3 Tips for Perfecting the German Accent
Posted by Filed under German
One of the toughest parts of learning a new language is inevitably the accent. No matter how well you know the words and the grammar, it’s no good if you cannot pronounce them correctly. It’s what most people will start with when you first begin your language learning journey; and it’s also one of the last things you work on, slowly leaving behind your native accent and becoming a true German master.
So, if this aspect of language is so important and all-consuming, it makes sense to have some techniques that help you on your way to make it a little less of a burden and more of an afterthought. Let’s have a look at a few.
1. Watch TV, more specifically, watch German TV
Try to be active in what you’re viewing, listen to the way they talk and if you’re up for it, repeat what they say. This will help you get an ear for it, and when you repeat what they say you’ll have a reference, unlike simply reading from a page you’ll have the benefit of knowing what it sounds like — You might even stumble across some good shows!
2. Sing along to music
We all know by now the benefits music has on helping to remember things, so listening to some German-language music understandably benefits you. Better yet, find some of the German music that’s particularly easy to process, that you can hear well, and then find the lyrics along with the translations; this might seem like a lot of work but it can help immensely when you know what you’re singing about. If you are not sure where to get started, you should explore our Spotify playlists in German, where you will find our selection of the best songs to learn the language!
3. Practise in English
I know you’re giving me an inquisitive look right now, but you can. First, you need a reasonable understanding of the ways certain letters and combinations of letters are sounded; for example, the ‘w’ is pronounced like the English ‘v,’ the ‘d’ sounds more like a ‘t,’ and so on. Using this, you can speak in English using these new rules, essentially it’s as if you’re pretending to be German, you can get your friends to play along and have some fun with it, all the while perfecting your German accent!
Using these techniques to better your accent should not only work effectively but allow you to have some fun at the same time, who would complain about getting to watch TV, sing music and speak English in a weird new accent? Nobody that’s who!
Do you know what’s even better than perfecting the accent? Perfecting the language; it makes sense I think, that the accent is best used in conjunction with the words. So why not have a go at our German level test to see how good you already are; or if you’re more interested in learning some new words, take some classes and watch your language grow.