Hey there, this is Teacher Ola Podcast episode 33: The Schwa Sound.
My name’s Ola and I am an online English teacher.
This podcast is for you if you’re an English learner who wants to speak English with more confidence and get rid of speaking barriers. It’s time you started speaking English fearlessly! Go to my website for full transcripts and worksheets to each episode. Happy learning!
Thank you for tuning in! On my website, you’ll find a full transcript for this podcast and it’s word to word so you can see an exact written version of this episode. I have also prepared a worksheet for you. The worksheet is designed to help you use some of the vocab from this episode. After listening go to teacherola.com/33.
Hello and thank you so much for being here. I’m excited that you picked this podcast. I promise you’ll learn something practical, useful and something that‘ll make you sound more natural. Today’s practice will also make you feel so much more confident.
Pronunciation really is the king! No matter how strong your Polish accent is, it’s not about the accent. It’s about correct, bold and fearless pronunciation.
In the past I used to speak very quietly for the fact I wasn’t sure whether I pronounce correctly. I would also avoid speaking for the same reason. What I lacked was knowledge and as a consequence I also lacked confidence. But lack of knowledge was the foundation of my self-consciousness.
Learning how to use the schwa sound correctly will make your speech sound more natural and is a smart place to start learning English pronunciation. Using this sound will allow you to speak with increased clarity and the correct rhythm.
Ok. Let me present you the plan for this episode:
Firstly, I’m gonna tell you a few facts about this ‘schwa’ sound. Secondly, I’m going to present a few words with the schwa sound, just to make sure you know what I’m talking about. Then I’m going to explain how to produce this sound. Last and most importantly you are going to practice the words and sentences with the schwa sound. Let’s begin.
Fan facts first. The schwa is the most common vowel sound in English. Schwa is everywhere. Remember this. Schwa’s everywhere. Almost everywhere, because single syllable words don’t have this sound, but words with two or more syllables may have a schwa. It’s an unstressed syllable. Dictionaries make use of a special symbol to represent the schwa sound. It looks like an upside-down ‘e’ letter.
Once you learn to recognize stressed syllables, it becomes easier to predict when schwa will be used in an adjacent, unstressed vowel, regardless of the spelling. When it comes to the spelling, ‘schwa’ can be represented by any written vowel in the alphabet. Let’s see some examples. For example you see letter ‘a’ in the word ‘again’, but letter ‘a’ represents schwa /ə:/, /ə ‘gɛn/. It can be ‘e’ in ‘petition’: /pə ˈtɪʃ ən/. It can be spelled ‘i’ in ‘president’: /ˈprɛz ə dɛnt/. It can be ‘o’ in ‘condition’: /kən ˈdɪʃ ən/. It can be represented finally by the letter ‘u’ spelling in the word ‘support’: /sə ˈpɔrt/.
In British English, we often use a schwa for words ending in ‘er’, however in the US, people prefer to actually pronounce the ‘r’ sound at the end. So in British I would say: I’m a teacher. You’re a stranger. He’s her father. In American I would say: I’m a teacher. You’re a stranger. He’s her father. I exaggerated a bit, but it’s something like that.
Now, how do you produce this sound? Of all the sounds used in English, schwa demands the least of us. All you have to do is start up the vocal cords. Making other sounds requires usually something like raising or lowering the tongue, or moving it forward or backward. Moving your lips, or opening your jaw. With schwa, you can forget all that. Just slightly drop your jaw to make this sound. The trick is to keep everything else relaxed. The schwa just is. It’s just there. Relax your jaws, your neck, tongue, lips and just produce the sound. ‘Sofa’. So the schwa will always be really fast and low in pitch.’uh’, ‘uh’.
As I promised, now the main part of this episode. Listen and repeat. This is the clue of this whole podcast actually. Practice, practice, practice.
incomplete.
the actor were incomplete.
The documents concerning the actor were incomplete.
a famous doctor.
were taken by a famous doctor.
These pictures were taken by a famous doctor.
consent
Silence gives consent.
than never.
Better late than never.
about yesterday.
you worried about yesterday.
the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
There was a young lady of Riga
Who went for a ride on a tiger.
They came back from the ride
With the lady inside
And a smile on the face of the tiger.
Tinker,
Tailor,
Soldier,
Sailor,
Rich man,
Poor man,
Beggarman,
Thief.
Ploughboy,
Cowboy,
Indian chief.
Here you have it! Practical lesson on the schwa sound. I hope I made it a bit easier.
Teacherola.com/33, there you’ll find a full transcript of this episode as well as the worksheet.
If you think someone you know could benefit from this episode, do tell him or her about it
Let me know what is the best tip you took away from this episode. Name one great tip you’ve just learned and share it in a comment at teacherola.com/33.
Please subscribe to this podcast if you like it and make sure you’ll tune in to episode 34 which is going to boost your vocabulary. You’ll learn how to say: I don’t know with confidence. We’ll get in touch really soon, thank you for listening and till next time! Happy learning. Bye bye!