German Pronunciation
German is spelled the way it sounds. Learn a handful of rules, tap every word to hear it, and you’ll read any word aloud with confidence.
18 short lessons · 453 words you can hear
Hear the difference
Six pairs English speakers mix up. Tap both words — one sound changes the meaning.
Start here
The alphabet and the sounds you need from day one- The alphabetSay all 30 letters and spell your name like a local
- Umlauts ä, ö, üBuild ö and ü from sounds you already make
- ß vs ssSay ß right and know when to write ss
- Long vs short vowelsHear and read vowel length from spelling
- Diphthongs ei, eu, auStop mixing up ei and ie for good
- The CH soundSay ich and ach like a native, not ick or ish
- S, Z and SCHStop mixing up s and z: the German rules in 5 minutes
- W, V, J and QUW is v, v is f: untangle the letter swap fast
Intermediate
The details that make you sound less foreign- Unstressed e (schwa)Stop dropping the final e in bitte and Name
- The R soundFind the throat r and stop curling your tongue
- SP and STKnow when st is 'sht' and when it stays 'st'
- Final devoicingHund ends in t: the one rule behind it
- Consonant clustersPferd, Knie, zwölf: say every consonant cleanly
- -ig and -er endingsStop saying 'richtig' with a hard g
Advanced
Stress, melody and the hardest wordsAll lessons by sound
Letters & alphabet
How each letter sounds — plus ä, ö, ü and ß.
Vowels
Long or short, pure or gliding — vowels change meaning.
Consonants
The sounds English doesn’t have, and the letters that fool you.
Stress & melody
Where the weight falls — and why German sounds crisp.
How to practise
- Listen, then copy at onceTap a word, say it straight after — while the sound is still in your ear.
- Shadow short phrasesSpeak along with the audio, a split second behind, until you match its rhythm.
- Record yourselfCompare your voice memo with the audio. You’ll hear what to fix.
- Five minutes a dayShort daily practice beats an hour on Sunday — your mouth needs repetition.
Questions learners ask
Is German pronunciation hard for English speakers?
Less than it looks. German spelling is very regular, so once you know a dozen rules you can read almost any word aloud correctly. Only a few sounds — ü, ö, ch and r — are new.
Which German sounds should I learn first?
Start with vowel length and the umlauts, then the ch-sound. They change meaning, so getting them right makes you understood fastest.
Do I need to learn IPA?
No. Every word here has audio and a plain-English tip. The IPA in brackets is there if you already know it.
Which accent is taught here?
Standard German (Hochdeutsch), the accent of news and classrooms. Where regions differ, the lessons point it out.