German accent!

jessikah   Sun Jun 10, 2007 4:54 pm GMT
if you do not speak german nor are a german dont bother!
Queen of germany   Thu Jun 21, 2007 6:01 am GMT
I've recntly been given a role as a german queen and I'm BRITISH!!!! HELP! could anyone give me handy hints?
Monkey Bob   Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:07 pm GMT
Every time you see a 'w' in a german accent you'd say it as a 'v'
Jim Johnson   Sat Dec 08, 2007 3:04 pm GMT
I would suggest you listen to recordings, such as what you'll find at http://web.ku.edu/idea/. You'd be even more helped by getting a program that teaches you how to speak with that accent, with a recording of a dialect coach leading you through it, such as what you'll find at http://www.accenthelp.com/ (which also has recordings of native speakers). Then you should work with a coach to perfect what you're doing. You could find one near you at http://vasta.org/. Good luck!
Christian   Sat Dec 22, 2007 2:52 pm GMT
>> i think this pronunciation of german words is almost correct - you can hear the difference between the ch in euch and auch --> http://www.dict.cc/?s=auch+euch
<<

The "euch" sounds correct (alternatively listen also to "ich"), but the "auch" not, the pronunciation difference goes in that direction, but it's way too strong in "auch".

Not having an example how to pronounce the "ch" in e.g. "auch", I would recommend to pronounce it slightly wrong as in "euch" which is more correct then the pronunciation given on that website.

Also keep in mind, that within Germany there a lots of pretty strong dialects, which nowadays are being converted more and more into accents. E.g. in rural Bavaria people speak with a Bavarian dialect, but in Munich (capitol of Bavaria) most people speak with only a bavarian accent.

Most of the Bavarians pronounce German words ending on -ig wrong, like König (engl.: king); in standard German the ending -ig is pronounced like -ich (unless further letters follow, like in the plural: Könige)
Travis   Sat Dec 22, 2007 2:58 pm GMT
>>Most of the Bavarians pronounce German words ending on -ig wrong, like König (engl.: king); in standard German the ending -ig is pronounced like -ich (unless further letters follow, like in the plural: Könige)<<

Actually, that pattern of pronunciation of "-ig" is more conservative than that in Standard German, as that in Standard German is actually borrowed from Low Saxon.
Guest   Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:49 pm GMT
Is there really a need to be realistic with faking a German accent?

Simply use "uber", "heil", "achtung" in every second sentence + "das" before every noun and that should work for the typical US American fat, hamburger eating dumbass who will never leave his country in his whole life

It should cover approx. 99% of the American population
Christian   Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:59 pm GMT
>> As you already know, we hate Germany and all who speak German.<<

Uhm, isn't it ironic, that the English language itself is a Germanic language?

So please don't humilate yourself and express your hate more appropriately in a Romanic language (e.g. French) ...
Guest   Mon Dec 24, 2007 4:18 pm GMT
Uhm, isn't it ironic, that the English language itself is a Germanic language?

No it isn't, so it isn't ironic at all
Christian   Wed Dec 26, 2007 8:08 pm GMT
>>No it isn't, so it isn't ironic at all <<

Yes, it is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_languages

"The largest Germanic languages are English and German, ..."
John   Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:38 am GMT
There have been a lot of comment on "what a German accent sounds like." A lot of the comments have been right on the mark, but others have been WAY off.


<<<Ve haf vays of making you speak viz ze German accent, ja????

Thanks so much for all the help with this. I'm in a play and I have to have a German accent for it and i was having a lot of trouble with it. I think mostly it's easiest just to change all the w's when you're talking to sound like v's.>>>>


The above comment are totally incorrect. When Germans speak English they do not make their Ws sound like Vs, although in their own language they would. The only place you hear Germans talk like this (or that I have) is in old WWII films.


<<I live in Germany and what I often encounter at Germans speaking English is V pronounced as W so they say awailable instead of available.>>

Absolutely correct! Just about every German is guilty of this type of hypercorrection when they speak English. It sometimes sounds almost comical to hear them say things like "At the uniwersity my best adwantage was playing the wiolin and that is when I met my wife."

This mistake alone is enough to pick out a German speaking English.



<<Basically, in standard Hochdeutsch, such is pronounced [x] after back vowels (that is, /a/, /a:/, /O/, /o:/, /U/, /u:/, and /aU/) without intervening morpheme boundaries being present and [C] elsewhere, including morpheme-initially. Note though that many dialects use [S] instead of [C], while some dialects use [X] across the board instead of [x], [C], or [S]. >>

<< They have strong final devoicing:

boys [bois] (boyce)
whores [hors] (horse)
to use [tujus] (/the/ use)
eyes [ais] (ice)
club [klap] (clawp)
bed [bEt] (bet) >>

Both of these are also true. German vowels are "pure" and as a rule of thumb always sound the same no matter where they occur. The lack of "intervening morpheme boundaries" are extremely important when pronouncing German vowels. (or "wowels" as I have heard them say it)

Germans also heavily palitize the letter L. E.g when they say the word "gold" it comes out sounds like "Goyld" (Austrians and Swiss are usually an exception to this)

Also, to "copy" a German accent pronounce all of your Rs like the "Brooklyn R" which is more like an "Ah" sound.

The letter S also deserves to be mentioned. Before a consonant the letter S is pronounced with a slight SH sound and before a vowel (or wowel) as a voiced Z sound. The voiceless S is nowhere nearly as common in German as it is in English. In fact, when Germans mock and English accents they often inSert a voiSleSS S every where the can.
John   Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:42 am GMT
Pardon all my typing mistakes. I am actually at work and should be focused on other things besides proofreading what I type in antimoon.
Guest   Thu Dec 27, 2007 4:54 pm GMT
I think German accent is very heavy and quite gross
Guest   Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:47 am GMT
"I think German accent is very heavy and quite gross"

Can you elaborate on that and provide examples?
K. T.   Fri Dec 28, 2007 6:21 am GMT
Jim Johnson gave a very valuable link for actors (and others) above. The first link takes you to a site. You can click "Europe" then "German" or "Germany" for several sample accents. This site has many samples of other people speaking English with accents from different areas.

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Guest Thu Dec 27, 2007 4:54 pm GMT
I think German accent is very heavy and quite gross

A lot of accents are "heavy" in English and I don't need to list them here. I'm not sure why you'd consider it gross. I can't even imagine what you mean. If this is another silly German-baiting attempt, please stop. I'm so tired of both factions in the languages forum here.