Jen500 Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 My dc just learned the verb etre. Our audio cd (SYRWTLF) pronounces tu es, il est as 'eh'. I learned to pronounce it more like 'ay', or somewhere in between 'eh' and 'ay', if that makes any sense. Is this a regional difference? I guess I'll teach them 'eh'. I guess I'm wondering why my teacher (who was French, or maybe from Quebec, I don't remember) taught us to say est more like 'ay'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I'm a French speaker. And I didn't know there was a difference in pronunciation between 'eh' and 'ay'. I pronounce them the same way, and yes it would be the same pronunciation as 'est'. One thing I've notice in the last year or so, is that English ears and French ears are trained differently. You guys will pick up on variations of pronunciation that really doesn't matter to French ears, yet, French speakers will pick up nuances that makes English spelling much easier. Neither is better, just different. My point is that 'eh' or 'ay' is all the same to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 Merci, Cleo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 (edited) I'm not a native speaker, but took a targeted linguistics course as part of my French degree. The problem with having English speakers thing in terms of 'ay' is that they sound the 'y'. The French vowel may be similar to 'ay', but it remains open. Or so I remember. Laura Edited November 1, 2009 by Laura Corin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 If I think of the word 'lay' as in "hens lay eggs", I can hear a diphtong at the end of the word. And the syllabe drags out, it's too long. However if I cut it short, I would get the proper pronunciation. Is this making sense? Oh, and btw, the word 'hen' contains the proper pronunciation for French 'est'. So if you can say 'hen' without the leading h, and the trailing n, you're doing well :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 I'm not a native speaker, but took a targeted linguistics course as part of my French degree. The problem with having English speakers thing in terms of 'ay' is that they sound the 'y'. The French vowel may be similar to 'ay', but it remains open. Or so I remember. ...... that's what I wrote. What kind of SPAM is this? I don't want to click on the link to find out. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Maybe the name got swapped by mistake when the spam was removed? Hopefully? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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