Help with pronunciation
I'm having trouble understanding the right pronunciation with the letters Y J LL. For "yo" I hear "yo and jo" For "llamas" I hear "yamas and jamas" and sometimes a mixture of both letters like a soft G. And all from the same speaker too. Any advice?
Thanks, Keith
3 Answers
Almost every Spanish speaking country has a different way of pronouncing the y j and ll.
My advice to you is to pick one for yourself to use, and learn to understand the different sounds used by native speakers to mean each one.
When I first started reading your question, my thought was that this was a regional issue. In my experience, people from Spain and sometimes Argentina pronounce things differently than the rest of Latin America.
However, the fact that you said you heard a discrepancy from the same speaker is a mystery to me. Some letter sounds are a mixture. For example, B and V are usually a mixture. When most people say veinte (20) to me it usually sounds like they are saying "beinte". The same is true with the other letters you mentioned.
My only thought was that depending on the word being spoken you might hear a difference because of the other words that surround it in a sentence. In all languages, we tend to have letters and sounds that run into each other.
Hopefully, someone has some better insight than this. 
Not really an answer, Keith, but I know what you're talking about. A great example of this is the singer Juanes. He does this like crazy in his music.
The only think I can tell you is the context in which the phrases are being said is important. If the person is around people of certain decent, she may want to assimilate to that speaker's language pattern. Also, if the speaker learned the words in a certain region, their pronunciaton may be different.
I learned a bit of Spanish in Spain and more in Mexico. The -ción from Spain is something I cannot rid myself of, even with much practice.
