Lesson 1: Getting Started

Page 8 of 12

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German Pronunciation (I)

sound/ letter:		German Examples	English Examples
long a		Rad , fahren	master (brit.), after (brit.)
short a		lachen , Kamm	cup, buck
long ä		Käse , ähnlich	non-existent in   English
short ä		härter , lächeln	letter, fresh
long e		Feder , lesen	non-existent in   English
short e		Wetter, gelb	lettuce, yellow
long i		Igel , ihnen	eel, Steven
short i		innen , schwimmen	inner, swimming
long o		Sofa , Los	close to: owl, goal
short o		Gott , Topf	opera, pot
long ö		lösen , böse	close to: fern, nerd
short ö		Börse , gönnen	non-existent in   English
long u		Schule, Krug	school, fool
short u		Luft , Bus	non-existent in   English
long ü		Güte , lügen	non-existent in   English
short ü		schütten , lüften	non-existent in   English

sound/ letter:		German Examples	English examples
c		Centrum , Computer	center, computer
g		Griff , geben	grip, give
h		helfen , Hand	help, hand
j		Jahr , jung	year, young
r		Rathaus , rechts , richtig	non-existent in   English
s		sicher , Neuseeland	zebra, New Zealand
ß		Fuß , Straße Switzerland: use ss instead of ß	sweet, kiss
v		Vater, Vogel	father, feather
w		wenn , Wasser	vase, vast
z		Zebra , Zar	tsar

1. We produce the r in German by using our throat and creating some sort of gurgling sound. The r is probably the most difficult sound for native English speakers to master. Don't be afraid though to simply pronounce it your way. By the way: There are big differences in the way, the r is pronounced throughout the German speaking world. For example in Switzerland and parts of southern Germany, the r is rolled like in Spanish or Italian.
   
2. The ß in German is like an s or ss in English.