We had jellow yello at my yob.

 


When a Spanish speaker starts to learn English one of their most common mistakes is the mispronunciation of the Y (/j/) and the J (/dʒ/) at the beginning of a word. Spanish speakers confuse these two English sounds because they work differently in Spanish making them to switch places between sounds very often. 

Yeísmo is a widespread phenomenon in Spanish language where "y" and "ll" are pronounced the same regardless of the specific regional variation. Its pronunciation is typically as the English Y (/j/) sound. In traditional Spanish, "ll" had a distinct sound but in most modern Spanish dialect this distinction has desappeard, leading to the neutralization of the sounds in speech.

Spanish speakers usually pronounce the consonant Y as the sound /dʒ/: jes, jears, jellow
Spanish speakers usually pronounce the consonante J as the sound /j/: yob, yoy, yust

So... What is the difference between these two sounds?

The key difference of both of these sounds is the positioning of the LIPS, TONGUE and TEETH.
 

As you may notice in the image above, both sounds have a different position for our oral apparatus.

 

1. When pronouncing beginning Y /j/  sound:

The lips: are relaxed. Sometimes, the lips are probably going to be taking the position of the next sound.

The tongue: the tip of the tongue touches the back of the bottom front teeth while the middle part of the tongue pushes forward against the roof of the mouth.

The teeth: partially open.


2. When pronouncing beginning J /dʒ/ sound:


The lips: rounded, the corners come in and the lips are flare.

The tongue: the tip of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth.

The teeth: closed 



IMPORTANT: remember that some words starting with G have the same sound as J /dʒ/.


LET´S PRACTICE!

Tip to remember:
Y = mouth wider, tongue high, soft push of air.
J = tongue touches the roof ("d") strong sound (“zh”).

EXERCISE 1: Minimal Pairs - Do you pronounce them the same?

Instructions: Pronounce each minimal pairs of words with the correct sound of the consonant Y and J. Try to identify the difference between both sounds and avoid mixing them up. Use the tips above.
  1. Yoke - Joke
  2. Yam - Jam
  3. Year - Jeer
  4. Yell - Gel
  5. Yule - Jewel
  6. Yet - Jet
  7. Yarn - Jarn
  8. Yew - Jew
  9. Yawn - John
  10. Yes - Jess

EXERCISE 2: Complete the sentences - Y or J?

Instructions: Complete each sentence with the correct consonant. Choose between Y and J. Remember that each spelling of the word has a different meaning, reading comprehension and understanding of sentence context is needed.
  1. The girl likes to eat _ogurt.
  2. He told a funny _oke in class.
  3. I want a cup of _uice, please.
  4. The cat will _ump off the bed.
  5. My _ard has many trees.
  6. Please _ell me your name.
  7. We saw a _ellow bird in the tree.
  8. The _oung boy ran fast.
  9. She put the cookies in a _ar.
  10. H e wants to learn _oga on Mondays.







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