Cool points, coolgeek and ogwh. Totally agree on paying attention to detail. I think that we go too far from understanding the fundamentals, and that cripples us.

Being there is the first step. If you aren't "there", paying attention, everything is way, way harder.

If you don't focus on what your tongue, mouth and the air is doing, how are you going to learn to pronounce better? We just try a bunch of things and see what sticks -- not very efficient.

Thanks for the comments, they made me reflect a lot.