| Tips |
Schwa Sound
(Note: The following patterns don't cover every pattern for the schwa sound. Remember that when a vowel letter is not stressed, it pronounces as the schwa sound or the short I sound.) |
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To practice the words for any of the following patterns, just click the links below. |
Pattern |
Sample Word |
Rule |
Exceptions |
|
Similar Sounds to the Schwa Sound / Common Errors |
| English Sound |
Common Error |
Solution |
Speakers |
|
ə |
the |
|
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Weak endings: e.g. "London" "England" |
Everyone |
Useful Tips
The steps to use Pronunciation Patterns
effectively
1. Click the list box. (You can Right Click the list box to select patterns.)
2. Press the Right key to go to the first group of words.
3. Right click on the list box and select the
Play words automatically option or press F5.
4. Press the Left key or the
Right key to navigate the list.
5. To stop the auto-play, simply right click the on list box and select the Stop playing option or press the Esc key.
You also can set how many times you want to play a word or a sound by
increasing or decreasing the
number at 
In the above example, Pronunciation Patterns is set to play the sound three times and the word three times before moving to the next word, and two seconds for the interval.
Other wonderful features you may want to learn:
1. Do you know that you can just press the
Space key
to play the sound and press the
Enter key
to play the word?
2. Do you know that you
can just press the
Delete key
to remove the word from the list? To show all the deleted words, please make sure that you check the Display Hidden Words option in the Settings page. See Tip 33.
3. Do you know that you can press
1,
2, and
3 to switch among
the three word lists?
4. Do you know that you can just press
F2 to record your voice,
F3
to stop, and
F4
again to play your voice back?
5. Do you know that you can press
F5 to play all the
words,
F6 to play just the
selected word,
F7 to play just the
sound, and
F8 to stop playing.
6. Do you know that you can click on any words in the list box to stop the auto-play function.
7. Do you know that you can add any words to your learning list? Just click the word and click 
to add the word to your word list.
8. Do you know that you can group the words by patterns or in alphabetic
order? Just press the
Home
key.
9. Do you know that you can test your listening comprehension? Click on 
on the top of the word list.
10. Do you know that you can change the look of the program in
the Settings page?
Give it a try.