German Language
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German Pronunciation
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German Grammar
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German Vocabulary
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German Language Tools
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Learning German
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German Culture
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GERMAN PRONUNCIATION
If your native language is English, you will have to exaggerate certain lip and mouth configurations in order to pronounce German words correctly. For example, to pronounce German vowels correctly, you must round or spread your lips much more, or place your tongue higher or flatter or further back in the mouth than required for any English vowel. Some German consonants are articulated at points where no English consonants are, or require less aspiration (release of air) than similar English consonants.
Improve your German pronunciation using these lessons and other resources.
- German Vowels
German has long and short vowels. Although the long vowels may seem similar to certain English vowel sounds, they are significantly different, in that they are "pure" sounds, with no off-glide from one vowel sound to another. The short vowels are pronounced in a very clipped manner.
- Pronouncing the 'Easy' Consonants
Most German consonant sounds are similar to those in English, except that several vary in pronunciation depending upon their environment. Also, the spelling of some consonant sounds is different in German from in English.
- Pronouncing Difficult Consonants
The German language has a few combinations of consonants that don’t occur in the English language. Most of them are easy to pronounce, with the exception of “ch,” which is unfamiliar to the English tongue.
- Stress and Accent Marks
The German accent is not really that different from English, and pronouncing German isn't as hard as it may seem. There are only a couple of sounds or sound-distinctions which do not appear in English.
- German Silent Letters
In the German language, this letter is used in the digraph "ch" and the trigraph "sch" to indicate completely different sounds.