Long vowels
How to pronounce /ɝ/ ER as in bird
birdworklearn
How to make it
Curl your tongue back touching nothing, and hold the R through the whole vowel.
- Tongue
- Curled back the whole time
- Lips
- Slightly rounded
- Voice
- Long and stressed
Watch the mouth
Curl the tongue back and hold the R through the whole vowel.
Where learners slip
The R often disappears — bird can land as bud.
- Japanese speakersThe R colour disappears — bird can land as bad.
Say it on real English. See if it lands.
Lang Shadow scores /ɝ/ every time you say it — in Shorts, in role plays and in your own words — and colours it next to the other 40 sounds.