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Lesson Transcript

Hi everyone.
Welcome to The Ultimate German Pronunciation Guide.
In this series, you'll master German pronunciation. Proper pronunciation is essential in German, and in this series, you'll learn it in a fast, comprehensive, and easy way.
In this first lesson, you'll learn about the building blocks of the German pronunciation system that will help you in future lessons.
The letters used in German are the same as the letters you use in English, with the exception of one new letter and some letters with two dots over them.
But be careful not to fall into a very common trap: as you're learning to *speak* correctly, you shouldn't concern yourself with all the letters. That's right -- forget them! You care about the *sounds* of German and here they are:
There are 28 consonant sounds, and 17 vowel sounds. You can form every single word in German by using these sounds.
Still seem complicated? Well how about this: of the 28 consonant sounds in German, you *already know* 20 of them. That's right, if you are a native English speaker then you already make these sounds every day.
You can also ignore 7 of the vowel sounds for the same reason.
The only thing standing between you and Perfect German Pronunciation are 8 new consonant and 10 new vowel sounds. You can handle that!
Now let me introduce Alisa, who will be helping you to master these new sounds.
"Hello, I'm Alisa" in German (Hallo, ich bin Alisa)
Alisa will be giving you native pronunciation examples for you to imitate. But for this first lesson, just sit back and listen to the unique sounds of German:
nicht (not)
Apfel (apple)
Rost (rust)
Rübe (carrot)
Schmarrn (nonsense)
Zahl (number)
Kuchen (cake)
"bearbeiten" (to edit)
füllt (fills)
über (over)
Fuß (foot)
Seele (soul)
Öl (oil)
aber (but)
Hölle (hell)
Ober (Waiter)
Wasser (water)
Bahn (train)
In the next lesson, we'll look at the top 5 pronunciation mistakes German learners make. You'll want to make sure not to fall into these common traps.
After that, we'll begin going through the vowels and consonants of German. This is your chance to learn how to correctly say all of the words you just heard.
We'll finish up the series by covering some special topics that will really make your German sound natural!
To close this lesson, here's a question for you.
Why is it important to spend time on learning proper pronunciation, even if you're already an advanced speaker?
The answer...
You will be understood, and this will help you build more confidence as you communicate in German. For beginners, you're creating a strong foundation to build on. And for more advanced students, this is your chance to improve your accent and lose any bad habits you may have picked up.
See you in the next Ultimate German Pronunciation Guide lesson!

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