How to do an American Accent in German - feat. Dana (WantedAdventure)

[@DreaMeRHoLic]

In Heidelberg, we had a American teacher. One guy in our class was named Ömer. He just called him Ohmer (but did sound more like Oma) and after some time he just called him Homer.

[@Persona_0909]

hahaha your comment just crack me up 😂

[@DerKatalane1899]

lol

[@OldLordSpeedy]

Yeah, that is the problem in every school class with original language speaker.

[@zalinaaa]

hab auch einen ömer in der klasse ^^

[@zalinaaa]

*****​ nur weil jemand ömer heißt, muss er nicht unbedingt ein muslim sein ;)

[@helcium_nz]

I am Brazilian and I have some knowledge of German. Since you like accents, I'd like to suggest you to make a text in German and ask your followers who can read something in German so that you can check their pronunciation based on their nationality.

[@Wislex]

Really good suggestion :)

[@biancat.1873]

But they would have to do a video for it and send it to Trixi, don't know how much would volunteer for that ... *shrug*

[@helcium_nz]

Bianca T. I would.

[@biancat.1873]

Hélcio Machado Pimentel Then it's a good suggestion. I like that idea too. :)

[@HQTrang]

This is an awesome idea. I would volunteer, although I know my pronunciation will have an American English accent instead of my native language accent.

[@theresa3374]

"Germans don't like the D so much" Es ist definitiv nicht kindisch, wenn ich deswegen lache :D

[@xxkxxdxxyxoxo4449]

Warum sollten wir das D nicht mögen 😂😂😂🤔. Darum, denn, darum, dass, das, direkt, du.. So viele Wörter auf deutsch mit D

[@0XZ]

+xXKxXDxXY XOXO Ich glaube du denkst etwas zu erwachsen drüber..

[@pottkind88]

+xXKxXDxXY XOXO Der Buchstabe D bedeutet auf englisch Penis xxd

[@Big5ocks]

But Americans love their D ;)

[@Dragontrumpetare]

BUt hey you guys loves D if the word starts with a D. :-) But you really not like D when it ends with D. :-) The danes are the same..... T and D do kinda almost vanish. Food in danish "mad" sounds more or less like "math" lol

[@ronhochhalter3491]

I'm American with a strong German last name - Hochhalter. You can imagine how difficult this is for everybody in America to pronounce properly. I'm so used to people mispronouncing my name that I often wish I could change my name. I traveled to Munich several years ago and I was so happy when the person in customs took my passport and pronounced my name perfectly. The Germans were disappointed that I didn't speak German having such a strong German name. 90% of all the people I know have nicknames for me, or even after knowing me for years don't even try saying my last name. I guess the only solution is for me to move to Germany so people won't tease me, or mispronounce my name.

[@WantedAdventure]

I had a kind of similar situation with my first name. My first name is spelled Dana (so like the American "Dayna"), but my heritage comes from the Czech Republic, so my name is pronounced differently. My whole life I had to explain that to everyone I met. I was really excited to move to the Czech Republic (I lived there before moving to Germany), because I thought YAY!! Finally everyone will say my name correctly! Except I didn't take into account that people there would realize I was American and try to respect me by calling me..."Dayna" 😂 So then I still had to explain to them that no, no, really, I really actually to pronounce it the Czech way!!! lol 😄

[@OldLordSpeedy]

+Ron Hochhalter He he he Do you hold something high, also translated "highholder". Easy to read for me as german guy. Same happend my friend Rainer here in Thailand. No one can't speak his name, so he change name to 'Max'. About his last name is more horrible storries. I self named 'Ehrbar', a very old german word, translated 'respectable' but around 80% of the germans have problem to understand it correctly on phone! Funny right?

[@OldLordSpeedy]

+Wanted Adventure Also I read and talk as german guy your name 'Da' and 'na' - both parts with a short 'a' inside. Why I should put an 'y' after the first 'a'?

[@eTwisted]

In decades I can count the number of times my [German] family name has been pronounced properly in Canada. But there are so many people with German names here and they've never heard them spoken properly. Some [Chinese] friends came to Canada and went thru the phone book and adopted a common first name that was prouncable. It's such a mess and it makes me question what it is to be "German" or "Canadian" - while all of those labels are getting blurred thru traveling people & memes and just having kids. I've not spoken fluent German since learning English in Kindergarten but I'm surprised what sticks - Dana made me cringe at times - although I'm dead sure that her conversational German is much better than what little bit is left of mine.

[@ronhochhalter3491]

OldLordSpeedy I've had others tell me that was the translation for my last name. Our family has traced it's roots back to the 16th century in Germany, thanks to the Lutheran Church. But no idea how the name came about. Is it common for last names in Germany to have literal meaning?

[@erikrosdorff606]

I have a problem pronouncing "Schwül" and "Schwul".... German speakers know I am foreign when I say things like "Das wetter in Texas ist immer schwul" XDD

[@annikaParnda]

Haha. good to know 😉

[@lena9316]

Some "cool" People literally say that in Germany. XD

[@chjimenez]

Haha, I have the same problem, my accent with u and ü is not bad, the problem is, that I not remember which one means gay and which one muggy, therefore I use only Feucht or Feuchtigkeit (humidity)!! (Yep, I know, I need to build a complicated set of sentences to describe the muggy feeling, but no mistakes) hehe

[@xxkxxdxxyxoxo4449]

+Christian Jimenez Schwul means Gay. Schwül means warm 😂🤔

[@WINTERwaves]

Speaking of mixing up ü and u, I couldn't help giggling when the customer in front of me at the supermarket asked the cashier for a "Tute" (noisemaker/simple horn) instead of a "Tüte" (bag) one day :D

[@WantedAdventure]

hahahaha!! I love how this video turned out. Great job, Trixi. Really insightful, helpful explanation and hilarious editing 😂😂😂

[@buckeyejm79]

Wanted Adventure you did look a bit silly acting as a typical ami speaker, but all in good fun 😂

[@sebastianjamison6299]

Instablaster.

[@Melvorgazh]

Happy New Year 2022, Dana! I like yer smile. It’s always shiny and sunny. Which other language do you speak or you did learn? Tchüss! 😉

[@livelongandprospermary8796]

I took some introductory German courses in high school. It's often viewed as an angry, harsh language but I can see that is a misconception.

[@Philandos]

The angry German comes from the impression the German military left to the English-speaking world. If you went to a US military base you'd get a similar anger and urgency in tone from a drill instructor or general.

[@livelongandprospermary8796]

Andeavor I never experienced or heard that myself but must be one of those sociology related things

[@miggymoon]

I really want to take german in Highschool but my high school doesn't have german! So I have to learn it online which is kinda difficult.

[@RawTopShot]

Andeavor staccato, like a machine gun. Yes I see.

[@MUtley-rf8vg]

For me as an American, Dana's German pronunciation really grates on my ears, although it's a given that her knowledge of the language is 10x better. It helps having _native_ German teachers early on to correct the specifics of your pronunciation. Still, this video is useful! I may be falling into several of the pitfalls still: - Pronouncing the 'd' too roundly and softly. - Cutting off the '-ig' ending too sharply rather than dragging it out. - Using too much 'h' in the beginning of words like "Haare" Umlauts are a bitch. If you were to pronounce "der Käfer" in a normal American accent (with long 'ā' sound) it would almost be correct, but not quite. The same applies for long 'ō' vs. 'ö', and long 'ū' vs. 'ü' - they sound almost right but are slightly different. It's very hard to teach yourself to both hear and speak these vowels correctly. The best description I've heard yet it to start by making a short 'ĕ' sound (as in the word "element", or "der Tee") and then while holding your mouth in this position try to pronounce the 'a', 'o', and 'u' to achieve 'ä', 'ö', and 'ü'. The 'äu' combination, as in "die Bäume" is entirely different still (like 'oi'). While not difficult for Americans to master, the 'st' or 'sp' beginning to a word in German, as in "stark" or "Spaß" is pronounced like 'sht-'. That is just one more unexpected variation of the 's' in German... 'ß', 'ss', 'zz', 'shh' ??? Also, can anyone explain the pronunciation of "die Orange" in German? It sounds sort of like a nasal French 'n'. Very strange.

[@OldLordSpeedy]

+M. Utley Oh yes, 'die Orange' is correct talked. Helps it for you to know the more-as-one-of-that word 'die Orangen'? Then the 'ng' sound sounds rounder. Typical native german speaker how can't talk an alien language word in german use the german word normally, in this example 'die Apfel|sine' or 'die Apfel|sinen'. Mean the same, every german person can understand you; and possible it is more easy to talks for you?

[@MUtley-rf8vg]

Ich glaube das ich kann "Orange" oder "Orangen" richtig aussprechen. Aber es hört sich einzigartig für ein Deutsches Wort. Warum? Vielleicht ist es nur meine Ohren. Ich wüsste nicht das Wort "Apfelsine". Aber jetzt kenne ich. Danke! (Entschuldigung für Fehler hier)

[@OldLordSpeedy]

+M. Utley The word 'Orange' for the fruit or colour we "catch" from an other language. Possible it is from the italian language. The word 'Apfelsine' is only for the fruit. Do not forget, our german language is very old. We adopted many words and use them with our german grammar. Other example: 'potato' => 'Kartoffel', 'Erdapfel' (lit. apple from the earth), 'Grundbirne', 'Erdknolle'. named from italian word tartufolo from latin word terrae tuber.

[@MUtley-rf8vg]

Ich verstehe. Wie interessant. Wann ich höre ein Wort auf Deutsch, weiß ich nicht woher das Wort kommt. Es sagt nicht in meinem English-Deutsch Worterbuch was die Herkunft ist. Danke für die Erläuterung.

[@9SMTM6]

Yeah, as others said its quite common to find words from other Languages that were "Eingedeutscht" (still quite simular but german pronounciation). We arent that keen on inventing a new word for everything coming from another nation, why not just keep the original word. Examples would be computer, which we just took straight from english with a slightly different pronounciation but the same spelling. The french invited a french word for that, ordinateur. Theres of course strange things too, like the german word for mobile, "Handy", which is actually from english, but has a different meaning

[@husastra]

In Bavaria, where Dana lives, lustig and durstig are actually pronounced with a g sound as she did.

[@LetsGammel1996]

Als Rheinländer bin ich sehr beleidigt

[@the_demon149]

Great video! I always use the flipped r instead of the German r. I’ll definitely have to work on that, lol. Thanks!

[@robotbjorn4952]

I detect some sexual innuendo in this video.

[@kayemally1241]

I love these videos! I'm an American living in Germany and I love that I can relate to both of you! Excited for more videos. 👍👍❤️

[@thanosmes]

I love this video!!!! I have tried to teach myself German, and the whole block could hear me laughing at myself.

[@DanielGreis1]

Wie macht der Reißverschluss? ''Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr''

[@thomasgandalf4111]

der macht eigentlich zzzzzzp

[@biancat.1873]

Aber die Reaktion darauf ist ein *rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr* ;D

[@slaine1198]

+Bianca T. XD

[@thomasgandalf4111]

+Bianca T. und dann mmmmm

[@biancat.1873]

Im Idealfall! :D ;)

[@faselblaDer3te]

I didn't expect a series of linguistic videos to go sexual XD

[@massmanute]

Yes, we Americans have a lot of trouble with the "ch" sounds, and we tend to not distinguish between the versions of the "ch" sound. Also, German "r" is very difficult, but I have a question. In my German class we were taught the German "back r" as the standard and the "front r" as dialect. Could it be that we were taught incorrectly or perhaps we were taught an obsolete standard of pronunciation?

[@apolemus9974]

Because nobody answered publicly to your comment yet: The German "back r" is indeed the standard. The "front r" is used in southern Germany and therefore dialectal. I as a North German feel very odd if people from the south speak accentless standard German except for a front r. But of course, in Germany you are free and welcome to do whatever you want, no blame.

[@hoathanatos6179]

In some dialects of Low German the American R is also used. So you could possibly get away with using an American R and some people may think that you come from a rural area or village in the North of Germany. You would have to speak with a Low German accent as well, though, and Americans definitely don't do that.

[@Kristen242008]

I'm having trouble getting past "American's don't like the D". I started giggling like a school girl lol! I'm not sure if you know what that means in America though. Thanks for the laugh!

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

A penis reference?

[@Kristen242008]

Yup! Lol

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

I just watched her german accent video. And she uses the d reference there as well. And judging from her nudge in that video, she does know what it means. ;)

[@Kristen242008]

Lmao! Probably.

[@petejt]

Which video in particular?

[@Arcorias]

I have to admit I really like the accent when English speaking people try to speak German, even with their different way of speaking "R", the soft "sh" like in "ich" (which they often speak like "sh") or the umlaut ("ä" is actually not really a problem for them but "ü" and "ö"). It may sound funny, but it's cute and actually, it is a compliment for my ear and heart because they just try it. So, my dear friends from other countries, be never shy trying to speak German! You will always get my respect and appause! About the "d" at the end, "wand" exists also in English (but of couse has another meaning) is roughly spoken in the same way as in German, while "rund" is relatively near to "round". It's always interesting to check out which German and English words are related or deviated from each other, and knowing that, the pronounciation is often quite the same.

[@az929292]

6:16 "but the Germans don't like the D so much". That sounded wrong inside my head xD

[@comic70]

Mittel das ist d ist Wichte auch so wichtig

[@az929292]

+Hamburg GVP Was meinst du? Ich verstehe nicht... :P

[@comic70]

+az929292 musst auch alle verstehen

[@customfantasyhotwheels]

Ha-Ha... I dated a German woman for 5 months, and she didn't give me head :( She did like the condomless sex, though, because she liked the uncut feeling because. So yeah, I laughed at this, too.

[@sudaev]

See I wouldn't have thought that. I guess the "D" thing is some sort of ghetto thing or millenial shitball thing. You can have your bastardized lingo I guess. #embarrased to be amerikwan

[@Trauminsel]

Klasse! Finde eure Videos einzeln schon toll, kombiniert ergänzt ihr euch prima, so daß es eine Freude ist, die Videos zu sehen und zu hören.

[@Negative19]

6:45 length doesnt matter - Trixi 2016/17

[@mastoner20]

I took 5 years of German in school and went there twice as an exchange student. I'm glad to finally see someone else who likes to look at the foreign accents to try to help decipher and analyse. I've had several people look at me like I was nuts when I said the best thing to really help my pronunciation of German words was looking at and hearing German natives speaking English. It really helped me see how the stressed syllables are very different and see how the different letters are spoken differently in the different languages.

[@GTvehicle]

Good analysis ! I'm a Dutchman who used to be very fluent in German. My German teachers always used to say, that Germans are very discplined, including in how they speak: they make work of pronouncing every syllable individually; sort of biting off every syllable separately, like biting chunks off a candybar, and processing words that way. You classify your accent as considerable, but actually I think your English pronunciation is pretty good ! It's just that your habit of the German one-whole-syllable-at-a-time staccato rhythm remains VERY present in your English. Have you ever tried to relax that a little bit, when speaking English ? Try it and see - or listen - what happens !

[@JohnSmith-kq8tx]

back before you were born, I was in the us army stationed in the Stutggart area. I eventually became engaged to a wonderful German woman. She told me after some time that my german accent was a peculiar combination of english and schwabin, which tended to make other Germans react strongly to me. I loved it there.

[@fjellyo3261]

Diese Zweideutigkeiten sind einfach genial! 😋

[@OldLordSpeedy]

Na ja, ob das immer so angebracht ist? Gerade wenn es eigentlich um die Unterschiede in der jeweiligen Sprache geht und nicht um einen weiteren Ich-weiß-was-sexy-Ausdrücke-sind KZbin Kanal. Das könnte man geflegt in ein eigenes Video packen - hat dann den Vorteil, das man sich Kram nur anhören muß, wenn man wirklich will!

[@chocolatelover7325]

mein gott chill dein leben. gehst wohl zum lachen in den keller.

[@mcsmester]

The comments here are so friendly, constructive and informative. Very refreshing. I wish that would be standard on youtube. Nice upload by the way. Good thing you two made a video together.

[@DarkrarLetsPlay]

Ich kenne mich einigermaßen mit Phonetik aus und kann dir sagen: das englische R ist immer vorne im Mund und das deutsche R ist fast immer hinten. Es gibt nur wenige Ausnahme bei den Deutschen: in manchen hessischen Dialekten wird das R wie im Englischen gesprochen [ɹ], in anderen hessischen Dialekten wird es vorne geschlagen [ɾ], im Süden Deutschlands wird es gerollt [r]. Das normale deutsche R ist entweder [ʁ] oder [ʀ] und demzufolge nach dem [h] das hinterste Phonem im Deutschen. Hier ist eine Tabelle über fast alle Laute, die es in Sprachen gibt: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonant#Features Je weiter links, desto weiter vorne im Mund. Die Aussprache [ɪç] für -ig ist eigentlich nur typisch norddeutsch. Norddeutsche Grammatiker haben es einfach nur zum Standard ausgerufen. Lautgesetzlich kommt für das Standarddeutsche, bzw. das Hochdeutsche (hoch = bergig, also südlich; NICHT hoch im Sinne einer Hochkultur) nichts anderes als [ɪk] raus.

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

Deswegen nennt man es auch das deutsche "Rachen-R". In der Tat kenne ich einige Leute, die das "Zungen-R" gar nicht beherrschen. Gadget macht das sehr schön. Aber hier liegt sie tatsächlich daneben. Das englische r ist immer vorne und nie hinten. Aber eben auch nicht mit Zungenschlag wie das "Zungen-R", dass demonstriert.

[@DarkrarLetsPlay]

Was meinst du mit dem letzten Satz?

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

DarkrarLetsPlay Oh das kommt vom hin und her formulieren. Der Satz sollte eigentlich "... wie Trixi das demonstriert heißen." Das englische kennt kein gerolltes r. Das lässt sich in Schrift schwer ausdrücken, aber du weist sicher was ich meine.

[@DarkrarLetsPlay]

Kannst du IPA? Damit kann man das wunderbar ausdrücken. Das Englische kennt sehr wohl ein gerolltes R. Das bekannteste Beispiel ist der schottische Dialekt.

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

DarkrarLetsPlay Ich weiß nicht ob ich das als schottischen Dialekt bezeichnen würde. Kommt das nicht eher daher, dass die Schotten eigentlich mal gälisch gesprochen haben und zum teil immer noch? Das geht doch dann eher in Richtung Akzent als Dialekt?

[@scotverdin9401]

I remember when I was first learning German in middle school. I loved it from the beginning, but I remember really focusing on 'forgetting' the American English sounds and really trying hard to mimic what I heard. I still think its about really listening and trying to make the sound you hear, not the sound you know...oh and it's also about retraining the muscles of your mouth. You have use your lips and jaw and tongue differently than your used to in making these new sounds. I think this is true for anyone learning a new language.

[@johnwilson3918]

Hi, Trixie - Can you tell the difference between an America and British accent - when they are speaking German? If so, which words give their nationality away?

[@DontTrustTheRabbit]

Hi John, yes I can. Just watch one of my never videos: BRITISH vs AMERICAN English - explained by a German :D

[@НеМы-й9т]

6:16 "The Germans don´t like the D so much." and 6:25 "Still many Americans stick to their love for the D and pronounce German words wrong." I´m so mature, I laughed for a full five minutes. XD

[@MafiaFil]

Das "-ig" wird aber nur in Deutschland als "-ich". In Österreich wird das "-ig" wie ein "-ig" ausgesprochen (wobei es zu einem "-ik" wird :D) z.B. das Wort Honig.

[@FraniiKULTA]

Danke! Dachte schon ich bin ganz blöd und kann meine eigene Sprache nicht sprechen. Bin aus Bayern und würde nie auf die Idee kommen durstich oder lustich zu sagen?!:D

[@MonkeyDRuffy82]

Als Sachse kann ich sagen: dass das mit dem ig so ne sache ist. den bei uns wird leicht aus den -ig das wie ch gesprochen wird, wie sch oder wir sprechen doch das ig aber dann auch eher als ig stat ik. Das hat damit zu tun das in sächsischen die weichen die harten besiegen also zb. d statt t G statt k oder b statt p

[@MafiaFil]

KPS1982 Das hat viel mit der hochdeutschen Lautverschiebung zu tun. Je weiter höher bzw. südlicher man geht, desto mehr kommt diese Lautverschiebung zum Vorschein.

[@Leon-cc8hl]

ich komme aus dem norden deutschlands und spreche das "ig" auch öfters als "ig" aus als "ich"

[@wickedcaitiff2260]

Honigkuchenpferd. Try it.

[@wallykaspars9700]

I like these videos! After two years in Germany I was happy to correctly pronounce Köln. I lived for six years in Siegen (pronounced Ziegen) and discovered that the Siegerländer Dialekt was like an American speaking German. Ask a Siegerländer to say "Wir gehen runter in Keller". They emphasize the "r". I met a German doctor from Siegen who vacationed with his wife in the Black Forest. He told me that the locals assumed he was an American and often complimented him for speaking excellent German. They all laughed when he told them he was a German.

[@222Julchen222]

i love this video, but now i wish there was a just as good video with the languages switched, so that i can get rid of my german accent when speaking english ;) (not that its that bad, but american people still hear it)

[@DontTrustTheRabbit]

Thank you! There is, just go to my channel. Should be the most popular video. :)

[@222Julchen222]

DontTrustTheRabbit oki

[@teebeutel1komma13]

Du kaust mi e nd verstehn ova jooo guad.Oida i kau jo sogn wos i wül,du kaust ma nd verstehn

[@222Julchen222]

Teebeutel 1komma1 doch? lol

[@sarinakofler2626]

Teebeutel 1komma1 vo wo kunnsch denn du? :)

[@Ron-hd7ov]

American Guineapigs, ich habe wiedermal so gelacht, deine Mimik und Gestik ist einfach Genial. Bitte mehr davon. 😂👍 Ansonsten sind deine Videos auch sehr interessant und informativ, liebe Grüße.🙋‍♂️

[@patrickkirschbauer6038]

In certain parts of germany if a word ends with "ig" u say it as "ich", but this is not the case in bavaria. We actually say it as "ig". So u cant blame Dana since she lives in munich :) But this happens only if we speak "Hochdeutsch" which barely happens and if it happens we try to avoid use these words. That`s at least my experience... ^^

[@HellsMirror]

To be frank, I watched your videos about a year ago when I was doing the Abitur, now I'm studying German and English and it's much more amusing because I have a lot more connection to these accent differences now. (such as the glottal stop (the breaks we Germans make) and the "Auslautverhärtung" (changing voiced sounds to voiceless in the end of words and word parts)) It's really funny to find all this in your videos

[@InfinityAtlas]

Whenever I try my British or American friends to pronounce streicheln, lächeln, they absolutely fail. But let's be honest it isn't easy and we Germans also struggle alot learning other languages :). Just think of the fact that many Germans can't pronounce the th properly and native Britain's think that when we speak English we literally chop down woods.

[@taylorreutman9660]

I would love to see this in a video of yours, haha.

[@michab3697]

Germans trying to say "squirrel" is hours' worth of entertainment. Americans trying to say 'Streichholzschächtelchen" is even better.

[@9SMTM6]

yeah, thats a hard to pronounce word

[@skip123davis]

this is a great video! i went to defense language institute in monterey ca, to learn german. they coached us on these very things! amazing observations. my bmw motorcycle dealer is from hamburg, and he looked at me very surprised when he said i had "almost no accent." your tax dollars at work. i've met folks from austria, germany, etc, that thought i was truly native, and have said so before my dutch employer. like trixi, though, i've always loved accents :)

[@shonaguthrie848]

I think you should also analyse an Australian accent!

[@petejt]

I'd volunteer!

[@sarahdavis5670]

Because our accent is like, really lazy, we don't have the r problem Americans face

[@badguy1481]

Accent? I think you should analyse Australian words. When I first went to Australia, I was PETRIFIED. An Aussie would tell a joke...and I didn't have a CLUE what they were saying...let alone their "punch line". I panicked and bought a book called "Stroin" (I THINK that's how it was spelled). In other words, a word that comes close to how an Australian would pronounce their own version of English.

[@robparkinson9850]

Half of her analysis is specific to North American pronunciation . But half applies to English language, and thus British English or Aussie English.

[@jamesmcabee5113]

I am also fascinated with accents. I am a southerner from the US and also speak German. Surprisingly, I think some of the characteristics of my native southern accent works well when I speak German like in the -er on the end of words. Love the videos!

[@Bittzen]

A lot of Southerners have German ancestors. Maybe there's a correlation there

[@Sonixgermany]

Kann mir jemand folgendes Erklären: Ist durstich die hochdeutsche aussprache für durstig? Ich komme aus Bayern und hab nur einen leichten akzent aber sage immer durstig, fertig, lustig. Kenne niemanden im Umfeld der LustiCH oder fertiCH sagen würde... Für mich klingt das -ig von Dana korrekt.

[@lennartl.1830]

Ich (komme aus Brandenburg) sage "durstich" und spreche eigentlich Hochdeutsch.

[@lukevalentin8027]

+Antiautoritäres Huhn ich sage auch oft einfach "ch" anstatt "g" am ende der wörter.. habe noch nie wirklich darüber nachgedacht :D ich wohne in NRW

[@spinFK]

Ist es auch. Hier wird subjektiver Volksmund als Allgemeingut verkauft.

[@RetroFan83]

Ich komm aus Thüringen. Wir sagen beides. Ich sage z.b. sowohl wenig als auch wenisch. So wie mir grad danach ist.

[@slaine1198]

+MrTestaccount12345 ch/g nicht sch. Also die Sch Variante ist "falsch" auch wenn Sprache immer leicht subjektiv ist, bzw du dich verschrieben hast :')

[@itscliffvtr]

Your English is impeccable. Its better than a lot of people in England. Your analysis is great, but also extremely useful. Most other videos just say the words. You show us where we are going wrong. From now on I will pronounce Guten Tag as Guten Tak, or at least make the G more defined and harder. Could you do more videos like this, maybe in more detail and breaking it down a bit more. As someone who is learning a bit of German for a holiday, the CH sound is very difficult, I must have said it a thousand times and it comes out differently everytime. Love the channel!!!

[@jurgenderubergangster8681]

PTSDöner pls make the same video but zhe other way around, thus Tricky Trixxy misspronouncing everything in English and you explain why. Best regards from the Bone Army!! btw Trix, ich bin in dich verliebt ♡ lass uns zusammen introvertiert sein

[@DontTrustTheRabbit]

We actually have a video like that planned. Just a bit more patience. ;) Aww, thank you.

[@biancat.1873]

Oh wow Trixi, Du gehst ja schon strack auf die 100.000 Abonnenten zu ... :)

[@timbruse]

I am an American English speaker but speak some German because of my parents (Father from Germany). I know the letters "W" sound like "V" and vice versa, think I do a good job switching the sounds when I speak German. Is it more difficult for Germans speakers to switch because I hear it commonly mispronounced. Love your videos, and I love Germany!!!

[@biancat.1873]

Tim Bruse ähm no, there is no german word with "W", where the W gets pronounced as "V". BUT the "V" gets pronounced as W when the word is of french origin and as "F" when its german origin. So actually you can say, there is no "V"-sound in the german language, only F or W.

[@zamasublack4639]

It's funny how Trixie says "speak American". There is no language called American.

[@dwgalviniii]

THIS IS SO HELPFUL. Thank you! I'm dusting off my German for a trip next summer, and this is going to help my accent *SO* much!

[@ZenoLee0]

American vowels have diphthongs, much more than Germans. Americans carry on their diphthong habit over to other languages

[@robparkinson9850]

Most Americans after 6 years manage it though. But this woman is Unbelievably bad at pronunciation. By her own admission she understands almost everything in German, and can express herself better than most. Normal people can do a decent German pronunciation long before they get close to fluency. But not lazy Dana

[@facelessdrone]

@@robparkinson9850 she was emphazing an inaccurate accent for the sake of the video, she doesn't truly speak that way

[@michaelclark737]

This is one of your best co-vidoes yet! Sehr cool!

[@mikethc7685]

Click 4:08 repeatedly to make Trixie say 'arse'. British English at it's best.

[@fispispier4509]

Richtig gut und richtig viele, wichtige Aspekte genannt, meiner Meinung nach! Wenn nicht sogar alles erwähnt! Toll :)

[@AndyGerman1984]

ig on end (lustig) will not pronunced lustich in southern Germany or Austria

[@pauls0416]

First of all, I love your videos! :) I am an American and it is so funny how you discussed differences between us regarding words beginning with an H because I just naturally do the same thing as you before I begin enunciating the rest of the word. I make a whispery "heeeeeeee" sound, especially with words starting with "he" before I continue with the word! So, I have a feeling I would do quite well with German words that start with H. By the way, I'll be another American guinea pig for you!

[@admiralmudkip9836]

Ah yes *THE* American accent

[@multilingual972]

Du fischt für Komplimente. Du weißt bescheid, Du sprichst aussergewöhnliches, ausgezeichnetes, einwandfreies Englisch, fast ohne deutschen Akzent. Ich bin sprachbegabter Amerikaner, und weiß von wo ich spreche! Respekt!

[@kangadrew3978]

I literally could not tell a difference between the German ee and the American ee

[@theanon5906]

Kanga Drew For a German like the American ee sound like an i

[@themaggattack]

You must be American. Lol

[@russrobles3401]

Wow, I had no idea learning a language could be so, well, satisfying. Thank you for making it fun to learn so much about German. Keep rockin the camera!

[@dragonlord4643]

i love when womens are rolling the "r" :33333333

[@dereke.b.1587]

I'm currently studying linguistics. This channel has really been a joy to watch!

[@kluntrum]

I do not trust the rabbit..-:)

[@iNsOmNiAcAnDrEw]

I don't really understand everything you presented here as I am not actively learning German, but I really appreciate this kind of talk and this is something that I've noticed is less or more of a problem from person to person and from language to language.

[@r.b.4611]

Dana's accent on Easy German is so hilariously cringy. I don't understand how someone can understand so much of the language without devoting any time to pronunciation!

[@Zhamp0]

theres no logic in judging her inability to perfectly pronounce such a difficult language coming from a english speaking country. its impressive enough that she can hold a normal conversation in another (very hard) language even though she didnt learn it when she was younger. as you most certainly know its way more effortful to learn a new language with such a different pronounciation, past your 20s. to sum things up: stop blaming people for something that only you deem "important", and no: "but it is important" is not a good counterargument. have a nice day

[@obiej8092]

I know this topic was explored a year ago, but it is clear Dana was purposefully speaking German with an American accent to illustrate examples. That is not how she speaks German. She was reading the German words as if they were in English.

[@RachelCanfield2]

You hit the nail on the head with this video haha as an American this is exactly what I struggle with! Thank you for this video it's so helpful!

[@henryviii267]

im Canadian so this doesn't apply to me lol

[@henryviii267]

+Theyoutuberpolyglot that was kind of a joke... and i have the same accent as most Americans.

[@nightmaremint]

This was very fascinating! And helpful. When learning German the biggest thing I struggle with is using/rembering the correct gender of words to use; including, but not limited to, Der, Die, and Das.

[@EnbyEl]

Aber das -ig sollte auch so ausgesprochen werden, nur viele machen das falsch.

[@SuppenDfg]

In some dialacts a 'g' at the end is pronounced like an ch.

[@BeautyAngel2000]

Genau andersrum, es wird richtig als -ich ausgesprochen, aber es gibt viele Dialekte, die sprechen es -ik aus.. Ich habe da vor einer Weile schon mal nach gegoogelt, weil es mich interessiert hat, was eben richtig ist.

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

Richtich und nicht richtik.

[@magdalenamustermann8434]

+Quotenwagnerianer Richtig und nicht Richtich

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

Magdalena Mustermann Nein, Magdalena. Falsch. Hier mal die IPA Schreibweise: [ˈʀɪçtɪç] Du siehst zweimal dieselbe Aussprache für das ch und das g.

[@dorsal-qb5fr]

You always pick the most interesting language topics!

[@rickakashockshockey9151]

One important thing I learned about travelling in a foreign country is: make an effort to pick up as much of the language as you can and then simply don't be afraid to TRY. People do appreciate the effort, even if your effort is terrible! They'll get the gist of what you're trying to get across, and they'll warm to you for honestly doing your best.

[@JeanClaudeNoel]

I predict lots of views for this video as there is a lot to "chew" on. Nice work. Thanks to both of you. ☺

[@vinnimann8101]

Trixie that is such a nice and informative video! have been waiting for it since you tweeted about it 😊 I never really realize what makes the American accent, the American accent in German, until now 😅 But I feel like the American accent sounds just so cute 😂👌

[@joec0914]

I loved this! Next time, though, you need to have you and Dana both pronounce the words or phrases so we can really hear the subtle differences.

[@MeeenDeee]

This video is really helpful! I'm an American living in Germany and I am always looking for ways to perfect my accent while speaking German. I want to sound as authentic as possible, so thanks for the tips! :)

[@carljcreighton]

this was exactly what I was curious about and by one of my favorite youtubers win win!

[@phidias51]

Years ago, my uncle came to visit us in Vienna. He was a music teacher who taught in a small college in East Texas. It took me a while to figure out that "donkey field mice" as actually his version of "danke viel mals".

[@charleschadwick2586]

Learning German in high school. So far the biggest challenge for me has been getting the adjective endings correct. It's so much to think about when you have to consider what word the adjective comes after, the gender of the word it's describing, as well as the placement of the adjective in the sentence.

[@markerO7]

I might be wrong in this, but the "ch" sound in German is either a palatal fricative or a velar fricative, depending on the vowel sound that occurs before it (if one exists). More fronted vowels, such as in the words ich or brechen, have the palatal fricative while back vowels, such as in words machen or rauchen, use the velar fricative. The closest that English has to the palatal fricative is in words such as "he" or "here" where an /h/ sound is followed by an /i/ sound.

[@fender177]

Thanks for this video! I loved watching it. I've always wondered how Americans sound to Germans. I learned German in high school and I've spent some time in Germany. At a bar one night, a local patron didn't believe that I was American. He told me I sounded Dutch. When I asked if that was a good thing, he replied "not really, but kind of". LOL still to this day, I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. Thanks as always for the great videos!

[@mijnkampvuur]

Lol that's because for most english everything foreign sounds Dutch (hence the name Dutch and the confusion between Dutch and Deutsch) and for most Germans everything foreign also sounds Dutch. Although I have to say that a lot of North Western Germans usually understand Dutch decently or learn it super fast if they want to.

[@wvm06]

The "Abendessen" issue you mentioned at the end I believe would be remedied with furthering one's (German) vocabulary. I (as an American who has dabbled in German) haven't really encountered that but I think that because I knew Abend and Essen are two works separately making one (as German does frequently) that pronouncing it would have the separating after the D (THE D :P) not before. I LOVE YOU AND YOUR CHANNEL! Thank you for doing it. Keep up the great work! Guten Ta[k], Freundin von Mir! :P

[@TravisFont]

Pretty spot on! Perspective note; I've always said the 's' like an english 'z'! Although, it's not completely correct, it makes things a lot easier to say out loud definitely if it's a new word. Also, the ending 'd' like a 't' and 'er' like an 'a' were the first rules ever learned, and easiest. Good video. Kudos!

[@Duhernt]

I got here via Dana's channel, glad she connected me to you. Greetings from Texas.

[@erikadorsey1817]

This is so cool, I love accents as well. This video is very informative. Kudos.

[@abdelrahmansaid5785]

Hi my name's Abdel Rahman I 'm egyptian, I love languages & I 'm a big fan of this channel. I speak Arabic, French, English & I started learning German few months ago & for me pronouncing german words is so easy even the words that contain Umlaut but the problem is that in german there's a lot of long words that take few seconds from me to read them correctly.

[@jeanettelawrence293]

Love the video!! Well done!

[@didashki]

I just love this sentence that you said in English with German word order: "So how does the American accent in German sound" :)

[@133769]

Kannte sie einfach bevor ich dich kannte XD btw hgw zu 100k

[@atcamperlengo1]

As an American learning German, I found this video extremely helpful! Danke schön! My only suggestion for further helping your American audience would be, every time an American incorrectly pronounces a German word, it would be nice to hear you correctly pronounce the same word (not just the sound).

[@saber1epee0]

You hit the nail on the head with the last one... I still sometimes have to draw lines in long german words to figure out where the roots are...

[@danfionte3367]

I find this video fascinating because while I probably find it as difficult to pick up vocabulary and wrap my head around grammar as the average person, I tend to pick up accents fairly easily and struggle with it far less than most of my fellow Americans. I have noticed that people who are better at doing imitations are better at learning accents, which makes perfect sense. The best thing for me to see here is the less obvious things, like "h" and the fact that American English dipthongs can really throw some people off and I think has a lot to do with some people have issues dividing words in the proper syllables of the appropriate length. In regards to the "r" which is the only thing which I have found to be an annoyance over the years and often comes out more French sounding, the "r" at the end of the words is never a problem because I grew up in the Boston area, and although I have an almost entirely neutral accent in adulthood, it makes perfect sense to me that when speaking German one simply drops the "r"s at the end of words. It really helps the sentences flow better. Great video.

[@michab3697]

[s] voicing to [z] is pretty simple, no feelings needed. It goes to [z] (only in Hochdeutsch) before vowels at the beginning of a word, or between vowels in the middle of a word

[@massmanute]

A comment about vowels. In English we will often add emphasis by lengthening the word. A simple "no" becomes "noooo". In German class we were taught that a German may add emphasis by pronouncing the word shorter, like to add emphasis to "nein" one would shorten the vowel sound. Is this correct, or was I taught wrong? Also regarding vowels, Americans tend to put a lot of slide into our diphthong vowels, but if my German teachers were correct the German diphthongs tend to be more clipped. Is this correct?

[@janaaj1an889]

It's interesting hearing your impressions of English and German sounds. I'm used to thinking about them the other way around. Your English is terrific. I'm jealous. My German sucks.

[@lazyperfectionist1]

"So how does the German accent sound? First of all, I want to point out that this video is _not_ made to _make fun_ of anybody or to _expose_ anybody..." But, you can be sure, someone is going to take it that way. It's a virtual genetic characteristic of KZbin comments.

[@ZachSeely]

Wow this is a great resource! and basically summarizes my struggles with speaking/reading for the past years. -_- Only addition is less an "accent", but nonetheless...I just cannot yet fully internalize the switching of the "ei" & "ie" pronunciation between ENG and DE.

[@84tawnyowl]

Thank you for doing this video. This helped me understand how to pronounce German words a little better. Hopefully, I can take your tips and apply them to my German 1020 homework.

[@Phetamind]

This was really helpful and now I know what to pay attention to when I speak. Thank you

[@frankbmarra1899]

Danke Trixie! I have learned that my pronunciation in German is fairly decent.

[@davisiimdavisiim1295]

really enlightening, love the show. ty :)

[@massmanute]

For me the most difficult sound is the German "r". When I learned German in junior high and high school we were taught to say (or attempt to say) a back "r", and that a front "r" with a bit of a trill sound was more dialect than standard. However, it sounds like Trixie (did I get the name right?) teaches more of a front "r". My first German teacher was a native German teacher and my second teacher was an American who had spent a few years in Germany. I also took one semester in college, and my German teacher in college was also an American who had spent a few years in Germany. Most Americans also have a lot of trouble with umlauts, though I think my umlauts are at least marginally passable. The "ch" sounds are also quite difficult, though I think my "ch" sounds are at least marginally passable. Long and short vowels can also be a bit tricky. Regarding vowels, in American English we use a lot of diphthong sounds, but I think in German diphthongs are less common and when used tend to be shortened rather than drawn out. Does this diphthong analysis sound correct? Regarding "d" and "t" sounds, we Americans have become lazy and a lot of "t" sounds have become "d" sounds, particularly if the "t" is transitional between two vowel sounds or a vowel sound and an "r" sound. For example "See you later alligator" has become "See ya lader alligader". Speaking of "r" sounds, it seems that the American rhotic "r" is very difficult for speakers of almost any other language, and even the English have largely abandoned the rhotic "r" in most regional English accents, though I think rhoticity might still be hanging on in some regions like Cornwall. In this respect American English is a bit of a throwback to a more archaic form of English. By the way, can you comment on the pronunciation of the German word "haben"? I sometimes hear Germans pronouncing the last syllable without opening the mouth (thus losing the "e" vowel) and simultaneously converting the "n" to an "m".

[@rogelioduran5201]

That was an amazing breakdown! I didn't realize there were so many pitfalls in learning german

[@miketaylor3464]

Lovin your videos. Thank you again.

[@quixoticsonnet]

I was surprised by how helpful this was. If I ever have time to learn German again in the future, I'll remember this video. By the way, I think that with Donna, in particular, the "waviness" that you noticed was probably due to the fact that she had to learn Spanish and German so close together. It sort of sounds like she blurred them together.

[@ichbin5200]

American here working on correct Pronunciation of German words. 😀 This is a cute video on the differences of the two.

[@ROBYNMARKOW]

My dad is an actor & he recently played Albert Einstein in a short film. He got the German Accent down Ok. It was when he had to actually speak German . It was broken down phonetically but while my dad has had a lot of exposure to Yiddish,which is similar to German,he still had problems w/speaking it. In conclusion, I wish I had shown him this video.