To help you learn how to read and write English in the Shwa alphabet, we offer a variety of learning aids. Use the one(s) you find most useful!

Picture Alphabet

Here are memorable images of all the Shwa letters and numbers used for English:

Color Vowels

For those of you who are familiar with the (excellent) color vowel system, here is a chart of the vowel colors:

Vowel Nicknames

The color vowels are a great way to talk about the English vowel sounds when they're written in the Roman alphabet, where they don't each have their own letter. That's not a problem in Shwa, but here's another aid: nicknames that help you associate vowel sounds with letter shapes. Each nickname includes the sound it represents, and hopefully also evokes the shape of the letter. Here are some hints:

Bobby represents the helmet of a London constable, since this vowel only occurs in Island English.

Yawn depicts an open mouth.

Vale and Bowl only occur in their long forms in English, with a following Long mark.

Plaza represents a view from a tower.

Label names the unstressed schwi sound of the second syllable.

Vowel Images

Here's another way to remember the vowel shapes, with images.

(Thanks to Logan Turner)

Box of Shapes

Here's a fantastic resource: a box of Shwa letter shapes you can make at home.

(More thanks to Logan Turner)

Letter Charts

Here are two simple charts of the English letters, suitable for printing.

Vowels
green	silver	golden	wooden	blue
gray	red	mustard	auburn	rose
white	black	almond	olive (Br)	brown
turquoise		purple (Am)		fuchsia
ear	air	are	or	moor
fire		pure		flour

Consonants
m	n	ng
b	d	g	j
p	t	k	ch
pʰ	tʰ	kʰ	chʰ
v	dh	z	zh
f	th	s	sh
y	l	ll	w
r	flap	-h	h

English Letters