Re: English sounds `v' and `w'

V is a labiodental fricative (I believe this is similar to the hindi v
although I'm afraid I don't speak hindi); W is an approximant, and it
is... I think the word is labio-velar. Pronouncing it, I raise the back
of my tongue so that there is only a small gap at the back of my mouth
(the velar bit), and also round my lips (the labio-bit). Having said
that, a bilabial approximant is a good approximation to w. :) As far as
I know, there is no difference between American and British English when
it comes to the pronounciation of v and w.
This might be a bad suggestion, but if you're trying to get w right you
might try pronouncing /u/ (I assume hindi has this sound?) and then
shortening it as much as possible... in some languages (the romance
languages spring to mind), u has become similar to an english w in some
positions in words, and if I try pronouncing /uest/ for west and then
shortening the /u/ as much as possible it gets to the point where it
sounds almost exactly like west is normally pronounced to me. :)

Labiovelar?  I was always told that labiovelar is the soft "w" and the
bilabial is the hard "w."  Maybe it's just different for Michigan as it is for you.
:o