The Pronunciation Studio Pogcast

The schwa /ə/ is possibly the most misunderstood of all English vowel sounds.

Inspiring fear and awe in roughly equal amounts, this week's pog tries to get to the bottom of this elusive sound by comparing it to an apex predator fish. 

It's probably not the best metaphor, but it's still worth a listen, especially if you ever bought a "I wanna be a schwa, it's never stressed" mug.  You'll never drink from it in the same way again!

In this week's episode I talk about student reactions to seeing the IPA chart for the first time, and how to break the vowel section into manageable chunks. 

The contradictions inherent in teaching IPA become clear when I class /ɪə/ and /ʊə/ as diphthongs, and then unscrupulously bury them. 

There are no easy answers, but hopefully the questions raised will make it all worthwhile. 

A quick introduction to the new pog.