The alphabetic principle is the idea that letters represent sounds. This is identical in both languages. Spanish and English share all letters of the alphabet, with Spanish having an additional letter, ñ.

Teacher Tip: Post an alphabet chart showing both Spanish and English letters side by side. Have students circle or highlight the letters they already know in both languages. Celebrate this overlap to build confidence.

Spanish and English share several beginning sounds such as b, c, d, f, s, and t. Cognates that start with these sounds (like familia/family) make this connection clear and easy to highlight.

Teacher Tip: Use our Crosslinguistic Alphabet Cards to show shared and unshared sounds. Incorporate cognates into beginning sound practice to strengthen transfer skills and immediate confidence. One example of an engaging activity is having students sort shared and different sounds to see how many they already know.

Both languages teach the distinction between vowels and consonants. While vowel sounds differ more between the two languages than consonants do, the concept of vowels as the “heart of syllables” and consonants as the “frame” is the same.

Teacher Tip: Create a chart of vowels and consonants in both languages. Color-code vowels in red and consonants in blue to make the similarities stand out. Have students practice identifying vowels and consonants in both languages to see how their letter representation is the same.

Though Spanish is often described as syllable-based, it still relies on letter-to-sound correspondence. Words like sol, oso, and ojo show one-to-one sound mapping, just as English words like cat or bat do. Mastery of sound to letter prepares students for more complex syllable structures in both languages.

Teacher Tip: Use our Phonics Kits in Spanish and English to practice segmenting sounds. Model how each letter contributes a sound by segmenting familiar Spanish words, then apply the same strategy with simple English words. Example: English /c/ /a/ /t/ and Spanish /s/ /o/ /l/. In addition, pair this with our Articulation Videos, that can be found in our products’ Supply Room, which show how the mouth forms each sound and model correct pronunciation clearly. Adding captions makes the videos even more accessible and provides students with both a visual and auditory anchor for each phoneme.

Both languages have digraphs, where two letters create one sound. Spanish has ch, ll, and rr, while English has ph, th, ck, ch, sh, and wh. The digraph ch is shared by both languages, giving an immediate bridge in function and meaning.

Teacher Tip: Introduce the concept of digraphs with ch in both languages (chile / chop). Build anchor charts that show digraphs side by side, then build out from the shared one to the unique ones. Check out our free English Picture Vocabulary Cards to use in your classroom!

Both languages use consonant blends, though they are often described differently. In English, blends are taught as two sound blends while in Spanish that function is seen in what is called sílabas trabadas. For example, fl appears in both flor and flower. In each case, the two consonants keep their individual sounds but are pronounced together as a blend.

Teacher Tip: Begin with blends students already know in Spanish and bridge to English. For example, connect fl in flor/flower or pl in plan/plan. Highlight how both languages combine the sounds smoothly, showing students, they can transfer familiar patterns from Spanish to English.