Sonido /x/ — la jota y la ge
Tarjetas para el fricativo velar escrito j, ge, gi: jirafa, jugo, gente, gigante.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Group by spelling as well as by sound. The j words and the g words sound identical, and a student who notices that g makes this sound only before e and i has a rule that works on every Spanish word. Reloj is the odd one out — the sound at the end of a word, which is rare and often barely produced. Eight minutes covers a subset.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentShow the card and wait 3 seconds for the student to say it.Log as correct
- Visual cuePoint to your mouth, or show the mouth picture for /x/, before the student tries again.Log as cued
- Verbal modelSay the word; the student says it right after you.Log as cued
- Placement cueBack of the tongue raised close to the back of the roof of your mouth without touching it. Push air through for a rough, voiceless sound.Log as cued
Adjust it
Drop to syllables ('ja' and 'jo'), or use fewer cards.
Put each word in a short carrier phrase with no /x/ in it.
Matching IEP goal
Given picture cards, Student will produce /x/ in Spanish in single words in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than a visual cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Fourteen Spanish words with the jota sound: jirafa, jugo, jabón, jamón, joven, juguete for j; gente, gigante, girasol, gemelo for g before e and i; and caja, ojo, hoja, reloj where it appears in the middle or at the end. One sound, two letters, and the spelling depends entirely on the vowel that follows.
What to listen for
Listen for the sound being fronted or softened. The jota is a velar fricative made far back in the mouth, and a bilingual student whose English is dominant may substitute an /h/, which is close and not the same. Watch gigante, which has the sound twice with two different spellings in one word — the best single item in the set.
Carrying it home
Jugo, jabón, ojo and reloj are everyday words. Asking a family to listen for one of them gives them something specific, which works better than a general request about a sound.
What's in this activity
- jirafa
- jugo
- jabón
- jamón
- joven
- juguete
- gente
- gigante
- girasol
- gemelo
- caja
- ojo
- hoja
- reloj
Questions
- Is this board in Spanish?
- Yes, all fourteen words are Spanish. This page is in English so an English-speaking clinician can find and evaluate it.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all fourteen cards play free.
- When is the sound written with g rather than j?
- Before e and i — gente, gigante, girasol. Before a, o and u it is written j. The rule is reliable and worth teaching directly.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.