Your W Might Secretly Be a V

Dutch W is made with your top teeth close to your bottom lip, giving it a slightly buzzy, V-like quality. American English W is made very differently — just round your lips into a small circle, like you're about to whistle, and let air flow through without your teeth touching your lip at all. If your teeth sneak in during English W words, listeners might hear something closer to a V, which can genuinely confuse words like 'west' and 'vest,' or 'wine' and... well, you get the idea. Try this: say 'west' and consciously keep your teeth away from your lip — round your lips forward instead, like a small 'oo' shape, then release into the vowel. Do the same with 'wine' and 'wet,' checking each time that your teeth aren't involved at all. It might feel like your lips are doing more work than usual, and that's exactly right. A few minutes of lip-rounding practice today will make this sound click into place.