As someone who has studied in Canada for more than a decade, I still find it hard, to be honest, to distinguish/differentiate certain sounds, such as "son" and "sun", "cob" and "cub", "cup" and "cop"..and so on. I have found these words particularly difficult to pronounce correctly. When I hear people say these words and most of the time with proper context, they are quite easily understood. Yet when it comes to my turn of talking, I sometimes have a slip of the tongue when it comes to saying these words. I would presume that this is not comfortable for most(if not all) non-natives as well. How can one improve his/her accuracy of speaking, with special attention paid to words aforementioned. Comments are highly valued.
I say "son" and "sun" with exactly the same pronunciation. "Cob" rhymes with "mob", "cub" rhymes with "pub" and "cop" rhymes with "mop". Note that "cob" and "cop" sound exactly the same... Understand that I grew up mostly in Western Canada - in Ontario, I'm accused of sounding like an American (!). In Atlantic Canada, to my ears, "cup" sounds like "coop" and "cop" sounds like "cawp". So, I'm not sure how to recommend improving your pronunciation other than to say not to worry about it and to go with what sounds right to your ears. Your comfort in speaking is all-important.
