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English Pronounciation | ||
Tags: Pronunciation | English | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Starik Newbie Germany Joined 4682 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes | Message 1 of 16 04 February 2012 at 3:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Dear all,
I am a German PhD student facing some troubles in speaking English. During my undergraduate studies I spent two semesters in France, learning French. In addition, I was a bit stupid and always against americanization etc., i.e. I did never try to improve my English. Now my supervisor is British. He encouraged me to improve my pronounciation and now I feel ashamed to speak English. My main problems are, that I lack fluency and my strong German accent. I do not have any problems in reading, understanding or writing English, but speaking is really a weak point. There I wanted to ask you for some advice how to improve my English. I plan to watch English movies, listen to English radio etc. I would like to work together with a private teacher (let's say 1-2 per week), but I am unsure if that helps. Unfortunately my university is located in small town (which is not in an English speaken country), so it may be difficult to find a private teacher. Thanks for your comments. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5321 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes  Speaks: German*, English | Message 2 of 16 04 February 2012 at 6:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Most Germans have problems with the pronunciation of following consonants:
- "th" in "with" and "there" is usually pronounced as /s/ or /z/ instead of /θ/ and /ð/. - "w" is usually pronounced as /v/ instead of /w/. (Some Germans also occasionally hypercorrect "v". I.e., they pronounce "v" as /w/.) - Final "b", "d", "g", is often pronounced as /p/, /t/, /k/ (because of "Auslautverhärtung"). - "r" is usually pronounced exactly as in German. Double-check your pronunciation of these sounds with a native speaker and work on the sounds that that need improvement.
I couldn't help but notice a couple of grammar mistakes in your post. In addition to accent reduction you may also want to work a bit on your grammar. I'd recommend Tim Skern's book Writing Scientific English. Here's an interview with him in which he points out some typical mistakes that Germans make. (BTW, the German interviewer isn't perfect either; nobody would mistake her for a native speaker.) IIRC, several HTLAL members worked as accent reduction teachers. Maybe one of them can offer lessons via skype if you cannot find a suitable teacher where you live. Edited by Doitsujin on 04 February 2012 at 7:25pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| IronFist Senior Member United States Joined 6438 days ago 663 posts - 941 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 3 of 16 04 February 2012 at 6:47pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Do you want to learn British English pronunciation or American English pronunciation?
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 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6910 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 16 04 February 2012 at 7:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Is Tim Skern also German (Danish)? Whatever his nationality, I would never mistake him for a native English speaker (hint: the rising intonation at the end of clauses).
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| Марк Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 5057 days ago 2096 posts - 2972 votes Speaks: Russian* | Message 5 of 16 04 February 2012 at 7:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Final "b", "d", "g", is often pronounced as /p/, /t/, /k/ (because of
"Auslautverhärtung"). What about z, v? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5321 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 6 of 16 04 February 2012 at 8:34pm | IP Logged | |||||
According to his CV, he was born in Hull, England. His English pronunciation does sound a bit off, but his Scientific Writing book is definitely useful.
As outlined in the Wikipedia article, /v z ʒ/ and /dʒ/ are of course also affected by the "Auslautverhärtung." It's just that I noticed it mostly with "b", "d" and "g." 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| KimG Diglot Groupie Norway Joined 4978 days ago 88 posts - 104 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: Portuguese, Swahili | Message 7 of 16 04 February 2012 at 8:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
High Rising Intonation, is a bit more common in Australia than England, but, the Tim Skern I found on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRSdn_E8VAM speaking about German's problems in English. He is sounding ok for me. He isnt the worst of the brittons even, when it come to that rising intonation, since? there is? some? from England proper? who, like speak? like this? The previous US president have sometime done the same thing, to give an american example. Sometime I do it too, picked it up from some brittons I've spoken with, I think. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6910 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 16 04 February 2012 at 11:52pm | IP Logged | |||||
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It's not the Australian high rising terminal I'm speaking of, but rather the German one (the melody rises at the end of every clause).
Based on that, I would bet that he's a native Austrian. If he's really a native Englishman, this is the spookiest (change of) accent I've ever encountered. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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