How to properly pronounce Héctor Villalba's name

We all got that pre-school level Spanish education in high school. However, you're still probably not an expert at the language. Uruguayan and Argentinean Spanish can sometimes be a language of it's own, so, we thought it would be important to learn how to properly pronounce Héctor Villalba's name.

Let's start with his first name, Héctor. One of the first lessons you probably learned in Spanish 101 dealt with the letters H and J. The H in any Spanish word or name is ALWAYS silent. It is never pronounced. Combined with the accented E in the name, the proper pronunciation of Héctor is Ector.

His last name is where the Spanish language takes a turn for Argentina (or Uruguay). The double L's used to be it's own letter within the Spanish language. But, that has long been done away with. Across most Spanish-speaking countries LL makes a Y sound, much like in "yo-yo" or "yogurt." In Argentina, double L's make a J sound. Local's call the language "Castellano."

Therefore, Villalba is pronounced Vee-jal-ba.

As an Argentinean, he probably also loves mate and parrilladas.

Here is some play-by-play calls on Villalba from local broadcasters in Argentina: