7 Tips to Improve German Pronunciation

I often get compliments on my YouTube videos for how good my German accent is. I am not a German native speaker, but my accent is still quite good. With that in mind, here are my top #7 tips for how to improve your German language pronunciation. 

If you are really wanting to put your German learning on track, consider joining Herr Antrim’s Deutschlerner Club! For just $14.99 per month you will get access to his full A1 and A2   courses plus new materials as he creates them. You will go from knowing zero German to being able to have a short conversation in a short few weeks. Before you know it, you will be conversational in German on a variety of important topics, all while mastering German grammar.

#1: Seek first to understand, then to be understood

In 1989 Stephen Covey wrote an amazing book called “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. The 5th habit in this book is “seek first to understand, then to be understood”. In the context of learning German pronunciation, this idea is very important. You need to listen to as much German as  you possibly can. The more German you hear, the better your ear will be trained to know what correct pronunciation is. 

Listen to German podcasts on your way to school or work. Listen to German music, always. Watch German movies, TV shows, and YouTubers. 

It doesn’t even have to be active listening for you to improve your German pronunciation with this tactic. You don’t need to take notes or block out distractions. You can just let this stuff play in the background while you do other stuff. It is obviously going to help more if you pay attention to what you are hearing, but over time your brain will be trained to hear German and know that it is pronounced correctly based on what you have heard before. 

#2: Practice Your German Accent

You know how in American movies when a character is supposed to be German they throw on this really thick German accent just to make sure you know they are German? That can actually be helpful for learning to pronounce German words for real. It may sound counterintuitive, but the way you have to move your mouth in order to put on a fake German accent is the same way you need to move your mouth in order to really speak German.

Don’t believe me? Try this. Read the two quotes below in both German and English, but when reading the English, put on the thickest German accent you can muster. Then notice how your mouth moves in both the German and English versions.

Der Unterschied zwischen Wahnsinn und Genie definiert sich lediglich aus dem Erfolg.
The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.
– Elliot Carver – Der Morgen stirbt nie (Tomorrow Never Dies)

Zwölf Sekunden. Wir müssen ein Gift haben, das schneller wirkt.
Twelve seconds. One of these days we must invent a faster-working venom.
– Ernst Stavro Blofeld – Liebesgrüße aus Moskau (From Russia with Love)

Seriously, practice your Bond villain accent and your German pronunciation will improve. 

#3: Exaggerate

Along the same lines as #2, when you are speaking German, over-exaggerate your pronunciation. Obviously you don’t want to do this while you are having an actual conversation in German, but when you over exaggerate in practice, you will exaggerate just the right amount when it comes time for a real conversation.  

If you say with over-exaggerated mouth movements a few times, your mouth will be trained to move in that general way. Think of it like driving a car. When you first learn to drive, every movement you make is calculated and carefully thought out. By the time you are in your twenties, you are able to drink a coffee, put on makeup and get something out of the glovebox while driving with your knee*. German is just like that. Start by practicing things “by the book”, so to speak, and once you get the hang of things, you can relax a bit, as your muscle memory will take over. 

*With the possible exception of drinking coffee, don’t do these things while driving. It is reckless behavior that puts everyone around you at risk. Kind of like wandering around without a mask on. Seriously, put on your mask… uh and your seatbelt. 

#4: Break It Down

If you didn’t already know this about German, when you break apart big words or big phrases, their smaller parts tell a story of sorts that lead you to the meaning of the whole. Words like “Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz” aren’t nearly as difficult if you can break apart the madness into smaller digestible bits.

“Rind-” from a cow. “Fleisch” meat. “Etikettierung” make something fit the etiquette of the situation… labeling. “Überwachung” monitoring. “Aufgabe” task, responsibility. “Übertragung” transfer. “Gesetz” law. “Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz” was a law for the oversight of the labeling of beef products. 

Breaking words apart like this isn’t just helpful for understanding the meaning of complex compound nouns. You can also do this one syllable at a time and focus on the pronunciation of that syllable. For example: Start with “Rind-”. We have the R sound from the back of the throat. It is kind of blended into the I sound that directly follows the R. N and D become one and you end up with ND. Together we have “Rind-”. Do the same for the rest of the syllables. By breaking down the words into their individual syllables, you can improve your German pronunciation one sound at a time.

#5: Repetition

I often struggle with pretty much any German word that ends with -tion. Operation, Information, Kommunikation and so on. I think it is probably because they are usually incredibly similar to English words, but don’t share the same pronunciation. If this issue affects you, I would recommend doing what I did. Find a list of those words that have that same sound or combination of letters. Then read that list off and over exaggerate your pronunciation like you did in tip #3. You could also break them apart like you did in tip #4. 

Find something that is difficult for you to pronounce. Then make a list of words that use that sound or combination of sounds. Go to Wiktionary.com. Look up the first word on your list. Listen to the audio pronunciation for that word. Then imitate it. Do this for each word on the list. Then go back and read them one after the other. Repetition is key to improving German pronunciation. The more you say it, the easier it will become to say it correctly.

#6: Imitation

Have you ever taken a course where they say something like “Listen and Repeat”, Escucha y Repite, Écoutez et répétez, or Hört zu und wiederholt? There is a reason for this. Teachers of foreign languages know that you need to work on your pronunciation. You need to hear how it sounds and try to imitate that sound.

While I don’t think you should be as boring as your teacher probably was, you do need to try to imitate native speakers as best as you can to mold your accent to be more like theirs. I usually make my students read one word at a time then reread the whole sentence together. I say each word, then they repeat. Then I say the full sentence and they repeat that. It kind of reminds me of that scene in the Pink Panther movie with Steve Martin. 

What is usually missing in this tip is that you need to be able to hear yourself say the words. Record yourself saying the words you are practicing. Then listen to what you said versus what the native speaker said. Was it the same? If it weren’t for your voices being different, was there something that would show which one of you said each version? If so, adjust your pronunciation and try again. This will help you to realize what you are saying is not correct, but more importantly, pinpoint the areas that need improvement, so you can improve. Imitation isn’t just about listening to native speakers and repeating what they say, it is also about listening to yourself when you say it. 

#7: Tongue Twisters

The most counterintuitive tip on my list is to use tongue twisters to help improve your pronunciation. Usually we think of tongue twisters as things that make you mispronounce things. That’s kind of the point of them. In order to say them correctly, however, you have to really concentrate on the things you are saying. This forces you to concentrate on the pronunciation, which in turn makes you improve.

You can even use your tongue twisters to target tricky pronunciation issues for you. Let’s say you are having trouble with the umlauts. You could use this one to practice your ü sounds. It includes some long ü and some short ü sounds.

Müller Lümmer frühstückt schüsselweise grünes Gemüse.
Lümmer the miller eats green vegetables by the bowlful for breakfast.

Again, as I said in tip #3, exaggerate the pronunciation so your muscles in your mouth start to get trained to move in the ways that they need to in order to make German words. Break it apart if you need to, like I said in tip #4. 

Want more?

If you want to really take your pronunciation to a whole new level, check out my full German pronunciation guide for just $10. Or download it from within my e-book, which teaches the basics of the German language and is perfect for anyone just starting to learn German.

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If you are really wanting to put your German learning on track, consider joining Herr Antrim’s Deutschlerner Club! For just $14.99 per month you will get access to his full A1 and A2   courses plus new materials as he creates them. You will go from knowing zero German to being able to have a short conversation in a short few weeks. Before you know it, you will be conversational in German on a variety of important topics, all while mastering German grammar.