Dear VinaTowners,

were last week’s diphtongs easy? This week, let’s follow the same pattern and you will hear the difference between diphtongs made of E or Ê.

Ok, let’s get started!

Lesson 10: Vietnamese diphthongs ÂU, ÂY, EO and ÊU

1/âu

Gâu gâu (bow wow dog’s cry)

Câu cá (fishing)

Xấu xí (ugly)

As â and a are from the same family, “âu” is quite similar to “au”. To differentiate them, consider  "ao" as "ou" in "loud" and "âu"as "ow" in "low". Get it?

2/ây

Thầy cô (teachers)

Cây táo (apple tree)

Bao vây (to surround)

Similarily, "ay" and "ây" are not much different in their pronunciations. This also leads to some misspells in Vietnamese, most of which are now accepted in either "ay" or "ây".

Eg: Thứ bảy and Thứ bẩy (Saturday), Thày giáo and Thầy giáo (Male teacher).

3/eo

Meo meo (meow meow- cat’s cry)

Lẻo đẻo (to tag alone)

Leo trèo (to climb)

The “e” and the “o” are pronounced very closely, like if it was a letter in itself, starting with the beginning of the “e” and ending with the send of the “o”. Train with the easiest one, the cat’s meow. Sometimes it’s an elementary approach like that that can make you understand quickly.

4/êu

Lêu lêu (words used to mock someone)

Sếu đỏ (red crane)

Đều đều (steady)

The combination of “ê” and “u” makes a completely new sound. "Êu" is like "a" in "scale" or somehow close to a French “u”.

Now the time has come to listen to our lessons frequently since you have learned  more pronunciations. Practice talking too, and switch from one lesson to another, train to say words that feature “ây” vs “ay”, to name a few.

Let us know about your progress, why not by recording a few diphtongs on your own and send us?

See you next week with more exciting pronunciations!