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Ask for help > The awful sound ´schwa ´
The awful sound ´schwa ´
joy2bill
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The awful sound ´schwa ´
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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
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14 Jul 2011
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Mallerenga
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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...
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14 Jul 2011
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yanogator
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Mallerenga,
You have me very curious about what this sound is and how it �s written.
Thanks,
Bruce |
15 Jul 2011
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Mar0919
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Curiosity killed the cat, Bruce! But that makes 2 of us!!! I �m curious too!!! Share with us, Mallerenga, pleaseeeeeeeeeeee! |
15 Jul 2011
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Jayho
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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
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dawnmain
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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.
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15 Jul 2011
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