Pronunciation Tip #1: Man, Men, Woman, Women

[oterrivelivan]

Thank you very much! Greetings from Brazil.

[Niquee1]

you really helped me a lot I couldn't spot the difference before watching this video, now I can clearly notice it.

[RadmirM]

thanks a lot!

[grandexandi]

wait, does "flower" also differ from "flour"? what about "eight" and "ate"? and "our" and "hour"?

[ioquot]

@grandexandi flower and flour = same; eight and ate = same, in american english; our and hour = not always the same, 'cause "our" can be unstressed, something like "ar"

[Sadalmelek]

I thought "Man" was pronounced as "Mahn" as "Tan (sun)"

[liamedify]

@Sadalmelek It is in "standard" accents. The guy has a typical American thing that's called "æ tensing": the "a" sound [æ] in "man" becomes kind of a long "e" sound (actually a diphthong) in some regions. So if you pronounce it with an "a" from "tan" it is correct as well (you won't find the "æ-tense" version of the sound in dictionaries).

[Sadalmelek]

@liamedify

Thanks for the explanation.

I thought the guy was a British citizen.

Britons do pronounce the "a" in Man as in "tan."

[FanciDreama]

thanks, i always can't pronounce these correctly ;(

[xesi92]

wtf is the noisy sound in the background ???

[iNemoden]

Thanks for lessons, Sean!

I found it's very awkward that I know I lot of words in English but when I came to Canada first time nobody could understand me, so pronunciation is very important. I think, foreigners will appreciate your lessons very much.

But it's just one thing - the background sound is like a broken TV and it's irritating a bit. Could you fix it, please?

[jmckatracho]

yeah .. this is exactly ,what I was looking for ..thanks a lot

[goodr123]

To explain what I mean easier, should I pronounce like 'we men' when women is pronounced? it must be different though :)

[liamedify]

@goodr123 "we men" is pronounced "weeman". "women" is pronounced "wiman". Not the "ee" in "cheers", but the "i" in "pitch".

[diegolopes86]

Great. The best explanation I´ve ever heard

[tivrfoa]

I think that I finally got it. hehe =)