Learn German online

 

Learn German - Lesson 2 - Pronunciation practice:

In München

(photo by  Jiuguang Wang used under terms of Creative Commons license.)

 

A. Long and short vowels.

 

Practice 1:

 

ihn - in	Beet - Bett	Staat - Stadt	bog - Bock
bieten - bitten	beten - Betten	wate - Watte	wohne - Wonne
Lied - litt	den - denn	Wahn - wann	lohte - Lotte
mieten - mitten	Sehne - Senne	bahne - banne	Ofen – offen
Mus - muss	König - können	Hüte - Rütte
Pute - Putte	Höhle - Hölle	fühle - fülle
bucht - Bucht	böge - Böcke	müder - Mütter
Muhme - Mumme	Goethe - Götter	Lüge - Lücke

 

B. Diphthongs.

 

Ask your instructor to say German Wein, then say English "wine". Notice that the duration of the German vowel combination is considerably shorter than the English.

 

Practice 2:

 

mein	Haus	neu
Wein	Maus	neun
nein	auch	deutsch
leider	glaube	Leute

 

 

 

C. Post-vocalic r

 

Post-vocalic r in German has a vowel-like sound. It does not sound like the English r.

 

Listen carefully to the following pairs of words and imitate them to the satisfaction of your instructor.

 

Practice 3:

 

diese - dieser	Miete - Mieter	älter - Eltern	Gästen - gestern
eine - einer	Alte - Alter	Vetter - Vettern	locken - lockern
Liebe - lieber	bitte - bitter	Kinder - Kindern	fetten - Vettern
Ode - oder	welche - welcher

 

Note that the syllable with post-vocalic r. is in every case slightly longer than the syllable without it. If you watch your instructor's lips carefully you may also see that they are slightly farther apart, his mouth slightly more open on this syllable.

 

Now practice the following groups, first the long vowels and then the pairs of long and short vowels with post-vocalic r, and finally the vowels followed by r and a consonant.

 

Practice 4:

 

hier	sehr	Uhr	Ohr	her - Herr
Bier	mehr	fuhr	Tor	wir - wirr
wir	her	nur	Mohr	Star - starr
Mark	dort	Herrn	Furt	Wirt
Park	Dorf	gern	Durst	First
darf	Wort	herb	Wurm	Schirm
hart	Kork	Kerl	Kurve	Birne

 

D. Pre-vocalic r (voiceless).

 

The pre-vocalic r differs from the post-vocalic r. Most speakers of German make the pre-vocalic r with slight friction between the back of the tongue and the soft palate, the region back of the mouth near the uvula. This sound is very similar to the final sound in noch and nach. Practice the following groups:

 

Practice 5:

 

noch	lachen	Dachau
doch	pochen	Bochum
nach	tauchen	Bucholz
auch

 

Now try making the same sound right after the initial consonants in the following groups:

 

Practice 6:

 

Frau	Trost	Prost	Krone
fragen	traute	prall	Kragen
froh	treffen	Preis	krunun

 

You may find it necessary at first to whisper an extra syllable at the beginning of these words and pronounce Fochau, Tochost, pochall, Kochone, etc.

Don't hesitate to try this if necessary.