Two sounds close enough to trade places: the “uh” of banana and the “uh” of cup. Swap one for the other and a different word comes out — this page is how to keep them apart, in both directions.
Make the vowel even shorter, quieter, and fully relaxed — a quick unstressed mumble in the center of the mouth.
“Too much passion for such a little vowel! This one is a mumble, a shrug, almost nothing — quick and lazy, bello!”Nunzio, when he hears it
Open the jaw a touch more and give the vowel a small push of voice — short, but with a little punch, not just a mumble.
“Almost, bello! But this little sound wants a bit of muscle — uh! — not a sigh. Small, but alive!”Nunzio, when he hears it
You cannot hear your own swap. That is the whole problem.
Nunzio records you reading a sentence, scores every sound in it on your phone — nothing is uploaded — and tells you which of these two actually came out. Nunzio — Accent Coach is coming to the App Store and Google Play.