Posts from April 2009

German R and Diphthongs

Posted by Transparent Language 1 Comment
Apr 25 2009

Time for the German Rs!

Post vocalic r : does not sound like an English r. The syllable with the post vocalic r is pronounced slightly longer than the syllable without the r. To make this sound, spread your lips slightly apart. Words that contain this r : (der Herr) Mr., (hier) here

Pre vocalic r : is created by making a sound at the back of the mouth and the back of the tongue. It’s a sound that’s different from the post vocalic r. Words that contain this r : (die Frau) Mrs., (der Trost) consolation

Pre vocalic r in clusters : it’s easier to make these sounds by inserting an “a” in front of the r. For example, the word drei (three) can be pronounced as darei. Bringen (to bring) can be pronounced as baringen. Words that contain this sound : (braun) brown, (bedrohen) to threaten

Enough with the Rs. Next up are the dipthongs, diphthongs are two vowels pronounced together as if to pronounce a single vowel.

ai/ei – pronounced as eye. Examples : (der Mai) May, (bei) at, near

eu/äu – pronounced as oy. Examples : (die Häuser) houses, (neu) new

au – pronounced as ow. Examples : (auch) also

ie – pronounced as eeh. Examples : (Sie) you

 

German Consonants

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
Apr 24 2009

Letters b, d, g, p, t, k are pretty much the same as English, but there are exceptions. When b, d, g is at the end of the syllable it changes to p, t, k respectively.

b to p: (abheben) is pronounced as apheben

d to t: (sind) is pronounced as sint

g to k: (tag) is pronounced as tak

When an h follows a vowel it’s silent. You can see this in words like (gehen) and (sehen)

Here are some other pointers:

German v is pronounced like an English f : (der Vater) is pronounced as der Fater

German w is pronounced like an English v : (das Wunder) is pronounced as das Vunder

German z is pronounced like a ts : (die Zeit) is pronounced as die Tsite

Here are some consonant clusters that you might come across:

ck is pronounced as k : (der Schock) is pronounced as der Shock

ch is the ch in the word loch as in the loch ness monster : (mich)

pf is pronounced with both consonants : (das Pferd)

ph is pronounced as f : (das Alphabet) is pronounced as das Alfabet

qu is pronounced as kv : (die Qual) is pronounced as die Kval

sch is pronounced as sh : (die Schule) is pronounced as die Shule

sp and st is pronounced as shp and sht respectively : (sprechen) is pronounced as shprechen. (der Stephanstag) is pronounced as der Shtephanstag

th is pronounced as an English t : (das Theater) is pronounced as das Teater

Wanna hear these sounds, try the German Byki series.

German Vowels

Posted by Transparent Language 1 Comment
Apr 23 2009

We’re going to take a look at the short vowels first, and then go straight to the long vowels. The German word that contains these vowel will be in parentheses and the English translation of the word will follow. The German language does not mark the difference between long and short vowels with adequate punctuation. In a lot of cases, (not always), the short vowels are followed by two or more consonants. Remember that Byki German allows some great opportunities to hear these sounds!

i – (bitte) please

e – (essen) to eat

a – (der Mann) husband, man

o – (die Sonne) sun

u – (die Mutter) mother

ö – (können) to be able to

ü – (fünf) five

Long Vowels:

i – (wie) how

e – (den) that

a – (der Tag) day

o – (wo) where

u – (gut) good

ö – (der König) king

ü – (über) over, above

Typing German Characters

Posted by Transparent Language 13 Comments
Apr 22 2009

Have you ever wondered how to type German characters on an English language keyboard? I have a PC and this is how I do it: 1) Go to control panel 2) Under Clock, Language, Region click on change keyboards 3) Go to keyboards and languages 4) Go to general 5) Click add 6) Click on the German. That should work. I also think this is a good opportunity to go over the German alphabet so we’ll be doing double duty today. First we’ll go over the German Buchstabe or letter and the Aussprache or pronunciation, then the English keystroke that produces that letter and some examples of German words that contain that letter.

a – pronounced as ah. Same as the English keystroke. (der Apparat) phone

ä – ay. It’s the quotation and apostrophe key. (die Fähre) ferry

b – bay. Same as English. (das Buch) book

c – say. Same as English. (die Änderung) change, alteration

d – day. Same. (dunkel) dark

e – ay. Same. (elf) eleven

f – eff. Same. (der Feind) enemy

g – gay. Same. (gleich) same, equal

h – haa. Same. (das Haus) house

i – eeh. Same. (immer) always

j – yot. Same. (das Jahr) year

k – kah. Same. (kennen) to know

l – ell. Same. (die Leute) people

m – emm. Same. (der Mann) man

n – enn. Same. (nein) no

o – oh. Same. (oft) often

ö – ooh. The semicolon key. (Österreich) Austria

p – pay. Same. (das Papier) paper

q – koo. Same. (der Quast) brush

r – err. Same. (rechts) right

s – ess. Same. (das Salz)

ß – ess-zett. Hyphen key. (groß) big, great

t – tay. Same. (der Tag) day

u – ooh. Same. (unter) below

ü – uyuh. Left Bracket key above the quotation key. (über) over, about

v – fow. Same. (der Vater) father

w – vay. Same. (die Woche) week

x – ixx. Same. (das Xylofon) xylophon

y – opp see lohn. The z keystroke. (der Typ) type

z – zett. The y keystroke. (das Zebra) zebra

Berliner

Posted by Transparent Language 9 Comments
Apr 21 2009

Guten Abend! (Good Evening). I am the new blogger for the German blog. My name is Yohann. If you haven’t guessed already, I’m a dude. Lol, not that’s it’s necessary for you to know that, but just in case you were wondering whether I’m a Frau (Mrs.) or Fräulein (Miss), I am a Herr (Mr.).

Gender aside, I went to Dunkin Donuts to get a couple of jelly doughnuts. Eating those doughnuts made me feel nostalgic for the Berliners I had back in Germany. In places like Berlin, it’s called Pfannkuchen. (Yeah, it’s a mouthful, but the p and f are pronounced together) In Austria it’s known Krapfen.

I don’t have anything against Dunkin Donuts, but the Berliners in Germany are really mouth watering. They take a syringe and fill the inside of the doughnut with jelly, sometimes chocolate and sometimes custard. Usually, the top is coated with a confectionary type sugar. It may not be the best choice for people on a diet, but really it’s the perfect treat.

The most famous mention of a jelly doughnut was President Kennedy’s notorious line, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Translate that into plain English and it means, “I am a jelly doughnut.” What he should have said was, “Ich bin Berliner” which means “I am a Berliner.” Berliner being a person of Berlin, not a jelly doughnut. Ein is an indefinite article. By adding ein, Kennedy implied that he was an object.

Moral of the story, keep up with your German grammar! Or else, you’ll be quoted as saying one of the silliest lines ever spoken in German.

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