Spanish Speakers like Yellow

It's yellow! No, I mean it's jello! Well, jou know what I mean!

I get tickled with how my Spanish speaking accent reduction clients always get the "Y" and "J" sounds mixed up. I love the yellow/jello problem. It's typical in the accent of Spanish speakers speaking English. Why does it always happen and how do we stop it? That's a question they always ask me. We both know that they know how to make both sounds correctly, but it always happens.

What's going on with that? Well, first of all, it's not a speech mix up, it's a brain mix up. The brain gets confused and wants to switch the sounds in the Spanish-speaking mind. You want to say J when you're supposed to say Y and vice versa and you keep getting it mixed up. It's because the language of Spanish switches it. So how do you fix it?

Well I like to suggest tricking the brain. Say it wrong, and say it right, say it wrong, and say it right. Stand up and change positions as you say, this will signal the brain that something different is happening. Say each sound until the brain understands.

If you've ever seen fresh snow, kids love to make a path through the fresh snowfall. If it's deep, all the kids follow the same crooked path to school. That's what you have done for the sounds these letters make in your brain. You will keep following the path until you build a new one.

Here's a trick for jou (I mean you!)

To make sure you say the Y sound correctly, say i as in "it". Hold the sound i, then push your toungue forward, but don't let it touch the gum ridge. So here's how you practice:
i-yellow
i-you
i-young
i-yes
i-yell

It sounds strange at first, but the more you practice this technique the easier it will be to say the y sound instead of the j sound.

Then, move on to sentences and have some fun! Here are some practice sentences:

Joe dropped the jo-yo into the yam-flavored jam.
Jill will yell if Jake Yates drops the yoke on her jacket.
You young jury jerks just yell and yell and you jeer too!

Accent reduction does not have to be a miserable, tedious process. It can be fun if you can laugh at yourself while correcting yourself. My accent reduction clients often begin correcting themselves in about the third week of accent reduction coaching. That's when the miracle happens!

For more information on accent reduction coaching, classes and helpful hints, visit my website and sign up for my mothnly newsletter. http://www.crossingborderscommunication.com/.