Tag Archives: pronunciation
The Secret to Pronouncing German Words Posted by Sten on Mar 28, 2022
There are a few things German is infamous for. Its Umlaut with ä, ö, ü, its many cases, and its long, looong words. What about Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz? You might see a very long word with natural pause points where the different words are separated. Or you simply see a whole bunch of letters that are seemingly arranged at…
Die Impfpflicht comes to Germany – but how do you say that? Posted by Sten on Dec 10, 2021
While we wrote about it almost a year ago, it seems like it is finally happening now: The German Bundestag voted for a specific Impfpflicht (f, vaccination mandate) today – the first law passed by the new Ampelkoalition (f, traffic light coalition)!. This affects first and foremost die Pflegekräfte (caregivers) in places like nursing homes and…
4 Ways to Identify a German Speaking English Posted by Sten on Jun 28, 2021
Sometimes you hear somebody’s accent, and it’s clear that they are from some European country. But which one? It often depends on the native language of the speaker. So let’s look at 3 ways that you can identify a German speaking English. The next time you hear somebody speaking like this, you could show off…
Spell it Well: German s/sch in the middle of a word Posted by Sten on May 13, 2021
Last week in Spell it Well, we discussed the use of the s/sch at the beginning of a word. However, there is some weirdness going on with these letters in the middle of words, too! To find out what that’s all about, and how to spell words correctly that deal with this, keep reading! Click…
4 Tips to Improve Your German Accent as an American Posted by Sten on Mar 11, 2021
Learning German can be hard enough. But then there’s also the German pronunciation. As an American, it can be daunting to get this right, especially because German sounds so different from American. But it can be done! I remember meeting an American some years ago, and before he told me that he was from the…
Vowels With Umlaut Next To Ordinary Vowels Posted by Constanze on Jan 20, 2021
Guten Tag! Today we’re going to talk about the Umlaut (ä ö ü) in German. More specifically, we are going to talk about how vowels with an Umlaut sound and look next to ordinary vowels. Read on to find out more! What is an Umlaut? First off, if you’re not yet familiar with the German…
What’s The Difference? Lernen And Lehren In German Posted by Constanze on Jul 29, 2020
Guten Tag! This is the third and final post on the difference between some very closely linked words. These are German words that are either similar in meaning or similar in appearance (or both), which often means they are used incorrectly. This post looks at the words lehren (to teach) and lernen (to learn). We…