920 Sunday Speak - The Schwa Sound- The Secret to Natural Speech

One of the biggest secrets to sounding natural in English is something called the schwa sound. It’s the most common sound in American English, and it’s a huge reason why native speakers sound so smooth and relaxed when they talk.

The schwa sounds like uh - not strong or clear, just soft and lazy: uh. We use it in many unstressed syllables and small words: Like the vowel sounds in umbrella, the a in what [whut], the i in anima [AN-uh-muhl] and the a in  Sofa  [SO-fuh]. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, it's Michael here and welcome back to another
Happy English Sunday Speak. I'm here every Sunday with a
quick one point tip to help you speak English more naturally. Now,
one of the biggest secrets to sounding natural in English

(00:22):
is something called the schwa sound. It's the most common
sound in English and it's a huge reason why native
speakers sound so smooth and relaxed when they talk. The
schwa sounds like a, not strong or clear, just as

(00:45):
soft and lazy. We use it in many unstressed syllables
and small words, for example, like the vowel sounds in
umbrella and the uh in what, and the i in

(01:05):
animal and the a in sofa. Here's a sentence you
can use to practice this pronunciation. What animal is holding
an umbrella on the sofa? What animal is holding an
umbrella on the sofa? So remember English has rhythm and

(01:31):
not every syllable is strong. When you relax your mouth
and use that soft sound, your speech will sound smoother
and more natural, just like a native speaker. Thanks for listening,
and remember to like, follow and subscribe so you won't
miss the next Happy English podcast and next week's Sunday Speak.

(01:57):
Until next time, keep learning and keep bit cool.