How to make the /ә:/ sound:
The /ә:/ in bird sounds VERY different in American and British English.
In North American (rhotic) English, the /r/ is pronounced but not the vowel. The vowel either disappears entirely /brd/ or there is soft and short /ә/ schwa sound "uh" in /bәrd/. To form an /r/ for the American /r/, picture your tongue as a bowl, lower in the middle, higher all around. The sides of the tongue touch the sides of your teeth. The tip of the tongue does not touch anything and curls slightly back.
In British (nonrhotic) English, an r after a vowel is omitted but the vowel is pronounced as a long schwa, the "uh" sound, /bә:d/. The tongue rests on the bottom of the mouth and your whole jaw is relaxed.
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Practice Reading:
Pearl was an amateur bird watcher and a journalist. She earned her keep by traveling the Earth in search of interesting birds and writing articles about them for various journals. One day in Burundi in search of the lizard buzzard, she happened upon a hurt girl who had stepped on a dirty nail. Pearl wrapped her spare shirt around the hurt foot and helped the girl to the health clinic where a nurse treated it. It wasn’t the work she had set out to do, but Pearl was happy to be of service.
More practice with /ə/ and /r/:
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