regional.pan.yeismo-zheismo
Yeísmo and žeísmo: the many ways to say ll and y
Almost everyone now pronounces ll and y identically — that merger is yeísmo. What differs is the sound itself: a soft [ʝ] in most places, an English-style [dʒ], and the Rio de la Plata [ʒ]/[ʃ] that makes calle sound like ca-she. A few areas still keep ll and y apart, notably Paraguay and the Andes.
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Explanation
Spanish once had two separate phonemes: ll, a palatal lateral /ʎ/ (roughly the lli of million), and y, /ʝ/. Yeísmo is the collapse of the first into the second, and it has won almost everywhere: nearly all of Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and most of South America. Under yeísmo, pollo and poyo, halla and haya, callo and cayo are homophones. Distinguishing zones survive where the merger stalled or where a contact language reinforced /ʎ/: Paraguay (Guaraní contact), the Andean highlands of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, and pockets of northern Spain — a shrinking, largely rural and older-speaker feature.
Merging is one thing; the resulting sound is another, and it is where the real variation lies. The unmarked realisation is a soft [ʝ], close to the y of yes. Much of the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America strengthens it towards [dʒ], the j of jump, especially at the start of a word. The Rio de la Plata went furthest: žeísmo, a voiced [ʒ] like the s of measure, which over the twentieth century devoiced into šeísmo [ʃ], the sh of shoe — so in Buenos Aires and Montevideo calle is ca-she, lluvia is shuvia, and yo is sho. The change is led by younger speakers and is now the norm rather than a variant.
Practically: yeísmo is safe everywhere and is what you should produce. But spelling still distinguishes ll from y, so llamar, calle, ella and yo, ayer, mayo must be memorised as vocabulary — no accent can tell you which to write. The Rio de la Plata sh is the single most identifiable accent marker in the language and carries no stigma at all; it is fully prestigious locally, so imitate it only if you actually want to sound Argentine or Uruguayan. And do not try to reintroduce /ʎ/ to seem careful: outside the distinguishing zones it sounds affected or foreign.
Examples
My name is Guillermo.
Region: AR/UY
The rain falls in the street.
Region: universal
The chicken is on the stone bench.
Region: LatAm/ES
Let's hope there's something that finds you.
Region: universal