Two sounds close enough to trade places: the “oh” of boat and the “aw” of law. Swap one for the other and a different word comes out — this page is how to keep them apart, in both directions.
This vowel moves — start open and glide your lips into a tighter round shape by the end.
“This vowel travels, bello! It starts open and ENDS in a little kiss. Oh-oo! Two stops on the journey, not one!”Nunzio, when he hears it
Hold one steady open rounded vowel with no glide — the lips do not move once the sound starts.
“Too much traveling! This vowel stays home — one open round sound, held steady. No gliding, bello, just aww.”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.