Learn the pronunciation of vowels
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| Hi everyone. | |
| Welcome to The Ultimate German Pronunciation Guide. | |
| In this lesson, you'll learn all 17 German vowel sounds. | |
| a, a:, ɐ, œ, eː, øː, ɛ, ɛ:, ə, iː, yː, ɪ, ʏ, ɔ, oː, uː, ʊ | |
| With these sounds, you can pronounce any vowel that could possibly appear in German! | |
| Some vowels may be hard for you to distinguish, especially for English speakers, so make sure you listen carefully! | |
| Are you ready? | |
| Then let's get started! | |
| The first vowel is... | |
| a | |
| maximal (maximum) | |
| Wasser (water) | |
| Dach (roof) | |
| "It's very similar to the A sound in the word 'pat', though not as whiny. | |
| Try moving your tongue further back in to the mouth, so that it assumes a more centralized position. It should sound a little deeper as a result, and instead of a whiny sound, it now has a darker quality to it. | |
| The resulting vowel should sound somewhere in between the A sounds of the words 'pat' and 'bra'. | |
| Listen to the native speaker." | |
| a, a (slowly) | |
| a, a (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| a: | |
| Bahn (train) | |
| Saal (hall) | |
| Vater (father) | |
| This is identical to the previous sound, except it's held for twice as long. | |
| a:, a: (slowly) | |
| a:, a: (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| ɐ | |
| oder (or) | |
| aber (but) | |
| Ober (waiter) | |
| "This is identical to the previous sound, except that the tongue is raised a *tiny* bit higher. | |
| This sound typically occurs at the end of a word and pronounced softly." | |
| ɐ, ɐ (slowly) | |
| ɐ, ɐ (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| œ | |
| Hölle (hell) | |
| göttlich (divine) | |
| erörtern (to debate) | |
| "This sounds roughly like the U in the word 'hurt'. | |
| To pronounce this sound however, try saying the E sound in the word 'red' while rounding your lips." | |
| œ, œ (slowly) | |
| œ, œ (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| eː | |
| Seele (soul) | |
| mehr (more) | |
| Beet (patch) | |
| "This sounds a little bit like the double EE in the word 'feet' except your tongue is not as high. Try to relax your jaw, and say it as if to allow the vowel to spill out. | |
| Listen to the native speaker." | |
| eː, eː (slowly) | |
| eː, eː (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| øː | |
| öde (dull) | |
| hören (to hear) | |
| schön (beautiful) | |
| "This is identical to the previous sound, except that the lips are rounded. | |
| Try to say the word 'play' while rounding your lips." | |
| øː, øː (slowly) | |
| øː, øː (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| ɛ | |
| hätte (had) | |
| Männer (men) | |
| Bett (bed) | |
| It's identical to the E sound in the word 'red'. | |
| ɛ, ɛ (slowly) | |
| ɛ, ɛ (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| ɛ: | |
| wähle (choose) | |
| spät (late) | |
| länge (length) | |
| This identical to the previous sound, except that it's pronounced twice as long. | |
| ɛ:, ɛ: (slowly) | |
| ɛ:, ɛ: (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| ə | |
| halte (hold) | |
| behalten (to keep) | |
| gesund (healthy) | |
| It's identical to the E sound at the end of the word 'problem'. | |
| ə, ə (slowly) | |
| ə, ə (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| iː | |
| viel (much) | |
| Bibel (bible) | |
| Ziel (target) | |
| It's identical to the double E sound in the word 'see'. | |
| iː, iː (slowly) | |
| iː, iː (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| y: | |
| über (over) | |
| Mykene (mycenae) | |
| Rübe (carrot) | |
| "It's identical as the previous sound, except that the lips are rounded. | |
| Try saying the word 'see' while rounding your lips." | |
| y:, y: (slowly) | |
| y:, y: (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| ɪ | |
| bitte (please) | |
| willig (eager) | |
| bist (are) | |
| It's identical to the I sound in the word 'it'. | |
| ɪ, ɪ (slowly) | |
| ɪ, ɪ (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| ʏ | |
| füllt (fills) | |
| Rhythmus (rhythm) | |
| schützen (to protect) | |
| "It's identical as the previous sound, except that the lips are rounded. | |
| Try saying the word 'it' while rounding your lips." | |
| ʏ, ʏ (slowly) | |
| ʏ, ʏ (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| ɔ | |
| voll (full) | |
| kommen (to come) | |
| Ort (place) | |
| It's identical to the OU sound in the word 'ought'. | |
| ɔ, ɔ (slowly) | |
| ɔ, ɔ (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| oː | |
| oder (or) | |
| Boot (boat) | |
| Moos (moss) | |
| "This is very similar to the previous sound, except your tongue is positioned a little bit higher. | |
| It's quite similiar to the O sound in the word 'owe'. Though be careful not to carry over the W sound too much. | |
| Listen to the native speaker." | |
| oː, oː (slowly) | |
| oː, oː (slowly) | |
| The next vowel is... | |
| uː | |
| Fuß (foot) | |
| Blume (flower) | |
| Hut (hat) | |
| It's identical to the double O sound in the word 'boot'. | |
| u:, u: (slowly) | |
| u:, u: (slowly) | |
| And the last vowel is... | |
| ʊ | |
| Schutz (protection) | |
| kurz (short) | |
| Putz (plaster) | |
| It's identical to the double O sound in the word 'took'. | |
| ʊ, ʊ (slowly) | |
| ʊ, ʊ (slowly) | |
| Well done! You've just learned all 17 vowels in German! | |
| a, ɐ, œ, eː, øː, ɛ, ə, iː, yː, ɪ, ʏ, ɔ, oː, uː, ʊ | |
| In the next lesson, you'll start learning consonants sounds. | |
| There were a lot of vowel sounds in this lesson, but which vowel sound was the most difficult for you to learn? Please comment and share your thoughts. | |
| See you in the next Ultimate German Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
27 Comments
HideDo you find any of the German vowel difficult to pronounce?
Hi Pillow,
Thank you for asking.
I have been teaching German for years and I think
I understand your frustration. These are the most challenging
vowels in the German language for most students. To be honest,
if you can't pick it up from the video, the best solution for you might
be to find a native speaker for a language exchange (or a teacher?),
and I mean face-to-face, not via Skype etc..
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
still can't tell difference between /Y/ and /oe/, I think it's told in the video both from /i/ but round mouth?? looking for help!
Hi Jason,
Good to hear.👍
Thank you.
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Looks like it's been corrected.
Hi Jason,
Thanks again for bringing this to our attention.
It's going to be corrected soon.
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Unfortunately, there is no screenshot option here. It is under the Vocabulary section:
Vocabulary
Putz plaster
göttlich divine maximal at most; maximum
halte stop, to hold
...
Beet bed
wähle to choose
...
Bett bed
Seele soul
Hi Jason,
Thank you for your feedback but I can't find it.
Could you please copy and paste the section of the lesson with the mistake
in your next comment?
I am very sorry for the inconvenience.
I did find "Beet" with the translation "patch" in brackets, and "Bett" with
the translation "Bed" behind it. These two are correct.
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
There seems to be a mistake in the Vocab section - Beet and Bett are both listed as bed in English.
Hi Conrad,
Correct me if I am wrong but when the speaker tries to think
of examples in the English language, they would probably always
be approximations. Every one speaks slightly different. Within the UK
you will find people saying the same word differently, and the same applies to the
US, I guess.
I think the best way to approach the problem is to listen to Eliza and try to say
the vowels her way. She is pronouncing them very well.
Thank you.
If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Reinhard
Team GermanPod101.com
Are the words the narrator gives for reference to the Vowel sounds for American or UK pronunciation? It seems the word examples provided by the narrator of 1. Problem 2. It 3. Ought and 4. Took don’t sound anything like the vowel sounds provided by the other girl. Please help, my ears need tuning!