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! |
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