).  CC is pronounced KS in Latin America or KTH in Spain: acción. RR and LL are considered letters of the alphabet. 

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