Unit 5: Vowels /ɜː/ & /ə/

Central vowels: long /ɜː/ and the all-important schwa /ə/.

Leçons

/ɜː/Sound /ɜː/21 mots /ə/Sound /ə/21 mots /ɜː/vs/ə/Pair /ɜː/ vs /ə/42 mots

Unit 5 Guide

Meet the two central vowels: /ɜː/ (long, stressed) and /ə/ (short, unstressed — the Schwa).

Why this unit matters:

/ə/ is the most frequent sound in English. It appears in nearly every unstressed syllable of multi-syllable words (about, banana, system, problem).
/ɜː/ is its long, stressed cousin — heard in bird, work, learn, heard.

Key idea: Both sounds live in the middle of the mouth — tongue and lips relaxed, neutral. The difference is length and stress:

/ɜː/ = long + stressed
/ə/ = very short + unstressed

Mastering schwa is the single biggest upgrade to natural English rhythm. Native speakers reduce unstressed vowels to /ə/ — copying this makes your speech sound fluent rather than robotic.