Can You Say 'Puerto Vallarta'? Landon Hollander - Inside La Cruz
go to original November 28, 2015

Photo courtesy of www.clearschui.com

I'm not a real Spanish teacher, but I play one on the internet...

Welcome to paradise if you're recently arrived, I'd like to take this opportunity to teach you how to say "Puerto Vallarta".  This is as much for new arrivals as permanent residents (excluding of course the local Mexicans).

Chances are, you first heard of and pronounced the name of the destination like this;

"PORTa v'ARta"...Sound familiar?

I'm going to try and get you closer to the real pronunciation which I can't really do without you being right next to me, but here goes...

The correct pronunciation of the city is "PWAIR toh bye AR tah". Notice it's PuertO and not PortA. The "O" is a brief rather than open (not "oooohhhh") syllable. Notice also that the "V" in Vallarta is pronounced more like a "B". If you can add a slight "V' on the back side of the "B" you're even closer. And for those of you who forgot phonetics, the capitalized/bold syllables are the ones you emphasize.

Try it:

"PWAIR toh bye AR tah"

"PWAIR toh bye AR tah"

"PWAIR toh bye AR tah"

"PWAIR toh bye AR tah"

"PWAIR toh bye AR tah"

We'll deal with "La Cruz de Huanacaxtle" some other time...

Landon, a full time resident for over 7 years, works with local commerce and individuals in a variety of groups and activities to promote and aid in the overall prosperity of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. He is "...not afraid of pretty women in bikinis or handsome dudes who only speak Spanish."  Check out his website at Inside La Cruz.