The Spanish letter G

Question

How do you pronounce the Spanish letter G?  Sometimes it sounds like an English H when saying Girasol and at other times it sounds like an English W eg. La Guajira.  Also How does it sound when pronouncing the Spanish word Guapo?  Is it an Engish G sound or an English W sound or maybe nearer to an English H sound?

Accepted Answer

Hola Chris
Yes, the letter G (as well as the letter C) can have two different sounds depending on which vowel comes after, so:
with GA, GO, GU the sound of g is a soft sound as in the English words gate, gum, game...
with GE, GI the sound of g is a hard sound and the most approximate English sound to this would be the "h" sound in the words history, Harry, home...
So, the word guapo would be pronounced as [wuapo] (soft g) 
Saludos
Inma