The neutral vowel sound /ә / (schwa) as in “banana”.

· Read the instruction to learn how to make the neutral sound /ә /.

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.

· Listen to the target sound and the words and repeat. Look at the mouth diagrams to help you position your lips, tongue and jaw for the target sound. Transcribe the words.

/ә ә ә /

· Read the words with the sound /ә /.Transcribe them.

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

· Listen to the following phrases and repeat. Pay attention to the pronunciation of letter “a” in different weak positions. Mind that schwa is the most used sound in English. Very often, unstressed syllables and words in a sentence are pronounced with a schwa.

· Listen and repeat. Pay attention to the way the vowels, written in bold, are pronounced in stressed and unstressed positions.

· Listen to the sentences and repeat. Read each sentence aloud slowly at first, then as if you were telling it to someone in a natural way.

1) What are you doing in London? We are looking f or a hairdress er.

2) Is it made o f glass? No, it’s made o f plastic.

3) What c a n I do? What h a s she done? What h a ve you done?

4) She h a d done it before she came here.

5) A manda, phone call f or you!

6) The c o nduct or of the orchestra was a mazed to see the viola play er drink a scotch a nd soda.

7) Tell my sist er A manda to buy some bett er b a nanas a s well as p o tatoes a nd t o matoes.

· 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.

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.

· Listen and copy the intonation and voice modulation on the CD.

My jeal ou sy I can’t express,

Their love they op e nly c o nfess;

Her shell-like ears she does not close

T o their recit a l o f their woes.

· Listen to the story several times, repeat phrase by phrase, and then read it aloud. The spelling has been changed to show you when to make the sound / ә /.

ә Dream V ә cation

M ә ri ә spent Sat ә rday aft ә noon looking ә t ә beautiful book ә bout South ә meric ә.

“I’d love t ә go t ә South ә meric ә,” she said t ә h ә self.

Th ә next morning, M ә ri ә woke up ә t six ә ’clock. H ә broth ә and sist ә w ә still ә sleep. M ә ri 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 began t ә pack h ә suitcase.

She packed s ә me comf ә t ә ble clothes, ә pair ә f binocul ә s ә nd h ә sist ә ’s cam ә r ә. She rememb ә d t ә take h ә hat f ә th ә sun. She also decided t ә pack ә phot ә graph ә f h ә self ә nd ә pict ә ә f h ә moth ә r and fath ә.

“I’d bett ә not 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.

“I don’t wann ә be late.” she said.

“I’ll j ә st have ә glass ә f wat ә now,” “ ә glass ә f wat ә,” she said softly, “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 ә nd sist ә 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 M ә ri ә didn’t answ ә. She w ә s thinking ә bout h ә wond ә ful trip t ә South ә meric ә.

· Listen to the dialogues. Intone them. Learn and reproduce, paying attention to the pronunciation of the sound / ә /, intonation and tempo.

Dialogue 3

- I’m a Conservative, as a matter of fact.

- As a matter of fact, I’m a Conservative, too.

- There’re various varieties of Conservative, Mr Taylor. And I’m afraid my sort of Conservative and your sort are different.

- Yes, Mrs Carruthers, but…

- Not another word, Mr Taylor!

Dialogue 4

- Where were you at the time of the burglary?

- I was at the cinema, Officer. And my mother and father were at the cinema, too.

- Was your brother at the cinema, too?

- At the cinema, Officer… Yes.

- And your sister?

- Er… She wasn’t at the cinema. As a matter of fact I don’t have a sister.

- I see.

- But of course if I had one, Officer…

- Don’t tell me.

- Now which cinema was this?

Dialogue 5

- Where can I lock up my clock while I’m away?

- Why not lock it in your locker?

- I’m afraid my locker won’t lock.

- Oh.

- Can I lock it in your locker?

- No, I’m afraid you can’t.

- But surely you’ve got room for a small clock.

- Yes, plenty. But my locker won’t unlock.

- I see.

- That’s why I’ve been borrowing your clock.

· Listen to the words with sounds /ә /and /3:/ in contrast and repeat. Look at the mouth diagrams to help you position your lips.

/ә /	/3:/
slogan forward awkward standard upward backward	girl word third earn word work

· Listen to the word combinations with sounds /ә /and / ı / in contrast and repeat. Remember, that letter “e” in the article “the” is pronounced as / ı / and /ә /.

· Listen to the words with sounds /ә /, /e/ and /æ/ in contrast and repeat. Look at the mouth diagrams to help you position your lips.

/ә /	/e/	/æ/
moraine Beluga banana solution lament towards	mess bend bred set led together	mass band brand sat land gather

· Listen to the dialogues. Intone them. Learn and reproduce, paying attention to the pronunciation of the sounds / 3: / and / ۸ /, intonation and tempo.

Dialogue 6

- Something’s burning.

- Oh, my buns!

- Curse this… oven! Curse it!

- But I prefer burnt buns.

- It’s the worst… oven in the world!

- Wonderful! A perfect bun! Perfect!

- Well, there are thirty of them. Have another.

- Mm! Lovely!

Dialogue 7

- I work for your brother's company.

- Come and work for my company. How much money do you earn?

- Five hundred a month.

- You’re worth another thirty.

- I’m worth another hundred. But I mustn’t leave your brother.

- We’ll discuss it on Thursday.

- We have discussed it.

- Six hundred?

- Six hundred and thirty.1975

III. Learn the following graphical rules:

Vowel / ә / is represented in spelling by:

7) The letter “a” in prefixes (about)

8) In suffixes “er, or, ar, our, ous” (teacher, doctor, cellar, neighbour, famous)

9) “a, o, u” when non-accented (sofa, atom, column)

Method of Learning

The vowel sound /i:/ as in ‘peel’

· Read the instruction to learn how to make the long sound / i:/.

The front of the tongue is raised high in the direction of the hard palate. The air passage between the tongue and the hard palate is narrow. The tip of the tongue is near the lower teeth. The soft palate is raised and the air, exhaled from the lungs, passes freely through the mouth cavity. The lips are spread, slightly revealing the upper and lower teeth.

· Listen to the target sound and the words and repeat. Look at the mouth diagrams to help you position your lips, tongue and jaw for the target sound. Transcribe the words.

/ i: i: i:/

· Read the words with the sound /i:/. Transcribe them.

Me, piece, key, meet, greet, see, be, scene, keys, ceiling, chief, season, meat, seas, keeps, field, receive, people, least, seat, pea, machine, ski, free, bee, meat, peas, quay, cease, brief, niece.

· Find a way from Start to Finish. You may pass a square only if the word in it has the sound /i:/. You can move horizontally or vertically only.

· Listen to the sentences and repeat. Read each sentence aloud slowly at first, then as if you were telling it to someone in a natural way.

1) One e vening, lying by the str ea m on the gr ee n grass, I dr ea med of ea ting sw ee ts.

2) J ea n, have you b ee n in a wh ea t f ie ld in L ee k?

3) His dem ea nour s ee ms to rev ea l the s e cret r ea sons for his dec ei t.

4) D e monised t ee nagers were pl ea sed with their t ea.

5) All l e gal furies s ei ze you! No proposal s ee ms to pl ea se you.

6) I bel ie ve my f ee t are r ea lly quite cl ea n, E vie.

· Listen and copy the intonation and voice modulation on the CD.

S ee – s ee – they drink

All thought unh ee ding,

The t ea -cups clink,

They are exc ee ding!

· Practice reading the tongue twisters as quickly as you can. Be careful not to mispronounce the target sound.

1. I scream, 2.A sailor went to sea

You scream, To see what he could see,

We all scream But all that he could see

For ice-cream. Was sea, sea, sea.

· Listen to the dialogues. Intone them. Learn and reproduce, paying attention to the pronunciation of the sound / i: /, intonation and tempo.

Dialogue 1

- Can you read tea-leaves, Peter?

- I can read yours, Eve.

- What can you see?

- I can see… the beach… and the sea… and two people – Eve and Peter.

- Can’t you see three?

- No, Eve. Just you and me. I can’t see Aunt Frieda at all.

Dialogue 2

- These feet are in the terrible condition! They need treatment.

- I agree, Doctor. My feet do need treatment.

- The treatment for these feet is to eat lots of green vegetables. But don’t eat meat for at least a week.

- No meat, Doctor?

- I repeat – you must not eat meat for at least a week.

- But I do eat green vegetables, Doctor. And I don’t eat meat at all.

- Then you don’t seem to need the treatment.

- But Doctor – my feet!

- Next patient, please.

The vowel sound / ı / as in ‘pit’

· Read the instruction to learn how to make the short sound / ı /.

The tongue is in the front part of the mouth but slightly retracted. The air narrow but a little wider than in the English /i:/. The tip of the tongue is near the lower teeth. The lips are spread or neutral, the jaw is lowered, the distance between the jaws being bigger than for /i:/.

· Listen to the target sound and the words and repeat. Look at the mouth diagrams to help you position your lips, tongue and jaw for the target sound. Transcribe the words.

/ ı ı ı /

· Read these words with the sound /ı/. Transcribe them.

Pick, pink, kit, tin, finish, daily, will, fill, pit, many, crystal, remain, sit, kid, pretty, become, alley, donkey, fit, pig, money, climate, sibling, vicinity, little, missis, live, skip, delete, drift, kitten.

· Listen to the sentences and repeat. Read each sentence aloud slowly at first, then as if you were telling it to someone in a natural way.

1) Those lett u c e s taste like cabb a g e s.

2) B i ll l i fted the l i d of the b i n tentat i vely and found not a s i ngle th i ng.

3) Tell J i ll I th i nk th i s i s a s i lly l i ttle game.

4) I can’t stay a m i nute longer i n th i s m i serable l i ttle p i t!

5) T i m Gr i m i s a sol i d respectable man and i s a p i llar of society.

6) Th i s s i mple th i ng, a wedd i ng r i ng, i s a s y mbol, th e oldest i n h i story.

7) Climb i ng over a rocky mountain, sk i p the r i vulet and the fountain.

· Listen and copy the intonation and voice modulation on the CD.

Here’s a first-rate opportunity

To get married with impunity,

To indulge in the felicity

Of unbounded domesticity.

You shall quickly be personified,

Conjugally matrimonified,

By a doctor of divinity,

Who resides in this vicinity.

· Listen to the words with sounds / i: / and / ı /in contrast and repeat. Look at the mouth diagrams to help you position your lips.

/i:/	/ ı /	/i:/	/ ı /
reason been ease sleep cheap wheat leap feet team	risen bin is slip chip wit lip fit Tim	beast queen deal need leek people greed leave sneaky	bit kin dill Nick lyric pitch grid live snip

· Listen to the words and repeat. Read, paying attention to the spelling of /i:/ (highlighted as bold and underlined) and / ı / (highlighted as bold). Transcribe them.

B e l ie ve, r e v ea l, d e f ea t, r e c e de, r e tr ie ve, r e c ei pt, gr ea s y, ea s y, sn ee z i ng, th e s i s, s ee i ng, s e r e ne, r e l ie ve, r e p ea t, m ee t i ng, y ie ld i ng, s ei z i ng, fr ee z i ng.

· Listen to the sentences and repeat. Read each sentence aloud slowly at first, then as if you were telling it to someone in a natural way. Mind the highlighted letters.

1) The w i dth of the sl ee ves st i ll n ee ds to f i t my n ea t l i nen jacket.

2) I’m not part i cularly k ee n to g i ve the v i ctory to a d i fferent t ea m.

3) Th e se s i lver r i ngs b e longed to Qu ee n E l i zabeth.

4) T i m i s compl e tely out of N i na’s l ea gue and she i sn’t k ee n on b ei ng chased by h i m.

5) There i s a l i ttle someth i ng m i ssing i n this m ea l. Have you tried to add some d i ll?

6) My next of k i n, Mr. B ea n, i s a D ea n of L ee ds Univers i t y.

***********************************

XV. Learn the following graphical rules:

· Vowel / i: / is represented in spelling by:

11) the letter ‘ e ’ in open and historically open syllables (be, meter, these)

12) the digraphs ‘ ee ’ (meet, see)

‘ ea ’ (meat, seat)

‘ ie ’ (piece, field)

‘ ei ’ (ceiling, receive)

Rare spelling: ‘ ey ’ (key)

‘ ay ’ (quay)

‘ eo ’ (people)

‘ i ’ (ski, machine)

· Vowel / ı / is represented in spelling by:

1) the letters ‘ i ’ and ‘ y ’ in stressed closed syllables (sit, window, myth, syllable)

2) ‘ y ’, ‘ ey ’, ‘ ai ’, ‘ ay ’ when unstressed (city, money, mountain, Sunday)

3) the letter “e” in prefixes (before, decide)

Rare spelling: the letters ‘ e ’, ‘ a ’ and ‘ u ’ when unstressed and sometimes stressed (alphabet, pretty; climate; minute, busy, mortgage)

XVI. Find Ukrainian equivalents to the proverbs and sayings, learn them:

/ i: /

1. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

2. No sweet is without some sweat.

3. Extremes meet.

4. Seeing is believing.

/ ı /

1. As fit as a fiddle.

2. As busy as a bee.

3. Little pitches have big ears.

4. Between the devil and the deep sea.

5. Still waters run deep.

6. Speech is silver but silence is gold.

7. Betwixt and between.

· Listen to the tongue twister. Learn it by heart. Practice saying it as quickly as you can. Be careful not to mispronounce the target sound. I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish,

But if you wish the wish the witch wishes,

I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.

· Practice reading the tongue twisters as quickly as you can. Be careful not to mispronounce the target sound. Learn them by heart.

1. Miss, miss, little miss

When she misses she misses like this.

2. Six little kittens lost their mittens

It’s a pity they were so pretty.

3. Little pretty Mrs. Smith lives in this vicinity.

· Listen to the dialogues. Intone them. Learn and reproduce, paying attention to the pronunciation of the sound / ı /, intonation and tempo.

Dialogue 3

- Does it fit?

- Yes, it fits, but it isn’t very pretty.

- This pink one’s very pretty.

- But it’s a bit big.

- Well,… this silk one isn’t big.

- No,… but it’s a bit frilly.

Dialogue 4

Jim’s a brilliant physicist.

- Jim’s a silly nitwit.

- Criticism! Nothing but criticism! If it isn’t Jim, it’s Billy and if it isn’t Billy, it’s…

- Billy’s ridiculous!

- Philip, it’s silly to criticize everybody!

- Yes, Jill, it is. Now, why are you criticizing me?

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