Unit goals
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
- hear and say /ə/ in unstressed syllables;
- tell police from please and support from sport;
- put the stress on the second syllable: poLICE, aROUND, supPORT;
- stop pronouncing every vowel in full.
About the audio
All the audio in this unit comes from the American English voice of your device (text-to-speech). There are no audio files, so every example, card and exercise can play.
- See what is playing. The button that is playing turns coral with moving bars. Tap it again to stop.
- Change the speed. Use Slow to hear each sound clearly and Normal for shadowing.
- One voice for each character. Laura has a female voice and Marco has a male voice.
- The speaking lab uses your microphone. Your browser asks for permission the first time. Nothing is recorded or saved. It works best in Chrome or Edge.
- The browser voice is a guide. In real speech, sounds are shorter and more connected than in single words.
No sound? Check the volume and the silent mode of your phone.
Schwa: the vowel that almost disappearsCOMPLETED
In Spanish, every vowel is clear. In English, unstressed vowels become a weak, short sound: /ə/, called schwa. It is the most common sound in English. Police is puh-LEES, around is uh-ROUND, support is suh-PORT.
PROFT · REFERENCE CHART
/ə/ weak and short
Spanish speakers say every vowel in full: po-LEE-se, a-ROUND with a clear a. English speakers say a very short uh, and the second syllable is strong. If you say the first vowel too clearly, police sounds like please, and the rhythm of the sentence changes.
The stressed syllable is long and clear. The others reduce to /ə/.
Do not drop the vowel. Say a very short, weak uh.
One syllable or two? Listen to the pair.
Words that start with a- often begin with /ə/.
Hear them in sentences
Practice 1: Which word?COMPLETED
Train your ear first. In each pair, one word has a lazy first syllable with /ə/ and the other one does not.
Listen and choose
Listen and choose the word you hear. After you answer, play both words to compare them.
Practice 2: Odd one outCOMPLETED
Four words, one different sound. Listen to all four before you choose.
Find the different sound
Listen to the four words. Which one has a different sound?
Schwa at the start, in the middle and at the endCOMPLETED
Schwa can be at the start (about, again), in the middle (family, camera, chocolate) and at the end (sofa, data, banana). In the middle, it can almost disappear: FAM-ly, CAM-ra, CHOCK-lit.
PROFT · REFERENCE CHART
/ə/ in every place start, middle, end
Spanish speakers say fa-mi-ly, ca-me-ra and cho-co-la-te, with every vowel. The English words are shorter: FAM-ly, CAM-ra, CHOCK-lit. Your English sounds more natural when you skip the weak syllables.
Family sounds like 2 or 3 syllables. Camera sounds like 2.
At the end, schwa is a short uh: sofa, data, pizza.
Find the strong syllable first. Everything else is lazy.
Interesting is not 4 syllables. It sounds like IN-tres-ting.
Hear them in sentences
Practice 3: In contextCOMPLETED
Listen to the sentence. Which of the two words did the speaker say?
Which word did you hear?
Listen to each sentence and choose the word you heard.
Lab: pronunciation pairsCOMPLETED
Now it is your turn to speak. Practice /ə/ and the syllables it adds in three modes. Complete one round of 10 in any mode, and finish with Say it.
How to play: choose the sounds and a mode. Which word? trains your ear. Same or different? trains your attention. Say it checks your pronunciation with the microphone.
Pairs in contextCOMPLETED
Each sentence needs one word from a pair. Listen carefully: the sound tells you which one.
Listen and fill in the blanks
Play each sentence and fill in the blank. The box has similar words, so choose carefully. Tap a word to hear it and put it in the blank, or type it.
Vocabulary box
Words from this unit. Half of the words are extra.
Dialogue: the sport centerCOMPLETED
Laura and Marco talk about a sport center. Listen for the weak vowels, then hide the marks and shadow the dialogue.
Personalize
Complete the sentences about you. Choose an option or write your own.
Vocabulary ideas
Choose one option for each blank, or write your own.
GamesCOMPLETED
Play to fix the sounds in your memory. Finish one game to complete this section.
Sound order
How to play: tap Listen. Then tap the sounds in the right order. Each word has one extra sound that does not belong. Tap a sound in the box to send it back.
Memory: word pairs
How to play: find each word and its partner, like police and please. Every card says its word when you turn it, so listen to the difference.
Speed gamesCOMPLETED
Two fast games to make the difference automatic. Play one round of each.
SPEED ROUND · 45 SECONDS
Which word?
Tap Start. Listen to each word and tap it as fast as you can. Every correct answer adds to your streak.
SOUND SORTER · /ə/ · schwa
Put each word in its sound
Listen to the word and tap the sound it has. Sort all 8 words.
Record and compareCOMPLETED
Record each sentence, then play the model and your voice back to back. Listen for the weak vowels: is your police a quick puh-LEES, your family short, your sofa ending in uh?
Consolidation: read and pronounceCOMPLETED
Consolidate what you practiced. Listen to the model, tap Say it and say each item out loud. The app checks your pronunciation and marks any word it did not hear clearly. If it hears a homophone, like son for sun, it counts as correct, because both words sound the same.
Unit quizCOMPLETED
Ten questions about Unit 1. You need 8 out of 10 to complete the unit.
Check your progress
Tap the audio button, listen and choose your answer. You will see the explanation right away.
Unit 1 complete
Before you move on, check what you can do now:
If you cannot check a box yet, go back to that section and practice a little more.
RELAXED PRONUNCIATION · 8 UNITS