Two sounds close enough to trade places: the “j” of jump and the “zh” of vision. Swap one for the other and a different word comes out — this page is how to keep them apart, in both directions.
Start with a full stop — press your tongue tip to the ridge, then release into the voiced friction.
“You skip the beginning! First the tongue SLAMS the door — then it opens with a buzz. Stop, then juice! D-then-zh!”Nunzio, when he hears it
Do not start with a stop; keep the tongue close to the ridge without touching and let the voiced friction flow smoothly.
“No explosion this time, bello! The tongue never touches — it hovers close and the buzz flows like warm honey.”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.