Open & Closed Vowels – The Secret to Understanding EU Portuguese Natives | Practice Portuguese

Note: Make sure to grab the free PDF guide, PLUS the interactive chart shown in the video: https://www.practiceportuguese.com/vo... Many learners find European Portuguese natives much more difficult to understand than Brazilians. Today we tackle what we consider the hardest part of European Portuguese comprehension: Open, medium and closed vowel sounds. There's LOTS of information here, but if you take the time and effort, you'll better understand what European Portuguese natives are saying and see a significant improvement in your own Portuguese accent! Important: We designed this video to be an ultimate resource that you can return to many times, regardless of your current level. So don't expect to understand and master every single pronunciation rule after just viewing it the first time. **CHAPTERS** Why Focus on Vowel Pronunciation? 00:39 Phonetics Vs. Phonology 02:15 Written Letters Can Correspond to Multiple Sounds 2:48 "c" 3:34 "x" 3:50 The Same Sound Can Also Correspond to Different Letters 4:14 [j] 4:18 [z] 4:32 Languages Sometimes Have Letters Are Not Pronounced, eg. "H" 4:44 Oral Vowels 5:23 Oral Vowels in Portuguese 05:44 3 Traits for Producing Oral Vowel Sounds 06:46 Demonstration of All Oral Vowel Sounds video: 08:29 Practicing With Our Interactive Diagram video: 10:34 Some Sounds Can Correspond to Multiple Letters video: 12:00 Stressed Vs. Un-stressed Syllables 12:41 How to Tell Which Syllable To Stress 13:20 Vowels in Stressed Syllables 14:27 Vowels Sounds in Stressed Syllables Can Change the Word's Meaning 15:09 Is the Vowel Open or Medium? 16:30 If the word ends with "or", the *o* will always sound like [o] 17:55 When the letter "e" is followed by… 18:19 If the vowel appears before an " m" or "n", the vowel will not be open, but medium 19:18 Vowels in Un-stressed Syllables 19:37 [i] / [u] 20:14 Remember that the [u] sound 20:14 The Letter "e"*  21:51 Words That Start with "E" 22:32 Case of the Missing [ɨ] 22:32 What Do Brazilians Use If They Don't Have [ɨ]? 24:43 The Letter "a" 25:24 The Letter "o" 26:22 Sometimes Extra Vowel Sounds Even Get Added! 28:35 Quick Summary of Unstressed Vowels 29:43 Stressed Vs. Un-stressed Vowel Examples 30:27 Exceptions to Unstressed Vowel Sounds 32:14 "AL" and "EL" Stay Open 32:36 "OL" Stays Medium [o] 33:33 "ai" and "au" Stay Open, [a] 34:11 "ou" and "oi" Stay Medium, [o] 34:34 Words Ending With "er" Stay Open, [ɛ] 34:50 Words Starting With "e" or "o" Don't Close 35:14 Special Suffixes 35:55