The SCHWA Sound! English Pronunciation Lesson · mmmEnglish
学习英语中最常见的schwa音，帮助你更自然、更地道地发音，减少口音，提升口语流畅度。
Well hey there!
嘿，你好！
I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!
我是艾玛，来自“mmmEnglish”！
This lesson is all about the schwa.
这节课的内容全部围绕“schwa”这个音素展开。
Now it's just one of the many English sounds but it's one of the most important ones that you need to understand and use.
现在，这只不过是众多英语发音中的一种而已，但它却是你必须要理解和掌握的最重要的发音之一。
Particularly if you want to sound more natural when you're speaking English.
尤其是当你说英语时，如果你希望自己的表达听起来更自然的话。
So stay tuned!
请继续关注！
There are forty-four sounds in English.
英语中共有四十四个发音单位（即四十四个不同的声音）。
Some say forty-five.
有人说数字是四十五。
So you might be wondering why is this sound in particular, the schwa, so important?
你可能会好奇：为什么这个特定的音素（即“schwa”音）如此重要呢？
Well firstly it's the most common sound in the English language by far.
首先，这是英语中最常见的发音（或者说，这是英语中出现的频率最高的音素）。
It occurs the most frequently.
这种情况发生的频率最高。
And that's why it's got its own special name, the schwa.
这就是为什么它有一个特殊的名称——“schwa”。
Another thing that's weird is that there is no schwa sound in the name schwa so it's not really helpful for remembering it.
另一个奇怪的地方是：单词 “schwa” 本身并不包含 “schwa” 音（即那个元音发音），因此这个单词其实并不有助于人们记忆它。
But it's also one of the trickiest sounds to understand because any vowel letter or combination of vowel letters could actually be pronounced as a schwa.
不过，这也是最难理解的声音之一——因为任何一个元音字母或元音字母的组合都可能被发成“schwa”这个音。
Because English is not a phonetic language right?
因为英语不是一种基于发音规则的语言，对吧？
You can't see this sound written in English.
你无法看到用英语表示的这个声音（即该声音的文字描述）。
I mean we all know that English spelling is rarely a good guide to improve your pronunciation, right?
我的意思是，我们都知道：英语的拼写规则其实并不能很好地帮助我们提高发音水平，对吧？
But the schwa occurs so much in spoken English and it looks completely different every time.
不过，在口语英语中，“schwa”这个音素出现的频率非常高，而且每次发音时的形式都完全不同。
All of these words include the schwa sound in them when they're spoken and learning to use this sound correctly is really important.
所有这些单词在发音时都包含“schwa”这个音素；学会正确地使用这个音素非常重要。
It's going to help you to sound more natural, relaxed and more fluent when you speak English, more like a native English speaker.
这会帮助你在说英语时听起来更加自然、轻松、流利，更像一个以英语为母语的人。
So if you're trying to reduce your accent and to improve your pronunciation, then this sound is a great place to start.
因此，如果你想减少自己的口音并提高发音水平，那么这个发音音素就是一个很好的起点。
So what does it sound like?
那么，它到底是什么样的呢？
The schwa sound is a lazy sound.
schwa”这个音其实是一个发音较为轻松、不需要费太多力气的音节。
It's actually my favourite sound of all the English sounds it's my Friday afternoon sound.
这其实是我在所有英语发音中最喜欢的声音——它代表着我每周五下午的惬意时光。
You know when you're winding down after
你知道那种在活动结束后慢慢放松、准备休息的感觉吧……
a long week and you're probably already thinking about the weekend and you can't really be bothered doing much else?
这一周真是漫长而疲惫……你可能已经开始盼望着周末的到来，甚至都提不起劲去做其他事情了吧？
So that's how the schwa sounds.
这就是“schwa”这个音节的发音方式。
But how is it written?
但是它应该怎么写呢？
What letters should you look for?
你应该寻找哪些字母呢？
Well that's quite tricky because all of the vowel letters can be pronounced as a schwa in spoken English.
嗯，这确实有点棘手——因为在口语英语中，所有的元音字母都可以发成“schwa”这个音。
All of these words have the schwa sound but they're represented by a different vowel letter each time.
所有这些单词都包含“schwa”音（即元音中的弱化音），但每次这个音都是用不同的元音字母来表示的。
For such a lazy sound, it sure does show up in a lot of different places.
尽管这种声音听起来非常“懒散”（即缺乏活力或动感），但它确实出现在很多不同的地方。
And since the schwa sound can be represented by any of the vowel letters, sometimes by consonant letters and sometimes by no letter at all!
由于“schwa”这个音可以由任何元音字母来表示，有时也可以由辅音字母来表示，甚至有时根本不需要用任何字母来表示！
Being able to recognise the international phonetic symbol for this sound will help you to see when it occurs.
如果你能够识别出这个发音对应的国际音标符号，就能更容易地注意到它出现在哪些地方了。
And that schwa symbol is this one.
那个表示元音“ə”或“o”的符号就是这个。
Now the schwa sound is always unstressed.
现在，“schwa”这个音节总是不带重音的。
It's the only vowel sound that is never stressed so you need to just relax, just be like the schwa.
这是唯一一个永远不会被重读的元音发音，因此你只需要放松心情，就像发“schwa”音（即德语中的“ü”音）一样即可。
Relax and take it easy, it's Friday afternoon.
放松点，别太紧张了，今天可是周五下午。
So to make this sound, first you need to relax everything This is a really relaxed sound okay?
要发出这种声音，首先你需要让全身都放松下来。这是一种非常轻松、自然的声音，明白吗？
Check your lips, your jaw, your neck, everything needs to be relaxed.
检查一下你的嘴唇、下巴和脖子——所有部位都必须保持放松的状态。