Teaching the /Y/ sound may seem difficult because you can’t visually show a child where the sound is produced. The /Y/ sound typically emerges in both boys and girls at 2.5 years old. It should be mastered in girls by age 4 and in boys by age 5. Below are some tips for assisting your child in appropriately producing the sound.

I often like to ask my students to produce two sounds together in order to feel where the /Y/ sound is made (back of the throat). First I ask to produce the letter E (eeeeee). Then I ask the child to produce “ahhhh.” If you quickly interchange these two sounds, you start to produce the /Y/ sound. Another thing that I like to do is have my clients to lightly touch their throats to assist them in understanding where the sound is made.