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Episode #9

The Schwa: How One TINY Sound Can Make a HUGE Difference

00:38:36 minutes long
audio file size: 53.4 mb

I mention the schwa almost every time I speak about American English. That’s because this vowel is all over the place, and once you hear it, you never stop hearing it 🙂

The schwa is a very short and “relaxed” kind of vowel. It’s a pretty tricky vowel for non-native speakers but if you get it, you get the secret to American English pronunciation and you become SO much clearer.

Also, you will find yourself investing much less energy in speaking, which is also important 🙂

Tune in and learn more about this special vowel and how to use it. And let me know what you think in the comments below.

Check out a new episode about the schwa here: https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/157/

You can also watch my older video about the schwa: https://goo.gl/tvDJ6o

And you’ll also find my video on American Intonation helpful.


If you want to improve your accent and understand spoken English better, download my free American Accent audio crash course.

You can also download an interactive list of  50 of the most mispronounced words in English and master the pronunciation of those tricky words. 

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21 Responses

  1. It is an amazing lesson ! you are great dear Ms. Hadar . I wonder whether I know how we can ask you questions about English ,when we have questions .

  2. Thank you very much Hadar, very helpful and fun with your great performance, clear voice and good pronunciation.

  3. Hey Hadar! This is one of my favorites! I can’t get tired of your voice. As much as I listen to you, the more it feels as if we’re old friends. Thanks a lot for the smart tips and for share the diary of your history. Congrats for the new baby: podcast! xx ♡

  4. Hello I have learned some and I consider my self to be a talktative person I also can write it,typing but sometimes I don’t understand what are they saying

  5. Hi, hadar. I love today’s lesson. When I took grammar classes for esl students at college.
    I would’ve always pronounce words as I thought it was the way it sounded. I was not worry about any accident till a lot of people at work my comments of my having an accident or not understanding what I had said. Till I heard from you on YouTube and I sign up for the accent make over it made a lot of difference. As an example, I used to come up with my costumers and tell them “ Instacart delivery.” Majority of them didn’t understand me cuz I was saying it in Spanish. Now , I know that the primary is stress on “ ta”. And, all words are reduced nos I say it as “ n-stu-cur”. Something like that.? well, it had made a lot off difference. I will still go to the accent make over learn more about reducing words but mostly I’ll take a look again in module one and I’ll se all about the schaw that way I get a deeper grasp of it.

  6. Hi Hadar !
    Thank you very much for the podcast ! It’s especially useful for me because it sharpens and challenges my listening skill. It should be very important to work on recognizing and trying to imitate the “Schwa sound” also with regard to improving our listening skill besides increasing our talking proficiency.
    The podcast I think, is outstanding. Every nuances are absolutely clear, easily understandable and riveting. May I risk to express my conjecture that your podcast’s quality is rooted in your education at an excellent theater school. I wish all my talking books would speak at the same quality. (Because of my ailing sight I collected a small “talking library”.) Laszlo

  7. Hi. Thank you very much Hadar. This help me so much. Success for the next episodes, and Gbu ??

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