In spoken American English the schwa (see the image above right) is the relaxed vowel sound that is frequently used for vowel sounds in unstressed syllables.

The schwa sound is made with your tongue in a relaxed position in the center of your mouth. It sounds like “uh”. Now the next part here is very important!

Any vowel can sound like a schwa when it occurs in an unstressed syllable.

Here a a few words that begin with the schwa vowel sound. Since the first syllable in these words is unstressed, the vowel sound is a schwa or ‘uh’.

allow
ahead
around
evaluate
object
offend
unlock
understand

The schwa sound is the most common vowel sound in English. Pronouncing this vowel correctly will help you improve the way you communicate with American English listeners because it will improve the rhythm of your speech.

I teach you how to use the schwa vowel sound so that you can speak English more effectively in my Skype accent reduction course.

Or, if you want to learn from a book check out these excellent and affordable American English pronunciation books.

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This sound is called the schwa sound.  It looks like this /ə/.

Native English speakers use the reduced schwa sound to create rhythm in words and sentences. Even though most native and non native English speakers are not aware of it, the schwa vowel sound is the most common spoken sound in English.

If you want to learn more about the schwa check out this great  free information from the BBC. This is a great resource for teachers and students of English pronunciation.

Teaching about the schwa vowel sound.

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For example: I typically find that my accent reduction clients are not aware of the schwa vowel sound. This is the reduced vowel sound found in many unstressed syllables.

However, once they learn about the schwa sound in their accent reduction lessons they begin to notice and hear the schwa sound everywhere. Once they hear how frequent the schwa sound is, they realize how important it is for achieving a more natural American English sound.

Accent improvement starts from focused listening for new sounds and patterns. Once you raise your consciousness of the way that American English sounds and patterns are different from the sounds of your own language, you will begin to listen in a whole new way.

One great book that you can use to listen to and learn American English sounds and patterns, including the schwa sound  is called Pronunciation Pairs.

This book and CD set teaches you American English vowel and consonant sounds as well as syllable stress, sentence stress and intonation patterns. The book has some excellent activities for the schwa vowel sound!

You can take a peek inside the book by clicking on the link below.
Pronunciation Pairs Student’s Book with Audio CD

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• worry
• courage
• world

Notice that in each of these words the vowel occurs before an /r/. In the above situations the /r/ conditions the sound of the vowel causing it to sound like /ər/.

In pronunciation books this feature of American English pronunciation is called schwa + /r/.

Remember that English is not a phonetic language. The sounds of many letters change according to their location within a word or phrase.

Heteronyms are two words that are spelled identically. The way the words are pronounced determines their meaning.

One good example of this is the word: ADDRESS.

When you say the word ‘address’ the way you use syllable stress changes the meaning of the word.

When you place stress is on the first syllable, address is a noun as in this sentence:
Susan’s ADdress is 2010 Pine Street.

When you place stress on the second syllable, address becomes a verb as in this sentence:
Susan will ədDRESS the class tomorrow.

Note that the reduced syllable in the verb form has a schwa (ə) vowel sound. This is the reduced vowel sound found in unstressed syllables. The vowel sounds in the stressed syllables are lengthened and pronounced with a slightly higher pitch.

Another example is the word PRESENT.

When you stress the first syllable, the word PREənt means a gift.

When you stress the second syllable preəSENT becomes a verb that means ‘to give’.

Again, note how the vowel sound in the unstressed syllable is reduced to schwa. The vowel in each stressed syllable is lengthened and pronounced with a slightly higher pitch.

To learn more about how to use syllable stress check out the great American English pronunciation book called Mastering the American Accent.

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Americans use reduced vowels and speech when they talk. They do not say every sound and syllable clearly and distinctly.

Look at the words in the careful speech column below. If you use careful speech forms your accent will sound too formal to American listeners.

If you use the corresponding reduced speech forms in the second column your accent will sound more natural.

Careful Speech ->Reduced Speech
want tosounds like wannə
going to sounds like gonnə
have to sounds like haftə
did you sounds like didjə

In reduced speech the last consonant sound in the first word changes (or is deleted) as it blends into the following preposition. The vowel in the preposition takes on a schwa vowel sound. These sound changes help create the speech rhythm that is so important for an American English accent.

In many situations when a vowel is followed by an /r/, only the /r/ sound is heard. The vowel sound isn’t really heard at all! This is called the schwa + r /ɚ/.

The letter combinations or, er, ur & ir often have the /ɚ/sound. Here are some commonly used words that contain this sound. Even in stressed syllables this sound is fairly short in duration.

word
world
work
honor
learn
perfect
jury
sure
surprise
girl
bird

The letter a + /r/ also sounds like /ɚ/ when it occurs in unstressed syllables. Words include: dollar, polar, grammar, collar.

The /ɚ/ creates a syllable but this syllable does not have a clear vowel sound. Please click here if you need to know about the schwa vowel sound.

Here is an example. When I say my name, Susan, the first syllable is stressed so the vowel has a long high sound. The second syllable is reduced so the vowel has a schwa (uh) sound. Spelling using phonetic symbols my name would look like: ‘su:-zən.

The most commonly spoken English word is the and it is frequently mispronounced by non-native speakers because it starts with the troublesome voiced th sound. The phonetic symbol for the voiced th is /ð/. Using phonetic symbols it would look like ðə.

You  simply must learn to use the schwa vowel sound in order to reduce your accent!

One accent training book that provides lots of lessons on the schwa vowel sound is Mastering the American Accent. You can see the details and reviews at this link.
Mastering the American Accent with Audio CDs

The best place to learn about the schwa is here on the BBC website. Be sure to view the funny video at the bottom of the page.

Charlsie Childs has some great lessons on the schwa vowel sound on her CD, Improving Your American English Accent. You can check it out by clicking on the link here. Improve Your American English Accent : Overcoming Major Obstacles to Understanding

One way that non-native English speakers can improve their accent is to learn to use the rhythms of spoken English. In my accent reduction classes and coaching sessions I spend significant time working with stress and rhythm because these features of English are key to comprehensibility.

Here are a few tips to remember:

In every word with two or more syllables, one syllable is stressed or emphasized.

1. The vowels in stressed syllables are pronounced with a higher pitch and longer duration than the other vowels in a word.
2. The vowel sounds in unstressed syllables often have a schwa sound.
3. The stressed syllables of content and focus words create stress within a phrase or thought group.

If you are interested in learning more about my accent reduction classes click on the Contact Me tab above and send me a question.

Here is some more information and a syllable stress practice activity.