Bel, I'm afraid you missed. Comparing the phonemes to the ones alike in known words has not always been the primary method for teaching pronounciation. I have seen a set of illustrations from XIX-century Polish ABC books for children. They were designed for people living in the German-annexed territories and covered the proper use of the whole vocal apparatus (tongue touching teeth, lips closed/open, etc.) Having been presented such an illustration our English teacher - an American - was the first foreigner I've ever heard pronounce the 'sz' sound properly (which goes pretty like English 'sh', but not exactly). Thus, I believe, it is not needed to know the language 'by your ears' to speak it right.
And speaking of differing Latin pronounciation around the world, we here definitely consider your English Latin barbaric (it's not aimed at you, Bel - you
francophones manage pretty well
). Every time I hear an E-speaking actor quoting Latin (sorry, but the only example I can remember of now is Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: TNG) I have to spend some time decoding it. We never,
EVER, say 'v' as 'w'!
Which probably means the illustrations from Latin ABC were not so accurate we'd like them to be...
