Learning Subtle Sound Differences . . . . . (was: Re: [tlug] Re: austart.sh for Openbox in Ubuntu)

[jep200404 <jep200404@example.com>]

Simon Cozens wrote:

> So [my language teacher's] remedy for them is to repeat the phrase 
> "boku ha baka desu" until they stop saying "poku ha paka desu"...

I hope the teacher does more than just that. 

What I find useful are _pairs_ of words or phrases, 
where the only difference between them, 
is the one that the student does not hear. 

For example, I've used the following. 

    seen | sheen
   ------+-------
    sin  | shin

Between each vertical and horizontally adjacent words, there is 
only one sound change. At first, I just alternate between a 
vertical or horizontal pair, or give the student control, 
where I say the word they point to. Later I try to randomize 
between pairs and have the student point to what they hear. 
It's hard; they struggle and learn. 
If I just repeat one word or phrase ad naseum, 
the students have no clue what they are doing wrong, 
do not change, and do not learn. 

I need to write a program to automate this, 
preferably for Linux, or a live-CD. 

Jim