How To Sound German when speaking English

A humourous but scientific look at what German pronunciation sounds like in English. If you want to sound more German when speaking German, or less German when speaking English, this video is for you. It's also for you if your an actor portraying a German speaker.
00:00 Introduction
00:19 Hard attack - glottal stops at the beginning of words
00:53 Ja, Nein und Und
01:22 W and V
01:59 R sounds after vowels
02:27 R sounds before vowels
02:58 The NURSE vowel
03:32 Trap and bus
03:54 Consonants at the ends of words
04:18 Syllabic nasals
04:43 Comedy sketch
Neuschwanstein - By Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

This is the latest in my series of How to Sound... videos, where I use humour to look at the phonetics of different languages.

[@nikebordom]

German here, letting you know you pronounced "subtle" wrong. It's clearly pronounced with the b audible! You nailed the rest, respect!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Ah. Good point. Thank you!

[@dominicgamboa2554]

That skit at the end was so nice

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Glad you liked it.

[@jeromemckenna7102]

I had a German born professor trying to give a lecture of Gothic cathedral. Vaulted walls was her undoing.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

I love it!

[@ernestcline2868]

She probably needed to buttress her language skills.

[@Gnurftl]

Brilliant, you really nailed it. The inability of my compatriots to even pronounce a 'th' never fails to amaze me.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Thank you.

[@brandonw5415]

so much work must go into these videos - they really deserve more views imo. great video!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Thank you! Yes, it is quite a bit of work. Grateful if you can share widely.

[@petewest3122]

When abroad, I always do my best to follow local customs and never expect to receive special treatment for being British. However, I will unleash my full inner Basil if the Germans ever expect me to wear socks with my sandals. I'll. respectfully, wear their clogs and berets but never socks with sandals.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Glad to hear it.

[@ahartify]

My brother from New Zealand went over to Britain and began wearing socks with sandals. He had caught the disease badly and was never the same.

[@jeffreyschweitzer8289]

Cockney German accent….priceless 😂

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Thank you.

[@computerfan1079]

Great blend of comedy and linguistics. Love it!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Good to her it

[@benedettobruno1669]

🤣🤣🤣 The grumpy British tourist and the German hotel receptionist characters cracked me up. I even shed a couple of tears from laughing. 🤣🤣🤣

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

So glad you appreciated that.

[@sophiapriest]

I've been watching this channel for a little while now, and I'm so surprised that you still only have 31k subs! I learn so much on how other languages/accents work, and it really helps me to even get better at my own, too! Love the videos!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

So kind of you to say so. I’m getting there, slowly but surely.

[@frayedman320]

I find solace and delight in your videos. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for creating them.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

That’s great to hear. Thank you so much!

[@nigelogilvie9450]

Very accurate and funny. I especially enjoyed the "Or?" added on its own. I've heard tv news interviewers do that (as "oder"), and also a German visitor just having casual conversation in our house. He did actually just add "Or?" to his conversation.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Well spotted. Glad you liked it.

[@frankandreaswenzel]

Love it! Now, I'd love to see you do a generic Austrian accent! With us Swiss-Germans, it can be a bit tricky, although there are generic Swiss accent markers that differ by dialect region.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

That’s a challenge indeed. I can definitely recognize Swiss-Germans speaking English, but I’m not sure I could imitate the accents

[@joshadams8761]

A Swiss would say /xæt/ instead of /kæt/.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Interesting.

[@mcrow312166]

Nicely done Dave.

[@usakousa]

Loved the Fawlty Towers parody😂 My German ex-BF did a TV commercial voice-over for British company, and he had to learn how to speak English "like a German", with a lot of exaggerations, which he found quite hard!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

How fun!

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

6:36 Ah!.. that’s why Aussies call them whingeing Poms 🤣

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Indeed. I remember as a Pom visiting Australia, people tried to tempt me to whinge. “Hot enough for you?”, they’d ask. Since I lived in Jakarta at the time I’d disappoint them by saying it was much cooler than home.

[@szabados1980]

Absolutely hilarious! Or should I say "total genial"?

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Right many thanks.

[@MasterCrest]

My British friends always asked me to do "the German accent", but I just couldn't do it. I had already been too anglicised. Oh, the disappointment on their faces! How fast they turned towards the next best German chap to to entertain them with his problematic pronunciations like a duckling struggling to walk! But now I can finally learn to win back their love and be their little Hermann the German once again. Cheers!

[@curiousaustriantours6962]

There were several laugh-out-loud moments! Lovely, and thank you!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Glad you liked it.

[@RoadsideChannelTX]

That was brilliant!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Thank you.

[@MrKotBonifacy]

"Swedish Made Simple" (by "Two Ronnies") somehow jumped into my mind... : )

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

F.U.N.E.M?

[@MrKotBonifacy]

@@DaveHuxtableLanguages S.I.F.M : )

[@turgidturbitity7415]

Dave, just to let you know that your a legend to all amateur dramatics and improv comedy groups across the UK. The accents really add flavour to the characters, snd your sketches would fit right in. Keep them coming. South African next please, lots of people struggle with that one

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Wow. Thank you so much!

[@turgidturbitity7415]

​@DaveHuxtableLanguages what happened to your accents of the UK video? That was a great one, I used to share it with people. I assume you've de-listed it 🙁

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

@@turgidturbitity7415 You had me scared there for a second. It’s still there A Tour of The Accents of England kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4abppikgqynldE

[@turgidturbitity7415]

​@DaveHuxtableLanguages apologies, I should have gone to specsavers. I had a look at your website, and I think you should also consider offering accent coaching for amateur dramatic groups. Group practice sessions of accents for playing characters in shows, ect. Now you're going to tell me I didn't see that on the website either...😂

[@markantscott]

Love it ❤

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Thank you.

[@dancinggiraffe6058]

One of my fellow students in a Spanish class was German. She actually did have pretty good pronunciation when she concentrated it on it, and had no problem saying R and RR. But when she really got talking, she tended to lapse a bit into her German pronunciation. I remember when we were studying the imperfect subjunctive, the teacher asked her a question which would require the use of the imperfect subjunctive in her answer. When she said a word that sounded like “pawawa”, the teacher’s expression so clearly said “¿Qué?” But after the student said a couple of other verbs with the -ara ending, he realized what she had said.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Great anecdote-thank you!.

[@MrRawrgers]

the sniper in counter strike is called the AWP but a lot of europeans seem to say AVP

[@MisterBrain]

I showed this my German partner, who could not accept the idea that you were an Englishman 🙂 Your German accent also sounds identical to my ex-work colleague, who I'll call Stefan (as that's his name).

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

I love it!

[@fariesz6786]

you inconwenienced the British chentlemen

[@myouatt5987]

Bloomin' brilliant! Thanks ... I'm off to share with my German 'wellies'! ... seriously! 🤣🤣 ... some will laugh, others not 😂😂... but the vid's brill, really appreciated it!! ... G**, it's now difficult to write in English with a familiar accent going through my head!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Love it. Hope they like it.

[@mattking9220]

Great video - loved the little skit you did! Just a question though; in German, the letter v is pronounced /f/, so when it comes to Germans pronouncing it as /w/ in English, what do you think influenced that pronunciation?

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

So glad you liked it. As for v, I think it’s a hypercorrelation - they know they say v when they should say w and take it too far and even correct the vs that should be v.

[@gilesfarmer5953]

Germans and humour? Shurley shome mishtake here?

[@Brok3nC4rrot]

I tink you heff confushed de dutch akshent vit de german? Famoushly itsh de dutch who make de "esh haitch" shount ven dey mean "esh", not de germansh!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

There are some very funny Germans. Henning Wehn, for example.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Indeed.

[@petewest3122]

@@Brok3nC4rrot I thought it was Sean Connery

[@nikebordom]

I am very upset and I'm right! /s

[@sicko_the_ew]

:D Und jetzt, Platt? I had an a German uncle who spoke every language he spoke with an added speech impediment (a slight thing to do with the German "ch" sound, which he corrected English with in many instances). He had a twin brother. They were very naughty little boys (right back to when they were children - for instance they figured out that they could go into a toilet, lock the door from the inside, and then squeeze out under the bottom, due to being so small - and repeat). He spoke his own English, and would correct you if you got his words wrong. His son grew up English, moved to Germany, and now speaks his own German, and corrects the Germans when they get their language wrong. Must be a German thing?

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Great story. Thank you.

[@georgebelmonte8522]

I want you to know I only watch your videos while seriously inebriated and it results in me having a skewed view of the world

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

They’re even weirder sober I promise.

[@intrinsicvalue5266]

Hallo David, tolles Video. Können Sie bitte ein Video wie dieses über Russisch machen?

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Gerne. Das ist bereits in Planung.

[@connorspiech309]

Is there any rhyme or reason for why and when Germans swap w and v sounds? Many Scandinavians do it too and I've been told it has something to do with Latin

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

I can’t imagine how it would have anything to do with Latin. My take is that it’s a kind of hypercorrection. People are aware that the /w/ sound is a challenge for them, try to get it right but don’t have tight enough control over it. We probably don’t notice when they get it right and only hear when they swap /w/ and /v/. Italians do something similar with /h/, randomly inserting it at the beginning of words some of which actually begin with vowels.

[@schang8964]

後面的小劇場太好笑了！

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

我很高兴，你喜欢。

[@schang8964]

@@DaveHuxtableLanguages 發給一位剛認識的德國女生，她不理我了🥹

[@captaindusk8097]

✔️ Requested ✅ Delivered

[@sanchoodell6789]

Zis is villy good!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Senk you. I’m glet you sink zo.

[@brethilnen]

0:59 lmao so funny 😅

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@briandizz9728]

It was very fine!

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Thank you!

[@TheDrunkMunk]

My favourite thing about German speakers who aren't very good at English is when they mix up words. "and" becomes "und", "is" becomes "ist". I've heard "firestation" become "Feuerstation". And the classic "get" turning into "become/bekommen"

[@TheDrunkMunk]

Also, I find younger/more modern German accents in English don't replace the "th" in "the" with "z" these days. It's much more common imo to hear "th" become more of a "d" sound. I study German and have a lot of German friends

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

@@TheDrunkMunk That’s interesting to hear.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

On my school exchange trip when I was 16, everyone was keen to tell me their English teacher was becoming a baby.

[@jerry250ify]

Russian or any other slavic accent next please😂

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Will do.

[@PeIeus]

pro EU stuff made me violently angry but great content as usual master

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Glad you like the content. I didn't want to make anyone angry - let alone violently so. I just meant it to be funny. What would a German Basil be like? What would he try not to mention etc.

[@PeIeus]

@@DaveHuxtableLanguages I was not sincere in the initial words that I wrote. Keep up with the satire it is one of the reasons I come to watch your channel, after the educational element, of course. If you are able to do Baltic minority languages like Livonian that would be pretty damn cool. But you are the master here and I, a lowly lowly IT guy.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

@@PeIeus Livonian might be a bit too niche, but it would be fun.

[@PeIeus]

@@DaveHuxtableLanguages yeah I understand, I think I mistook the purpose of the channel with a more specialised area of what your domain is. Thanks anyway :)

[@szabados1980]

So now you extremists want to dictate who can speak or not to speak about Brexit? I've got bad news for you. This isn't how it works. We can speak and even laugh at your stpuid move without your approval.

[@ahartify]

How many times have I come across Poms (Brits) like that?

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Sorry to hear that - as both a Pom and a Seppo I have some interesting compatriots.

[@RALshacho]

lol

[@captaindusk8097]

Some German speakers either sound like the stereotype here or have a softer more playful accent heavily pronouncing the S.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Interesting one about the S.

[@captaindusk8097]

@@DaveHuxtableLanguages Yeah. Best examples are Timo Wener and Daniel Falke on top of my head

[@urinstein1864]

This kinda makes me want to get a breakdown of how younger Germans sound when speaking English. The accent described here is very much on point, but only for people who learnt English fairly late in their life or have particularly low interest in improving their pronunciation. Younger Germans will sound quite different, partly because they get into contact with American media early on and will develop a heavily rhotic accent instead. Standard German is not rhotic, so this can have some fun effects like, let's call it, "hyper-rhotacisation", that is putting R's where they don't belong, because the phonetic rules of how to go from a German word to an English word come up against an exception. Like "Pizzer".

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Yes, that’s interesting. I’d guess more subtle things like hard attack are still features, since people aren’t aware of them. The same goes for final consonant devoicing - I’ve met many people who can’t hear the difference even when it’s pointed out.

[@bhami]

I've never quite understood why they pronounce "th" as "z" rather than as "d". I guess they'd rather sound stereotypically German and not lower-class Brit or American.

[@urinstein1864]

It's not a conscious choice. I am pretty sure i have heard the occasional "d" user, but in general, among young people it's getting rarer to not do the proper "th" sounds, so i don't have a whole lot of data to go by. I have heard before that you can distinguish European French Speakers and Quebecian French Speakers by what they replace the "th" with. I am pretty sure European French will go for the "z".

[@rosscamsellvoiceover7035]

Younger speakers (especially those who've learned in discord channels, etc, rather than via formal means) usually use d if they can't pronounce th properly.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

Most French Speakers also go with s z, whereas the Dutch prefer t d, so maybe they are happy to identify with the workers. Many UK accents have f v. The US is of course a classless society (so we’re told)

[@user-oe1bu5qw1w]

People use s & z because these sounds sound similar to th-s. It's pretty common pronunciation among russians too. While i know the correct pronunciation and differ th-sounds by ear, they are still very similar to s & z with lisp.

[@DaveHuxtableLanguages]

@@user-oe1bu5qw1w Yes, but Dutch, Italian and Spanish speakers tend to use t and d.