It has been a long time since I have heard someone say "Jalapeño" incorrectly ("Jal-ah-peen-oh"). I was always irritated when I heard someone pronouncing the "J" as "jay" and the "n" as "en", as if they had no knowledge of the other, more Spanish sounding pronunciation. 

I also have not heard anyone mispronounce "Mocha" as "Moe-chuh" in about 10 years. Starbucks has eradicated that mistake.

But now I think back and realize that English speakers were never making any error. There is no "enye" sound in English, for the Spanish "ñ". And the letter "j", well, is not pronounced with an aitch sound as in "hello". 

I was wrong to think they were incorrect. They were native speakers after all, and they were saying it in a way other English speakers would expect.

Those who have mastered English know well that there are English equivalents to many terms borrowed from foreign languages, and will prefer those in the course of speaking with English listeners, unless they are trying achived something other than communication. Masters of English use English variants unthinkingly for words that were borrowed long ago, since a massive portion of the English language is non-Germanic (unrelated to English), and was borrowed from Latin or other Romance languages— and clearly, English speakers are not at home speaking those languages.

People who opt for foreign pronunciation are usually

1. unaware of an English equivalent,
1. are uncomfortable using an English equivalent, (due to social disapproval),
1. are imitating a norm mindlessly (as in the culinary arts),
1. or are showing off knowledge of foreign pronunciation (usually, ahem... **mispronunciation**).

In a conversation, if there is an English equivalent, or pronunciation, for a word borrowed from a foreign language, the skilled communicator will choose *what will be readily understood and pronounced correctly*. The pompous person will choose what is considered more refined, urbane, sophisticated, or cosmopolitan—Or—politically correct. There are good reasons for doing this—to attain some status or avoid disapproval. To appear smart or seem authoritative. It is clear however, that the transition from native sounds to foreign ones is usually uncomfortable and clearly a departure from the language currently being used. "Ha-lah-peen-oh" sounds fine now, only because we are now familiar with the horrible reproduction of something that sounds quite different spoken by a native Spanish speaker.

In the context of a conversation within a language, it does not make sense to switch to a foreign mispronunciation unless:

1. The majority of listeners will not understand without using the foreign mispronunciation, or
1. There is no English equivalent, or
1. There is an expectation of negative judgment.

When speaking with your non-Italian family, how should you pronounce "Spaghetti"? Clearly not as Giada De Laurentiis does! We have an English phonetic equivalent for this word, and to attempt it in Italian with seriousness is really uncalled for.

When speaking in English with your family, how should you pronounce "Jalapeño"? Well, with English speakers nowadays, you will be judged if you don't attempt the Spanish variant, even if English listeners are all monolinguists. So it might make sense to botch the Spanish version, unless you actually speak Spanish well, in which case, you can insert it awkwardly into the complete English sentence you are speaking.

To speak a language is to stay within its phonetic system. Listeners of a language understand their phonetic system, but have trouble with the phonetics of other languages. This is why it all sounds garbled. After the critical learning period for language, it is very difficult to hear another language as native listeners of that language do (which is why older learners are unable to overcome their accents).

To *try* to say a word in another language, mid sentence, is to botch the sentence, unless one is ignorant about an alternative. Even then it sounds terrible.

If one is aware of an alternative, one chooses the foreign variant for some special reason, not having to do with correctness. Giada does not say "mozarella" as she does, because it is correct.

I celebrate the origin of terms like others do, but I know when I am speaking my language, and when I am not. To insert sounds of other languages, poorly or not, is to botch it, break the rhythm, and cause some irritation to the listener. It is much more pleasing to use the sounds and vocabulary within a language, unless there is a special reason for departure. Like to imitate what everyone else is doing and expects, even if it doesn't make sense.
