German Phonics and Pronunciation

How German Sounds Differ from English#

One of the most exciting parts of learning German is discovering the special sounds that do not exist in English! German has some unique sounds that might feel funny to say at first, but with practice they become completely natural. The German word for sound is der Laut (dare lowt) and phonics is called die Phonetik (dee fo-nay-tik).

German Has Letters English Dös Not!#

The very first thing that makes German special is that it has four extra letters that English dös not have:

The Umlauts:

• ä (sounds like the English "e" in "bed" or "air")
• ö (sounds like the "u" in "burn" but with rounded lips)
• ü (sounds like the "ee" in "see" but with rounded lips)

The Eszett:

• ß (called "Eszett" or "scharfes S" — a double ss sound)

These special letters are called Umlaute (oom-low-teh) for ä, ö, ü, and das scharfe S for ß.

What Are Umlauts?#

An umlaut is those two little dots above a vowel (ä, ö, ü). They change the sound of the vowel. Think of the dots as a little signal saying: "Pronounce me differently!"

ä examples:

• die Hände (dee hen-deh) — the hands (compare: die Hand without the umlaut)
• der Bär (dare bare) — the bear
• das Mädchen (dahs mayt-khen) — the girl

ö examples:

• schön (shön) — beautiful
• zwölf (tsvuelf) — twelve
• der Löwe (dare lö-veh) — the lion

ü examples:

• fünf (fünf) — five
• über (ü-ber) — over / above
• das Frühstück (dahs frü-shtük) — breakfast

Practice Makes Perfect!#

To practice the umlaut sounds, try this:

• For ü: Say the English word "see". Now keep your tongü in the same place but round your lips like you are about to say "ooh". That is the German ü sound!

• For ö: Say the English word "burn" or "fur". Round your lips more. That is close to ö!

• For ä: This one is the easiest — it sounds just like the "a" in "bad" or "air" in English.

Do not worry if these sounds feel strange at first. Every German child had to practice them too!