Trouble distinguishing certain sounds: O Ô, E Ê, A Â AU AO ÂU...

                                                                     Lumpybacon (www.reddit.com)

Hello,

I hope this is an appropriate place to ask these questions.

To give a little background, my mother is from Saigon, and I spoke with her in Vietnamese when I was younger but stopped after about age ten. I never got very far though, and now, about ten years later, I would like to become fluent in the language but have had a bit of trouble with a few things.

Mainly, I have trouble distinguishing and producing certain sounds, and I haven't been able to find any resources to help me out. The sounds I'm having trouble with are:

"o" and "ô" in words like "ong" and "ông" or "nói" and "nối"

"a" and "â" in words like "rau" and "râu"

"e" and "ê" in words like "heo" and "kêu"

I also sometimes get the hỏi/ngã tone mixed up with the nặng tone

Oddly, I feel like I'm a little better at producing the sounds above than hearing them correctly. I know that they're different, and based on the little bit I know about phonology, I can consciously make the sounds. No one has ever mentioned my making a mistake in pronouncing them either.

Also, to my ears, there are a few words that sound (as pronounced by my mother and other relatives) very different from what dictionaries say are the correct pronunciations:

The "ô" in "hộp" and "hôm" sound a lot more like "ơ" to me (the latter may just be because it's said too fast)

The "t" in "hột" sounds more like a "c" (as in a labial-velar stop)

The "n" in "hôn" and "bốn" sound like "ng" (as in a labial-velar nasal)

Is it just an unusual dialect, or am I completely mishearing things? Are they really important distinctions to make, or can I get by with a funny accent and just guess the words based on context? I would prefer to be able to hear and produce the sounds correctly, but I could use a little advice and information. I suppose the best thing to do is just listen carefully to a lot of people say the words, huh? Or perhaps I'm too old to learn the differences?

Sorry if I'm asking too much or the answers to my questions are obvious.

.............................................................................................................

O – Ô

1/ Ong - Con ong  - Bee

2/ Ông  - Grandfather

A – Â – Au –Ao - Âu

3/ Rau (vegetable)  -  4/ Rao (to announce) – 5/ Râu (Beard)

6/ Nói (To speak) –

Nối  (To connect)

E – Ê

7/ Heo (Pig) –  8/ Kêu (To call)

9/ Hôn (To kiss) – 10/ Bốn ( number:  4)

11/ Hộp (Box) – 12/ Hôm (hôm nay – Today)

Họp (Phòng họp – Meeting room)

13/ Hột (Hột gà = Chicken egg)

14/ Hộc (hộc tủ / Ngăn kéo = Drawer) 

The female speaker was born in Nam Dinh province.

In this video, the letter she pronounced was Ă. Not Â. We're sorry!