/H/

The /h/: a puff of air, not a Spanish j

The English /h/ is just air leaving the throat, with no friction anywhere in the mouth. It's far softer than the Spanish j in jamón. And in English it is pronounced: the silent Spanish h is one of the reasons we forget it.

How it's made

• 👄 Mouth: already set for the vowel that follows.
• 👅 Tongue: relaxed, creating no narrowing.
• 🔊 Voice: voiceless — just a puff from the throat, with no rasp.

You hear it in: house · hello · happy · behind · who

⚠️ The typical Spanish-speaker mistake: rasping like the j in jamón, or dropping it entirely. If it disappears, hair sounds like air and hate like ate.

By the end you'll be able to: produce a clean puff of air and stop dropping the /h/ at the start of a word.