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Really? They read pretty straightforward to me. THe only real issue I have is that I can't hear a distinction between a thorn and an eth, so the usage seems arbitrary to me. I know that Icelandic people say there's a difference, and at least one has tried to explain it, but I can't hear it.
Ether & either are the same word in everything but the voicing of the ‘th’. Other voicing distinctions in English are like those as between fox & vox or sip & zip. Done ‘correctly’ you can feel your throat vibrate (tho not all languages have voicing & those native speakers can find it difficult).
Yeah, I'm not feeling a distinction in any of those in the way I speak. :/
Ether/either to me only sound different in the e/ei. Same with fox/vox and sip/zip (if someone just said the word itself, without context, I don't think I could tell which they were saying because the f and v sounds are also very close to each other in my ear).
Skill issue! Nah, I have met plenty people that have the same reaction (English isn’t their first language). However, these sound are distinguishable by native speaker and will leave folks confused on occasion due to the ambiguity, or worse, hearing the wrong word entirely. The good news is that it can be learned and isn’t that difficult—you could probably pick it up from a video tutorial in a couple of minutes in your native language to which then it is just practice.
I am a native English speaker though...
That’s quite weird then since f & v, s & z, þ & ð are distinguishable sounds based on voicing. The only exception that is pretty wide spread for “th” sounds is in Ireland, but there is a quality difference is the aspiration between the two usually. Are you sure you are paying attention the vibrations of the throat?