/ɑ/ vs /ə/ Minimal Pairs - American English Listening and Pronunciation Practice #vowelsounds

This video will help train your ear to hear the difference between the /a/ as in OLIVE vowel sound and the /ə/ as in MUSTARD vowel sound. Listen to each Minimal Pair and repeat the words aloud. (Minimal Pairs are two words that sound the same EXCEPT FOR one sound.) To make the /a/ as in OLIVE sound, gently drop your jaw as if you are yawning. The lips do NOT round. The tongue is relaxed on the floor of the mouth. The /ə/ as in MUSTARD vowel sound is known as the schwa sound. The schwa is the most common vowel sound in spoken English. It is a quick, relaxed neutral vowel sound and is the only speech sound with its own special name. For more information on using colors to represent vowel sounds watch:    • The Color Vowel® Chart - A Teaching a...   Vowel Sounds /a/ and /ə/ American English Listening and Pronunciation Practice Minimal Pairs - Listen and Repeat ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● Recommended YouTube Channels ‪@VividEnglishUS‬ Pronunciation: ‪@ClearEnglishCorner‬ ‪@rachelsenglish‬ ‪@hadar.shemesh‬ ‪@SoundsAmerican‬ Listening/Speaking/Vocabulary Development: ‪@englishwithantonio‬ ‪@LearnEnglishWithTVSeries‬ ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● Recommended ESL textbooks* Pronunciation and Accent Reduction: Mastering the American Accent by Lisa Mojsin: https://amzn.to/3F1veBs Listening and Speaking: The All Clear Series by Helen Kalkstein Fragiadakis All Clear Listening and Speaking 1: https://amzn.to/3VpOrlJ All Clear Listening and Speaking 2: https://amzn.to/3gEVvw3 All Clear Listening and Speaking 3: https://amzn.to/3tXNBBh Grammar: Betty Azar's Red, Black, and Blue Grammar Book series Basic English Grammar (beginner): https://amzn.to/3AJtqdU Fundamentals of English Grammar (intermediate): https://amzn.to/3F1HZMr Understanding and Using English Grammar (advanced): https://amzn.to/3AKm9dL Writing: Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing (advanced) by Janet Lane and Ellen Lange: https://amzn.to/3u0Eyzf: Business English: English for Everyone - Business English Box Set: (pre-intermediate to upper intermediate/course book + practice book):https://amzn.to/3F1YxUF *Amazon affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, Vivid English earns a small commission. The price to you is the same. #pronunciationpractice #pronunciationofenglishwords #englishpronunciationpractice #americanenglish #vowelsounds #minimalpairs #americanenglishpronunciation #listenandrepeat #americanaccent #americanenglishpronunciation