I. 
Listen to the sound / ә /. Look at the mouth diagram to see how to make this short vowel sound.
In pronouncing the English / ә / the position of the tongue and lips resembles that of / 3: /, but the tongue is lower. The lips are neutral.
II. Listen and repeat.
A photograph of Barbara, a glass of water, a pair of binoculars, a photograph of her mother and father, a book about South America.
III. Read these examples of the sound / ә /.
Weak A: a way b a nan a wom a n sug ar about a rom a coll ar
Weak E: gard e n pap er und er bigg er work er ag e ntpat e nt
Weak O: p o lice doct or c o rrect t o day kingd o m seld o m iv o ry
Weak U: s u pport fig ure Aug u stchor u s ketch u p treas ure
Other: re lit re met re theat re fib re; ou col our lab our neighb our
IV. Read this story aloud. The spelling has been changed to show you when to make the sound / ә /.
Barb ә r ә spent Sat ә rday aft ә noon looking ә t ә beautiful book ә bout South ә meric ә.
I want t ә go t ә South ә meric ә, she said t ә h ә self.
Th ә next morning, when Barb ә r ә woke up it w ә s six ә clock, ә nd h ә broth ә s and sist ә s w ә still ә sleep. Barb ә r ә looked ә t th ә m, and closed h ә r eyes ә gain.
Then she qui ә tly got out ә f bed ә nd started t ә pack h ә suitcase.
She took s ә me comf ә t ә ble clothes out ә f th ә cupb ә d. She packed ә pair ә f binocul ә s ә nd h ә sist ә s cam ә r ә. She packed ә phot ә graph ә f h ә self ә nd one ә f h ә moth ә r and fath ә.
I mustnt f ә get t ә have s ә me breakf ә st, she said t ә h ә self. B ә t then she looked ә t th ә clock. It w ә s ә quart ә t ә seven.
Ill j ә st drink ә glass ә f wat ә, she said.
ә glass ә f wat ә, she said.
Wat ә, she said ә nd opened h ә r eyes.
She w ә s still in h ә bed, ә nd h ә broth ә s ә nd sist ә s w ә laughing ә t h ә.
Tell ә s what you w ә dreaming ә bout, they said t ә h ә.
B ә t Barb ә r ә didnt answ ә. She w ә s thinking ә bout h ә wond ә ful journey t ә South ә meric ә.
V. Read the following sentences. Mind the right articulation of the sounds / ә /.
a) I ate an apple and a banana in a cinema in Canada.
b) Papa bought me a balloon at the circus.
c) Anna has another parasol.
d) She gave me some chocolate when I went away.
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e) The pilot jumped from the balloon in a parachute.
f) A buffalo, a zebra and a gorilla escaped from the circus.
g) The famous attorney submitted an appeal.
h) He fell asleep on the sofa.
VI. Learn the following graphical rules:
Vowel / ә / is represented in spelling by:
1) The letter a in prefixes (about)
2) In suffixes er, or, ar, our, ous (teacher, doctor, cellar, neighbour, famous)
3) a, o, u when non-accented (sofa, atom, column)
