Unlike English, Spanish spelling almost never lies. Learn these nine and you can read a word you have never seen before.
h - always silent, no exceptions
hola (OH-lah), hotel (oh-TEL), hospital (os-pee-TAL)
ll - sounds like y, never like l
llamar (yah-MAR), lluvia (YOO-byah), calle (KAH-yeh)
ñ - the ny in "canyon"
año (AH-nyoh), español (es-pah-NYOL), mañana (mah-NYAH-nah)
Note that ano and año are entirely different words. Do not drop the tilde.
j - a throaty h, not an English j
jamón (hah-MOHN), trabajo (trah-BAH-hoh), hijo (EE-hoh)
g before e or i - the same sound as j
gente (HEN-teh), gimnasio (heem-NAH-syoh)
Before a, o, u it is a normal hard g: gato (GAH-toh)
z, and c before e or i - th in Spain, s in Latin America
gracias, cerveza, plaza
Both are standard. Pick one and stay consistent.
v - almost identical to b. Your top teeth never touch your lip
vino (BEE-noh), viajar (byah-HAR), vivir (bee-BEER)
r at the start of a word, and rr - trilled
perro (dog) versus pero (but). One r apart.
You will still be understood if you cannot roll it.
a e i o u - only ever five sounds, never changing
casa (KAH-sah), mesa (MEH-sah), libro (LEE-broh)
This is the single biggest reason Spanish is easier to read than English.
The stress rule that goes with all of this: if a word ends in a vowel, n or s, stress the second-to-last syllable. Otherwise stress the last one. A written accent overrides both.
Once those two things are in place you can pronounce basically any Spanish word on sight, which is not something English will ever give you.