Quick Tip: /w/ vs /v/ 

I thought I was the only one

Hi there, Yes, that's quite a common issue. In a lot of languages 'w' and 'v' letter are also pronounced the same so that will add to that. I recommend that if you encounter an instance where you feel like you can't tell the difference, repeat the word to yourself a couple times and switch out the /v/ for a /w/ (or the other way around) using the instructions for positioning in this video. Doing this, over time, will make it easier for your ears to pick up on the difference in a live conversation or when watching videos. In regards to the 'w' letter being spelled out, British and American speakers spell the letter out the same actually. This would be an approximation (using English words) of how they both say it "double-you". The actual phonetic writing would be /dʌblju/. The thing that happens here as well is that most non-native speakers spell the letter out quite quickly so it can be difficult sometimes to hear every phonetic sound in it + some native speakers are a bit mumbly as well. The mumbling could account for not hearing the L as clearly in the American version but that can happen to Brits as well. Hope that helps and thank you for leaving a comment!

Hi there, Sure, I can make a video series on some of the key differences. Generally, most "North American" accents, whether they are dialects within American or within Canadian are very close to each other. If we take a "general" Canadian accent and a "general" American accent, they have a lot in common. There are some vowels that Americans will typically notice as different, for example the double vowel in the word "abOUt" is one that comes up quite commonly as well as the vowel used in words like "bat" or "cat". That being said, just like there's a lot of variety within American dialects, the same is the case for Canadian dialects as well. So even though certain things can be commonly "associated" with the Canadian accent, they might not necessarily occur in that same way in your own speech. It depends on where in Canada you're from, what kind of environment you grew up in socially, etc. I wouldn't call myself an expert on Canadian accents either so I won't claim that I have the best answers to that particular question. Still, I can make a video on some of the general differences in the future. I hope this helps!