Fonix is phun!

Now stop it! Calm down! This is serious! We're going to do a little Spanish phonics lesson today and I want you all to concentrate!

We're going to learn about the Spanish letter 'U', and I hope this will be one lesson you'll never forget. (That's if you ever stop laughing!)

The letter 'U', named 'you' in English, but 'oo' in Spanish (think of the sound you make when you say the word 'soon') is a very interesting vowel.

In English, it can make a number of different sounds. Think about 'cut' and 'cute' for starters, but also remember some of the other words it gets mixed up in, like 'though', 'busy' and 'cure'.

In Spanish (luckily for you) this sort of muddle doesn't tend to happen. Letters (nearly always) make one sound only. So in Spanish, the letter 'U', which is called 'oo' also makes an 'oo' sound.

So, back to where we started and the 'Bum, bum Madrid' headline. Can you now read it as a Spaniard would read it? 

Yes, that's right, 'Boom, boom Madrid'. And you can now probably guess (by looking at the score) exactly what it means, Real Madrid have beaten Betis 0-5. The 'boom, boom' suggests destruction, like a bomb going off, blowing poor old Betis to pieces.

Not quite as funny as it looks (to English eyes) but I hope it will help you to remember the Spanish 'U' name and sound.

I just hope your teacher doesn't consider this lesson to be a bit too cheeky!

Boom, boom!

N.B. Due to pressure at work and other writing commitments I am going to change the deadline for my Spain4Primary blog from once a week to once a month. I apologise to everyone, especially those of you who have sent me messages of thanks for various postings. If I spot something really interesting I will add a few 'surprise' postings (and publicise them as usual on the TES forum and Twitter @JeremyJoseDean); but as a rule Spain4Primary will now appear on the first weekend of every month, starting on the weekend of the 1st of March. 
Un saludo, Jeremy Dean.