Lesson Two: Ate and At

This lesson teaches the pronunciation of the /eɪ/ and the /æ/ sounds.

The /eɪ/ sound is found in Vietnamese words like đây, cô ấy, mây, and sây.  Some English words with the sound are ate, cape, cane, plane, ape. The /æ/ sound in Vietnamese is the same as the vietnamese letter "a" found in words like xa, ma, la, and ta. Some English words with the sound are at, cap, can, plan, and app.

The most important practice you can get out of this video is listening to the difference in the two sounds together. The sounds themselves are very easy for Vietnamese speakers to make, but they are often mispronounced because the sounds are not distinguished. So, listen till you can hear the difference. When you can hear the difference you will be able to speak the difference. Hearing always comes before speaking. Just like with a baby.