Say "le" and "la" out loud, with the vowels pronounced in the Italian manner (say "le" rather than "lay-ee" and "la" rather than "la-uh").
Join the vowels "a" and "e" together with the "l" in an arc of sound, flicking your tongue briskly to make the "l" sound as short as possible.
Practice this exercise for a few minutes.
Say the Italian vowel sounds a, e, i, o, u, prefixed by the lip consonant "m".
Pronounce these sounds in the following fashion: "ma" as the "a" in father; "me" as the "a" in gate; "mi" as in machine; "mo" as the "o" in more; "mu" as the "oo" in school.
To produce the right "m" sound, spring your lips apart to allow the vowel sound to flow and be projected.
Keep the flow of your breath constant throughout the exercise.
Sing the melody of a familiar song, using the Italian vowels from above instead of actually singing the lyrics. This is called vocalizing.
Here is one: Somewhere over the rainbow/Way up high/There's a land that I heard of/Once in a lullaby/Somewhere over the rainbow/Skies are blue/And the dreams that you dare to dream/Really do come true.
Vocalize this song on "la" and "ma," keeping a steady flow of breath.
Memorize the lyrics.
Finally, sing the song using the actual lyrics. Try not to look at the words; pretend that you are looking at an audience in front of you instead.