As a peson who is surrounded by some non-Arabs I noticed that, even if their Arabic is good, they still have a minor problem with this sound secifically. They either pronounce it as /j/ or /dj/. And in respond to one of the questions asked on italki, I say:
The point is, In English you can experience two sounds, or let's say three:
1- /g/ as in "girl".
2- /j/ as in "jam".
3-/dj/ as in "age".*
Now the question is, Which sound or case of these corresponds to the Arabic, Standard(Not dialect) , and Fluent sound of the letter " ج " ?
The short answer is: None.
again, NONE. :D
This is a unique sound, which comes from a specific place in the mouth- the middle of the tongue touches a specific pint in the mouth cavity.
Please do check these videos and tell me what you think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDO3eQUP2ao
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpGMp3TSaPo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqAD7ezujR0
Now let's talk about dialects, I will tell you that if you come to visit me in Cairo, you are going to notice that everybody pronounces it exactly as how an English speaker says: /g/ as in "Google".
In some areas in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, People tend to say: /j/ just as in "Jennifer"- or "Jackass".
The rest in Egypt, and in countries like Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco -as far as I know- pronounce the sound perfect, exaclty as in Standard Arabic.
The last question is, Is there any Arabs who actually pronounce the letter " ج " as /dj/ as in "Fridge"? I myself have never heard it, may be you can help me to recognize this.
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* /dj/ is actually two successive sounds /d/ + /j/ which is NOT the same as in Arabic.
