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Lektion 1: Herzlich Willkommen
Einführung
Willkommen! or, Welcome to the free online German course. This course consists
of a number of lessons (the column at the left side of your
screen). Each lesson contains a small text explaining some
German grammar. Each lesson is accompanied by interactive
vocabulary and exercises to train what you have just learned.
For the interactive part you will get a score. When you scored
high enough, you can proceed with the next lesson.
In total, the course contains more than 200 interactive
exercises to learn the German vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation!!
To get acquainted with the exercises, click on the button
'vocabulary' at the top of this page. If you click there,
the first test exercise will appear. Of course, in the lessons
to come the exercises will be more difficult ;) Good luck!
All lessons and exercises are 100% free of charge, however, you
have to finish all the exercises of a lesson before proceeding to
the next lesson. This system guarantees that you really have learned
German after finishing. If you want to have
access immediately, you can buy lessons for 1 euro per lesson
German Alphabet and Pronunciation
In the following lessons you will receive explanations of German
grammar; however, it's also important to gain understanding of
German pronunciation in order to develop verbal skills. Below you will find a brief overview of the topic.
Consonants
Pronunciation varies greatly throughout the German speaking regions
of the world. Though the German and English alphabets appear very
similar, there are many differences in pronunciation. Here are some
examples:
- j is pronounced as the y in yes, not as the j in june.
- s, when placed before a vowel, is pronounced as the z in zebra, not as the s in salt.
- v is pronounced as the f in father, not as the v in vitamin.
- w is pronounced as the v in vitamin, not as the w in water.
- y is pronounced the same as English if at the beginning or end of a word. In other positions, pronunciation varies. y is often pronounced similar to German ü (explained below with vowels).
- z is pronounced differently from any letter in the English alphabet. This sound is formed by placing together a t sound, followed immediately by English s. Together, this combination forms a ts sound.
- The German alphabet contains the special character ß, which is not found in the English alphabet.
ß is pronounced like the German sz sound, or "ess tsett".
Vowels
In addition to the standard English vowels a,e,i,o, and u,
the German alphabet has three special Umlaut characters: ä,ö,
and ü. Unfortunately, some German sounds have no English equivalent.
Pronunciation will be explored further in future lessons.
| vowel pronunciation, long and short variants |
| a | english father, or english a |
| e | english net, or english late |
| i | english sit, or english seen |
| o | english cot, or english soap |
| u | english put, or english moon |
| ä | english e in set, or english day, but slightly longer |
| ö | english burn, quickly, with slightly rounded lips, or english burn with slightly rounded lips |
| ü | like french rue but shorter, or like french rue |
The following are common German vowel and consonant combinations:
- ei as in the english why
- ie as in the english seen
- eu as in the english boil
- äu as in the english soy
- au as in the english house
- ich is somewhere between a k and sh sound. This sound is made by nearly pressing the middle of your tongue to the roof of your mouth.
- ach sounds similar to the och in Scottish Loch
- The letters kn, pf, and th are both pronounced when together.
- qu is a combination of the English sounds k and v
This website is mentioned on:
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| Welcome | | Welcome to the German course! |
| Contact | | Please send a mail to info@lesexpres.nl |
| News | | 05-04-2008: We're working on the German course! |
| Spotlight |
Mustafa: 'i had previous plans to study abroad and i love germany and it\'s culture and language and i decided...' |
| New members | | Sangeeta, Nina, NAEL, Pino, Marco Antonio, David, Lola, John, Enrico, Anne, Atchara, Phi, Sam, Oksana, Smitha, Mihai, Wayne, Charles, Dmitriy, You |
| Last scores | 1. Ardiene (W2.1, 64%)
2. Simon (W1.1, 100%)
3. Ardiene (W1.1, 75%)
4. Arnoud (W9.2, 83%)
5. Erkan (O4.3, 95%)
6. Appie (O12.2, 78%)
7. Erkan (O4.2, 100%)
8. Appie (O12.1, 85%)
9. Appie (W12.3, 74%)
10. Anneke (W4.3, 81%) |
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