Pronounciation of B and V

Hi all,

I’m currently listening to the Level 1 lessons of the Rocket Spanish course. I noticed that both Amy and Mauricio make a distinction between the sounds for B and V, especially at the beginning of speech. I find that a little odd as I read that these letters should be pronounced exactly the same in pretty much all dialects (Puerto Rican Spanish seems to be an exception). Both Amy and Mauricio seem to pronounce V the same way as in English (as a voiced labiodental fricative).

I read that Amy is not a native Spanish speaker, but I think Mauricio is. Which variation of Spanish does he speak?

I’d like to acquire a Mexican Spanish pronounciation. Is it correct that B and V are pronounced the same there? To my understanding they are pronounced as English B (voiced bilabial plosive) at the beginning of speech and after n/m. And as β (voiced bilabial approximant, which has no English equivalent) otherwise. Is that correct?

Thanks!

Michael

Hi Michael8480, 

You are correct when you say that both ‘B’ and ‘V’ are technically pronounced the same in Spanish; however, in practice, sometimes people do pronounce them differently, which is what you may hear with both Mauricio and Amy; however, this is a very minor thing and you can pronounce it either way and nobody will notice it as an “error” or see it as “weird”.  I am a native Spanish speaker, and I do the same sometimes as well :) 

Mauricio is from Chile, so that's the accent you'll hear from him. 

Kind Regards