Where does schwa occur?

The Schwa Vowel Sound

Where does schwa occur?  Over the last two weeks some pronunciation teachers and students asked me this~ "Susan, where does the schwa sound occur?" Now THAT's what I call an excellent question! Where to find the schwa vowel sound 1. … [Continue reading]

How to pronounce TR

How to pronounce TR

How to pronounce TR Are you pronouncing TR with a trilled or rolling sound?  If you're struggling with this sound, I have a technique for you to try. It’s often useful to think of the /tr/ sound as a /tch/ sound. This is the sound we use at … [Continue reading]

How to pronounce clothes

How to pronounce clothes You may be surprised to learn that the word clothes, as in, I buy my clothes at Uniglow, is pronounced with a /z/ sound. It sounds like this: cloze And yes, Close the door, has the same … [Continue reading]

How to pronounce launch

Did you say lunch or launch? When coaching people on how to improve their American accent I frequently hear people say LUNCH when they intend to say LAUNCH. That’s because these two words sound ALMOST the same. Here’s how to pronounce lunch and … [Continue reading]

How to pronounce Europe and European

How to pronounce Europe and European This is how Americans pronounce the words Europe and European. Europe We pronounce Europe with stress on the first syllable. The o in the second syllable is reduced to schwa. This is how I like to … [Continue reading]