Attack of the German sounds and symbols!

How to pronounce German words — how to say those ä, ö, ü symbols and that weird ß thing

Some people might say that German is not the world's love language. Jens doesn’t agree — he’s never had a problem impressing the ladies with words like these:

The German language might be famous for its exceedingly long compound words, but it’s also famous for its charming sounds and weird symbols.

But don’t be scared. Jens has the perfect way to help you navigate all those ß’s, ö’s, and ü’s.

It's time to play — What's that sound?

To introduce you to German sounds, Jens invented a game. Listen to the audio clip and decide if Jens making the sound for a German letter or making some other noise.

R sounds

Is Jens making the German "r" sound, or is he gurgling mouthwash?

Play Have a listen

Answer: That was Jens making the German r sound. When the letter r appears at the beginning of a word, it makes a rolling sound way in the back of your throat. Give it a try. Make an r sound, then pretend you are gurgling while you do it.

To make you feel better, that crazy, rolling r sound only happens when the r is at the beginning of the word. Everywhere else, the r makes a much softer sound, almost like an “uh” sound.

B sounds

Is this some audio of Jens yodelling, or Jens making the German "b" sound?

Play Listen closely

Answer: That was Jens yodelling. The good news is that b makes the same sound in both English and German. In fact, there are lots of letters that make the same sound in German and English: f, h, k, l, m, n, p, t.

Ch sounds

Is this the sound of Jens making the "ch" sound in German? Or is it the sound of an angry cat?

Play Listen closely

Answer: That was the oh-so-lovely sound for the German ch. Try it now by making a very short, cat-hissing sound.

That ß sound

Is this Jens making the sound for that goofy German ß symbol? Or is it a snake about to attack?

Play Which one is it?

Answer: Don’t let that weird “ß” symbol upset you. It’s called an eszet. It’s just an “s” sound, “ssss.” In fact, Jens and other Germans are fighting to eliminate the eszet and replace it with a double-s (ss) as part of a spelling reform movement.

W sounds

Here's a tricky one for you. Is this Jens saying the German w sound, or is it Jens's car refusing to start?

Play Listen and decide (and don't peek at the answer!)

Answer: That was the German w, which sounds like our “v” sound. (Now you know why when comedians do impressions of Germans, they always replace all their w’s with v’s. I must vash my hands vith varm vater.)

You’re definitely going to need to master this sound because almost all German question words begin with w’s.

V sounds

Is this Jens saying the German "v" sound, or the wind blowing?

Play What do you think?

Answer: That may have sounded like wind, but that was the sound the letter v makes in German. It’s the same sound as our English f.

J sounds

You’ve probably already figured out the German sound for “j” from your tour guide’s name, Jens. But let’s make sure you’re still awake. Is this the German sound for the letter “j” or just the sound of Jens laughing?

Play Listen closely

Answer: That was the German "j" sound, pronounced like an English “y” sound. Here are some German words with this sound.

Got all that? Here's a quick recap:

• The r (at the beginning of the word) sounds like gurgling
• The r (at the end of the word) sounds like “uh”
• The ch sounds like a cat hiss
• ß is just a “ss” sound
• j sounds like the English y
• w sounds like the English v
• v sounds like the English f

Umlauts: Your mouth is about to do some crazy gymnastics

Germans also have a few vowels that we don’t have in English: ä, ö, and ü.

The double dots above vowels are called umlauts. They change the sound of the vowel to something that sounds like you’re getting dental work done while trying to speak

Here's what they sound like:

German's not-so-silent letters

When you first start learning German, as an English speaker, you are going to want to keep following our rules for silent letters. But the Germans prefer for their letters to make noise.

Here are some places where you might get tripped up. Remember to listen to Jens pronounce the example words. Resist the urge to stay silent!