4min chapter

The InFluency Podcast cover image

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

The InFluency Podcast

CHAPTER

How to Pronounce the Primary Stress in English

English is not a phonetic language, but most English learners begin their encounter with the language through reading and writing. So they assume that what they see in English is what they should say. The word connect is very likely to be pronounced as connect with a little tiny o sound in between. If our default pronunciation is connect and you reduce that o sound and it still sounds okay to you? It's a schwa. Let's take another word. Alcohol. Now we have an A there. And first we need to ask ourselves what is the primary stress? Alcohol. Right? We're starting to become more American now. By the way, if you're not sure how to identify the primary

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