"It's very hard to hear "the schwa sound"; when I check dictionaries for the pronounciation of words like mother, father, never etc, I sometimes..."

[hardyweineberg]

It's very hard to hear "the schwa sound"; when I check dictionaries for the pronounciation of words like mother, father, never etc, I sometimes hear them being pronounced as mothA, fathA, and nevA, while other times, I hear mothUR, fathUR, and nevUH.

I have been trying to pronounce the schwa sound for about 6 days, and I don't know whether I'm on the right path.

Please, tell me whether my pronounciation of the schwa sound in the recording below is wrong or correct?

Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs.

voca.ro

New recording after being corrected: https://voca.ro/1duOlewdaesY

 

[emsr2d2]

It depends what accent you've been listening to. In most BrE regional accents, the final "r" is not pronounced. The words sound like "muthuh", "fathuh" and "nevuh". In AmE, however, you'll actually hear the "r" at the end of the word.

Look up "rhotic and non-rhotic r" on Google.

In your recording, you're inexplicably raising the pitch of your voice on the first syllable. It sounds like you're singing the words! Try to keep your voice at the same pitch (on one "note") throughout the word.

Have you checked on Forvo? All the words you're practising are on there. Here's the page with 20 pronunciations of "mother", all from native speakers.

 

[hardyweineberg]

It depends what accent you've been listening to. In most BrE regional accents, the final "r" is not pronounced. The words sound like "muthuh", "fathuh" and "nevuh". In AmE, however, you'll actually hear the "r" at the end of the word.

Look up "rhotic and non-rhotic r" on Google.

In your recording, you're inexplicably raising the pitch of your voice on the first syllable. It sounds like you're singing the words! Try to keep your voice at the same pitch (on one "note") throughout the word.

Have you checked on Forvo? All the words you're practising are on there. Here's the page with 20 pronunciations of "mother", all from native speakers.

I did that in this recording: https://voca.ro/1duOlewdaesY

 

[Skrej]

It depends what accent you've been listening to. In most BrE regional accents, the final "r" is not pronounced. The words sound like "muthuh", "fathuh" and "nevuh". In AmE, however, you'll actually hear the "r" at the end of the word.

That actually depends on the regional dialect of AmE. There are are several regions across the US where those words have an 'uh' instead of 'r'. Predominantly much of the Eastern and Southern US drop that final 'r' amongst white AmE speakers. It's even more prominent in AAVE or 'Black English', which extends non-rhoticity across much of the US.

 

[NessaFowler]

It's very hard to hear "the schwa sound"; when I check dictionaries for the pronounciation of words like mother, father, never etc, I sometimes hear them being pronounced as mothA, fathA, and nevA, while other times, I hear mothUR, fathUR, and nevUH.

I have been trying to pronounce the schwa sound for about 6 days, and I don't know whether I'm on the right path.

Please, tell me whether my pronounciation of the schwa sound in the recording below is wrong or correct?

Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs.

voca.ro

New recording after being corrected: https://voca.ro/1duOlewdaesY

 

[NessaFowler]

It's very hard to hear "the schwa sound"; when I check dictionaries for the pronounciation of words like mother, father, never etc, I sometimes hear them being pronounced as mothA, fathA, and nevA, while other times, I hear mothUR, fathUR, and nevUH.

I have been trying to pronounce the schwa sound for about 6 days, and I don't know whether I'm on the right path.

Please, tell me whether my pronounciation of the schwa sound in the recording below is wrong or correct?

Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs.

voca.ro

New recording after being corrected: https://voca.ro/1duOlewdaesY

I think of a schwa as "ah".... imagine getting a thump in your tummy as you pronounce the 2nd syllable