[isolli]

While helping my children learn French spelling, I was horrified when I realized that there are 6 or 7 ways to write the sound [ɛ̃]: un in (im) [i]en ain aim ein

[wat10000]

Gotta get it right or you'll order some wind instead of some wine. (Did that once, and that's how the difference finally stuck for me.)

[throwaway894345]

What did the server bring to your table? A fan?

[wat10000]

They understood what I meant, and then the French folks I was with had a long discussion with me about how it's not the same sound.

[throwaway894345]

Yeah, I've been there. Apparently my pronunciation of "Chretien" (Christian) was indecipherable, and the French people I was speaking with clarified it for me by saying, "you're saying cray-tee-uh(n), but it's pronounced cray-tee-uh(n)"

[dolmen]

And note that "crétin" means "dumb", so mispronouncing "chrétien" can seriously go wrong.

https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/cr%C3%A9tin

[skydhash]

The first one (un) is different from the others.

[isolli]

So I've been told... but I could never hear the difference myself!

[skydhash]

The first one is pronounced with an O shape with the mouth (like you would do with the word oh), and the others with more of a smile shape (like with the word see). It’s impossible to pronounce one like the other.

I’m not a native English speaker and I gave up trying to pronounce th (father, through). Although I can hear the difference.

[l-p]

This has to be a regionalism because there're strictly identical to me, eg. in "Un train." /œ̃tʁɛ̃/ I say the two vowels exactly the same way.

After a cursory search it seems my Parisian-ish accent is at fault: https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/Annexe:Prononciation/fran%C3%...

[arkh]

Yup, very parisian. Love how then they almost mock how pain (bread) is pronounced in the south-west where you won't mistake the sounds between the words un pain.

[strongpigeon]

> I’m not a native English speaker and I gave up trying to pronounce th (father, through). Although I can hear the difference.

Why can't the Québécois count to four? Because there is a tree in the way.

[AStrangeMorrow]

Arguably so is “aim/ein etc” and “in”, though more dialect dependent and more subtle.

The former for me have a bit more exhale and round sound while the “in” are a tad drier.

For example “fin” and “faim” are distinct for me. However “faim” and “feint”