Is it okay to say "what ja doing?" instead of "what ya doing?"?

Question

I live in the Midwest and it is very common to hear people say "what ja doing?" instead of saying "what ya doing?" or "what are you doing?". Is this okay? Is using the 'j' sound instead of the 'y' sound okay as long as the other person gets the gist of what you are asking? I wonder if the 'j' sound will confuse people who use English as a second language.

Answer 1

There is standard English for academic writing and substandard English for everyday usage and slang depending upon your audience. Be judicious. Slang can fall flat if you're speaking to a highbrow audience like a college admittance board. Know your audience, is the general rule.

Answer 2

Here in Texas, "whatcha doin'" is pretty common. I can see it being quite confusing though. English is one screwy language at times!

Answer 3

Yes, of course, IN SPEAKING ONLY - in pronunciation, we call this linking. It's very common. You will often hear things like Whatchya doin'? Djyou go tathuh movies last night? Djyou see Avengers? When djya wanna go see that other movie?

Of course, in writing, you must write the words as usual, not how they sound when speaking and linking sounds together.

You may lose your friends and colleagues for whom English is a second language, but they usually want to learn to speak like the locals.