Two sounds close enough to trade places: the “sh” of shoe and the “s” of sun. Swap one for the other and a different word comes out — this page is how to keep them apart, in both directions.
Pull your tongue slightly back from the teeth, widen the groove, and round your lips a little.
“Too sharp, too hissy! Pull the tongue back a step, push the lips forward like a little kiss — shhh, soft like the sea.”Nunzio, when he hears it
Bring your tongue tip forward close to the ridge, spread your lips, and make a narrow hissing channel.
“Too shushy! Bring the tongue forward, spread the lips flat, and make the thin sharp sss — like air from a bicycle tire!”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.