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ESL forum > Ask for help > The awful sound ´schwa ´    

The awful sound ´schwa ´



joy2bill
Australia

The awful sound ´schwa ´
 
Hi
Although I am a native speaker I have terrible problems helping my students with the absolutely essential sound �schwa �.
 Has anyone any suggestions for teaching this or ways of helping the students to recognize it, please? Perhaps some worksheets or some links to good exercises?
 I would appreciate some kind of key or answers because I am not always sure that I �m right when I try to identify them for my students. (sad to admit!!!)
Thanks Joy
 

14 Jul 2011      





serene
Greece

Hi Joy, have you seen this?
Also
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/teaching-schwa
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/features/schwa/
http://www.autoenglish.org/pronunciation/ (check gr.schwa.pdf)
http://international.ouc.bc.ca/pronunciation/ (scroll down to unit 9)

14 Jul 2011     



Mallerenga
Spain

In Catalan we have this sound which doesn �t exist in Spanish, so when I was at university one of the professors did a good experiment for Spanish speaking children at Catalan schools learning how to read: he just put a red mark where the syllable which contained the sound should have been. When the children started reading, they just had to say the sound (it wasn �t important how it was writen).  After a some weeks, he wrote on the red mark the letters that corresponded to the word (so that the child could see the mark and the letters). Finally, he took off the mark and there wer only the letters...

It was a slow process at the begining, but children learnt very fast...

14 Jul 2011     



yanogator
United States

Mallerenga,
You have me very curious about what this sound is and how it �s written.

Thanks,
Bruce

15 Jul 2011     



Mar0919
Mexico

Curiosity killed the cat, Bruce! But that makes 2 of us!!! I �m curious too!!!
 
Share with us, Mallerenga, pleaseeeeeeeeeeee!

15 Jul 2011     



Jayho
Australia

I think Mallerenga means the schwa sound and something visual like this,
 
Examples:
 
phot/graph
ph/togr/ph/
camr/ (or, depending on how you pronounce it,  cam/r/)
Sar/
 
When he later revealed the letters the children could see the actual spelling: photograph, photographer, camera, Sarah
 
It�s a good idea
 
Nice links Serene

15 Jul 2011     



dawnmain
United Kingdom

I have to tell me Spanish students that it sounds like a very short /e/ - its the only way I can get them to stop pronouncing it as a long vowel.  the result is approximate.

15 Jul 2011