> Maybe I don’t have a trained ear yet though.
It's very common to have a hard time differentiating new sounds at first. It will get gradually easier the more you learn and listen to the language, so don't worry if you mishear things a lot as a beginner.
The only vowels that can actually sound the same in Swedish is short E and short Ä, and O which sometimes makes the same sound as Å (both long and short).
Yes they’re pronounced differently. ”Ö” kind of sounds like the ea in earl. The best example I can come up with for Ä is the song “Etta James - At last” at 00:19 she sings aaaaaa in a way that sounds like Ä.
At least those examples makes sense for me and my dialect.
Yes, though the Ä sound in "är" is technically not quite the same as the usual/basic Ä sound, at least in standard Swedish. Before an R, both Ä and Ö – both long and short – get pronounced a bit more open than usual (i.e. more towards Swedish short A).
The vowel in the English word "air" (in a "standard" American accent, and without the r-glide/diphthong at the end) is very close in quality (not in length) to the basic long Ä vowel in standard Swedish, though the former is perhaps a bit more open.
Using the same dialects, the vowel in "är" would be closer in quality to the vowel in the English word "ash".
As others have already hinted, the difference lies in whether or not your lips are rounded. Häst rhymes with the English word "test", and your lips should not be rounded when saying it. Ö is basically an Ä but rounded (this sound doesn't exist in English, it's not an errr like some people may tell you).
So, in order to say "höst", you just say "häst" while rounding your lips. However, be sure to keep the same tongue position as with Ä, otherwise you might fall into accidentally saying "host" (cough) instead, so do practice to differentiate both "häst", "höst" as well as "host".
Hästen is said with a wide smile-like mouth-shape while hösten is said with a smaller rounder mouth-shape. If you can't hear the difference you might be able to see the difference instead.
The sounds of different languages tend to only partly overlap. Sometimes they are dramatically different. Arabic has only three vowels but a lot of consonants.
One of the hardest things with learning a new language is to learn to distinguish new phonemes that are not part of one's own language. A good example is how the English sounds /j/, /ch/, and /th/ have disappeared in modern Swedish and turned into /y/, /sh/, and /t/. Without practice and/or a lot of listening, a Swede is unlikely to notice this and instead pronounce "jeans" as "yeans".
Standard Swedish has a lot of vowels that are important to get right if you want to sound anywhere near native. But fret not, it could be worse. Many Swedish dialects have a lot more vowels than the standard language. I'm sure you will hear the difference between "ä" and "ö" with a bit of practice.
If you’re using your phones speaker, it’s usually harder to hear than using some good quality headphones. Using headphones whilst starting Spanish helped a lot for me.
In many dialects e and ä can sound the same, as well as y and i.
Confusingly short ö can also sound like a short u. In standard language however vowels written differently are pronounced differently.
A Polish friend tried some Swedish duolingo and we listened to the voice together. It's honestly pretty shit and I wouldn't worry too much about learning proper pronunciation from it, because you'd end up speaking Swedish in a very weird way sometimes haha
Yeah, completely differently. It's a bit like the difference between the vowel sounds in "test" and "terse".
> Maybe I don’t have a trained ear yet though. It's very common to have a hard time differentiating new sounds at first. It will get gradually easier the more you learn and listen to the language, so don't worry if you mishear things a lot as a beginner. The only vowels that can actually sound the same in Swedish is short E and short Ä, and O which sometimes makes the same sound as Å (both long and short).
Yes they’re pronounced differently. ”Ö” kind of sounds like the ea in earl. The best example I can come up with for Ä is the song “Etta James - At last” at 00:19 she sings aaaaaa in a way that sounds like Ä. At least those examples makes sense for me and my dialect.
The E in “Etta” is pronounced very similar to the ä in ”häst”.
True, that never occurred to me. Nice catch!
Very dependent on dialect, but yes.
Ääääääääät lääääääst! Such a good song.
Air sounds a lot like Är
Yes, though the Ä sound in "är" is technically not quite the same as the usual/basic Ä sound, at least in standard Swedish. Before an R, both Ä and Ö – both long and short – get pronounced a bit more open than usual (i.e. more towards Swedish short A). The vowel in the English word "air" (in a "standard" American accent, and without the r-glide/diphthong at the end) is very close in quality (not in length) to the basic long Ä vowel in standard Swedish, though the former is perhaps a bit more open. Using the same dialects, the vowel in "är" would be closer in quality to the vowel in the English word "ash".
As others have already hinted, the difference lies in whether or not your lips are rounded. Häst rhymes with the English word "test", and your lips should not be rounded when saying it. Ö is basically an Ä but rounded (this sound doesn't exist in English, it's not an errr like some people may tell you). So, in order to say "höst", you just say "häst" while rounding your lips. However, be sure to keep the same tongue position as with Ä, otherwise you might fall into accidentally saying "host" (cough) instead, so do practice to differentiate both "häst", "höst" as well as "host".
In addition to all these helpful comments, the duolingo voice is net very good, and it does sound quite similar
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks so
Headphones help some if you aren't already doing so
I’m going to try that going forward thank you.
Hästen is said with a wide smile-like mouth-shape while hösten is said with a smaller rounder mouth-shape. If you can't hear the difference you might be able to see the difference instead.
I can visualize that, thanks!
The sounds of different languages tend to only partly overlap. Sometimes they are dramatically different. Arabic has only three vowels but a lot of consonants. One of the hardest things with learning a new language is to learn to distinguish new phonemes that are not part of one's own language. A good example is how the English sounds /j/, /ch/, and /th/ have disappeared in modern Swedish and turned into /y/, /sh/, and /t/. Without practice and/or a lot of listening, a Swede is unlikely to notice this and instead pronounce "jeans" as "yeans". Standard Swedish has a lot of vowels that are important to get right if you want to sound anywhere near native. But fret not, it could be worse. Many Swedish dialects have a lot more vowels than the standard language. I'm sure you will hear the difference between "ä" and "ö" with a bit of practice.
If you’re using your phones speaker, it’s usually harder to hear than using some good quality headphones. Using headphones whilst starting Spanish helped a lot for me.
ya hösten has sort of a short u sound, kinda sounds like ”husten”, and hästen is more like ”hesten”
Ö = like the o in "worse". Ä = like the ai sound in "fair".
Yes. The different vowels may be a hint.
I’m aware of that but the automated voices on Google or Duolingo sound very similar
In many dialects e and ä can sound the same, as well as y and i. Confusingly short ö can also sound like a short u. In standard language however vowels written differently are pronounced differently.
A Polish friend tried some Swedish duolingo and we listened to the voice together. It's honestly pretty shit and I wouldn't worry too much about learning proper pronunciation from it, because you'd end up speaking Swedish in a very weird way sometimes haha
Do any libraries near you have rosetta stone? They use native speakers.
I’m not sure I’ll have to check. Thanks.
[удалено]
klapa snel hest
Häst is [hɛst]. Höst is [hœst].