In Deutsch there are 30 letters: 26 as in English but four extra ones that are speziell (shbe-TSYEHL)-special.
A-ah
B-beh
C-tseh
D-deh
E-eh
F-ef
G-Geh
H-Ha
I-ee
J-Yot
K-Ka
L-El
M-Em
N-En
O-O (As in Pot)
P-Peh
Q-Ku (as in the French 'u') Listen to it if you're not sure.
R-Err (throaty r)
S-Ess
T-Teh
U-Ooh
V-Fow
W-Veh
X-Eeks
Y-Oopsilon
Z-Tseht
Ä-E
Ö-Ur (like: Curtain, with your mouth slightly more open)
Ü-Ooh (French 'u' sound)
ß -SS (Sometimes replaced with two S's. Also called 'Eszett' or the 'Scharfes S'-the sharp S)
Now you can almost read German because you write what you hear, just like in Italian! Of course some things are different, so read these rules first and we'll do some training. :)
The pronunciation: Die Aussprache (Dee OWS-shpraa-hhuh)
Ei-'igh' as in high. Eins-one
Ie-'ee' as in 'feet'. Liebe-Love
Eu/Äu-both pronounced 'oy'-Neun (nine), Europa (Europe), Euro, Fräulein (Young lady), Häuser (houses)
Sch-pronounced 'sh' as in 'ship'. Schule (school), schön (beautiful, pretty), Italienisch (the Italian language)
Tsch-'tch' as in 'pitch' or 'Ciao'. Deutsch, Deutschland. (German language, Germany).
S in front of a consonant such as 't' or 'p' is pronounced 'sh'.
Sp-Spanien (SHPAH-nyen)
St-Stuttgart, Stadt (city). By the way, 'dt' is pronounced like a 't', so Stadt is said: 'shdatt'.
V-f as in 'fall'. Vater-father, vier-four
Ph-f as in 'photo'. Philosoph, Physik (philosopher, Physics)
W-V as in 'van'. Zwölf-twelve, Wien-Vienna, Wasser-water.
H-aspirated at the beginning of a word-Haus-house, heute-today, heißen-to call oneself.
Ch-aspirated C. Kind of like a hissing cat lol. You know when a cat hisses, 'heeeeee!", yeah, that's what the 'ch' after the e, i (-ech, -ich) sounds like, along with vowels with umlauts (two dots on top-'ÄCH-pronounced just like '-ech' etc.) and consonants. Ich-I, München-Munich, echt?-really?
Ch-guttural 'k'. Like the 'ch' in the Scottish word 'Loch' after vowels a, o and u. Hoch-high, machen-to do/to make, Buch-book.
D-If found right after an 'n', like 'und, Hund' (and, dog/hound), it is almost pronounced like a 't'.
Did I also say that every noun has a capital initial? :) Katze (cat), Hund (dog), Computer, Tisch (table).
YOU ARE READING
German, the Sexy Way (UNDER RECONSTRUCTION)
Non-FictionHallo! This is Aolani (Alex) and you're about to learn Deutsch! I bet you already knew that word, pronounced 'Doy-tch', didn't you? If not, there's plenty more where that came from. Dialogues, grammar, song translations? All the way up to level B2...
