Absolutely, I found similar things studying linguistics & phonetics. You can read phonetic transcriptions of things and get the basic sounds down, but there’s n

Absolutely, I found similar things studying linguistics & phonetics. You can read phonetic transcriptions of things and get the basic sounds down, but there’s no substitute for listening carefully & imitating a native speaker, just like studying performances of pro musicians. Sounds that are often transcribed the same may be pronounced differently in different languages. I share your strong sense of smell too. I could tell you if someone was cutting cucumbers two rooms away. Dunno how long that’ll last, although my mom still has quite a nose in her early 60s, so there’s hope.