A short learner-focused YouTube lesson by Hadar Shemesh distinguishing the vowel pair /ɛ/ (as in "sell", "get") versus the diphthong /eɪ/ (as in "sail", "gate"). The instructor explains articulatory differences (steady mid-front vowel vs. moving diphthong), offers practical hacks (add a brief 'y' or /j/ glide to feel the diphthong: "sale" ≈ "say+" j), provides example contrasts (sell/sail, get/gate, men/main), and encourages repeated exaggerated practice until natural.
Chapters
Hello guys, it's hadar. And today we're going to talk about the vowel pair sell versus sail. As my friend subscriber Juica asked me to explain. Alright, so the E versus the A. Sell, sail, get, gate. Now, for some speakers, this is not a big deal. You're probably listening and saying, what's the problem? Get versus gate. But for some speakers, and I get you guys, there is no distinction between those two vowels because the A does not exist in your language. So what you tend to do is to shift that a sound into a clean, neutral sound. And then words like get and gate so sound the same. Sell and sail. Okay, they both sound like sell. So let's look at the difference between the two. The first one is a clean E as in red get. You drop your jaw and it's a continuous sound. You're not changing anything from one consonant to another. Let men. But then for the A as in day, you have a shift from one sound to another. It's a diphthong and it means that you change the position of the tongue and the mouth as you pronounce the sound. Listen. So it shifts from an E to E. Day. Alright, it's not day, not one clean sound, but day. And therefore it is not sel. Sel. But sal. So you want to close your jaw and push your tongue forward as you pronounce the vowel. But you know, I like those little hacks that can help you pronounce the sound without thinking too much of your tongue. So what I want you to think about is just to add a J sound at the end. As a J, as in. Yes. All right, Think about it. It's not D, it's right. That's the J sound and then the T. Date. Date. So it's not sell. But if you're adding a J sound. Sale. And yes, you can think about closing your jaw and pushing the tongue forward as well. Pale, gate. Late main versus men. Now, if it feels exaggerated and artificial to you, then first of all, great, because you're probably doing something that is a little different than what you're used to. So that's good. But also remember that it doesn't matter if it's forced at the beginning. It's going to be forced until you make it your own. So you have to practice it a few more times until you get comfortable with it. And then you don't feel like it's artificial anymore. But also, even if you are pushing a bit, as long as you make a clear distinction between the two words, I think that's better. I think you have. You're not going to be mistaken for, you know, you're not going to be saying one thing and it's going to sound like another word. Okay. So you're going to feel clear and it's going to be more accurate and you'll tone it down anyway with time. Okay. And of course, with practice. So don't worry about it. So let me know in the comments below. How was it? Trying to practice it and trying to apply it in real speech. Okay. I can't wait to hear what you have to say. So that's it. I hope this was helpful, Juica. And please share this video with your friends. And do not forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Have a great week and I'll see you next week in the next video. Bye.
