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Yesterday that young man was yelling!”  - practice with the  beginning “y”  sound

D: Did you hear about that young man in Yelm, Latonya? 

L: Yes, yesterday that young man was in his yard yelling something.

D: What was he yelling?

L: He was yelling that he couldn’t sleep because his neighbor’s dog yapped (yap! yap! yap!) every night of the year.

D: Every night of the year?? That’s a lot of yapping.

L: Yeah! That’s why the young man in the yellow jacket was yelling.

D: Yes! And he was also yawning  (yawn)– because he couldn’t sleep!

L: Yikes!

Well, that was an unusual conversation to start our podcast today!

It was! There was a reason we had that silly conversation, dear listener. Can you guess what it is?

We were practicing the sound the letter “y” makes when it is at the beginning of a word.

What letter is that?

The letter “y” .

Take a moment to look at the title of this podcast to make sure you know what the letter “y” looks like.

The name of the letter “y” is pronounced just like the question word “why” isn’t it?

Yes, it is.

The sound that the letter “y” makes when it starts a word can be challenging or tricky for English learners!

It can be! That’s why we thought we would practice that sound today. 

How do we make that sound?

We open our mouth slightly and put the tip of our tongue against our bottom teeth.  Then we press the middle of our tongue against the roof of our mouth.

Stop right there please! I thought a “roof” is the top covering of a building. For example:  “The roof protects my house from the weather.”?

You are 100 % correct about that.  We also call the top of our mouth the “roof “ of our mouth. It is hard and bony in the front and soft and muscular at the back.

The roof of the mouth is also called the palate, isn’t it?

It is! The hard, bony part at the front is the hard palate and the soft muscular part at the back is the soft palate.

Got it! So, how do we make that beginning “y” sound?

Follow these steps:

1.      press the middle of your tongue against the roof of your mouth

2.      put the tip of your tongue behind your lower front teeth 

3.      make a sound with your throat as your tongue slides forward a little

“y”

You have it! It might take a little practice, dear listener. For native Spanish speakers, it is the same sound the “y” in “mayonesa”.

Remember the letter “y” can make different sounds when it is in the middle or at the end of words. 

That’s right!  English is complicated.

Here is the good news: When we see :”y” at the beginning of a word almost always is  pronounced “Y”.            

Stop right now! Take a moment to give yourself a “pat on the back”  say “good for me” for “sticking with” or continuing your English learning journey.

Here’s a sentence from our silly conversation to practice that beginning “ y “sound.

“Yes, yesterday that young man wearing a yellow jacket was in his yard yelling something.”

Let’s say that together one more time slowly.

Yes, yesterday that young man wearing a yellow jacket was in his yard yelling something.

So, dear listener, please don’t yell or yawn, just continue learning day by day, step by step. 

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