LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

 The more I hear people express their thoughts in English and Spanish in everyday life, the more convinced I become that we need speech training. I have mentioned reading aloud before as an excellent exercise. Actors constantly practice and train their speech, and I believe we should also train ourselves to speak well every day. After all, the way we speak says a great deal about who we are and how we present ourselves to others. My recommendation is simple and easy to follow: read aloud for five to ten minutes a day. Read slowly; savor the sounds, pay attention to points of articulation, how you articulate each sound, and experiment with stressing sentences in different ways. Do not rush or stumble over your words. Easy does it. You may notice the results in a few weeks, perhaps even sooner. Your interlocutors will appreciate the difference. Try it. You have little to lose and much to gain. 

We all know that Spanish has two sounds represented by /b/ and /v/. One is occlusive (hard): "hombre, ámbar, tambor." (Occlusive but not explosive.) The other sound is fricative (soft): "bueno, vino, beber." (lips hardly touch.) This latter sound appears in English in words such as: wound, wool, would, and wood. If you pronounce these two sounds well, both your English and Spanish will improve your accent a lot. But remember that practice makes perfect.