Nunzioaccent coach
Head to head · the sound library

water vs van

Two sounds close enough to trade places: the “w” of water and the “v” of van. Swap one for the other and a different word comes out — this page is how to keep them apart, in both directions.

/w/ w as in water
/v/ v as in van

When they trade places

“w” (as in water) coming out as “v” (as in van)

Keep your teeth completely off your lip; round both lips into a small circle and glide.

“No teeth! The teeth are banned from this sound! Round the lips like whistling at a beautiful plate of pasta.”Nunzio, when he hears it

“v” (as in van) coming out as “w” (as in water)

Un-round your lips and touch your top teeth to your bottom lip, letting voiced air buzz through.

“Too much kissing! Un-pucker, bello. Top teeth rest on the bottom lip, gentle, and buzz like a scooter.”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.