There is an opinion that the German language is very difficult to learn and almost impossible to master. Some students are alarmed by too long words, while others are wary of various nuances in the field of pronunciation of German words. But is this language really difficult to learn - let's figure it out in this article.
What is the difficulty of the German language?
For beginners, the grammatical aspect can be difficult, because the German language has an impressive number of rules and exceptions. At the very beginning, learning any foreign language may be quite difficult, especially if you constantly crammed all the grammatical rules, try to master the pronunciation features - and in German they are quite interesting and unique - and an endless list of new words to memorize. What are the numbers in German! Certain difficulties may also arise with their pronunciation, because, as a rule, German numerals are very long and at first glance incomprehensible. But if you carefully understand the topic, then all the alleged difficulties will collapse like a house of cards.
Derivation in German
As mentioned above, in German the construction of words is complex and unusual, namely, that from several words the Germans skillfully create one very long and incomprehensible word for a beginner. But in fact it is not so difficult. After all, it's great that you can, having studied a couple of German words, calmly add them up and get a word with a third meaning! But the pronunciation of German words, namely compound ones, can be somewhat difficult. Especially for a person learning German as a foreign language.
The wording rule also applies to numbers in German, the pronunciation of which is the same as with ordinary words. Those. numbers follow the same rules as all other words.
Why should I study German in particular?
There are many reasons why you should start learning foreign languages from German. These reasons will be given below:
- German is not as difficult as it is made out to be. As a rule, German words are perceived by the ear as they are written on paper, only knowledge of letter combinations is important. You probably won't even need to learn the German alphabet for beginners with pronunciation, because it is based on the Latin script, which, fortunately, most people already know. And if, plus everything, you still know English at a fairly good level, then this gives a huge advantage. Because English and German have common roots, which means a huge number of similarities. This fact proves that if you know English, it will be much easier for you to learn German, the pronunciation of which seems so difficult, but in fact nothing is impossible here.
- German is one of the most spoken languages in European countries. After all, German, English and French are the three official languages of the European Union. And German is the second most commonly used language. But if we take into account the native speakers themselves, then German comes out on top in terms of frequency of use. Therefore, knowledge of German gives you at least another 100 million people for live communication. Of course, this is not a whole billion, as, for example, in Chinese, but still.
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German is the language of innovators and inventors.
The largest percentage of all outstanding achievements were born in Germany. More than 100 Nobel Prizes have been given to German scientists for great achievements in the fields of physics, medicine, chemistry, literature, etc. And this is not even taking into account the other two main representatives of the German world - Austria and Switzerland.
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German culture is part of the world's heritage.
Germans are known to have a reputation for absolute analysts and lovers of logic, but the German-speaking world is also famous for outstanding minds in the fields of music, literature, art and philosophy. It is the native language of the composers Mozart, Bach, Schubert, Beethoven and Wagner. Learning this language will give you a great opportunity to evaluate on your own, without any translators, the masterpieces of great creators that will never be forgotten. After all, what is only one worth"Faust" by Goethe!
Of course, these are not all the reasons why it is worth learning German. But, in any case, knowledge of foreign languages opens a window to a world that is so diverse and unique.
Pronunciation of German sounds
The pronunciation of German words and sounds is quite different from the pronunciation of Russian. In German, the pronunciation is more muscular and harsh. It certainly gives German sounds intensity and intensity.
In total, there are 44 sounds in German, 16 of which are vowels, 22 consonants, 3 affricates and 3 are diphthongs. But it is important to note that completely different unusual sounds are used in the pronunciation of German words: /ʌ/, /æ/, /ŭ/, /ɔ:/, /w/, /y̆/, /θ/, /œ:/, /ə:/, /ðspan>/, /ʤ/. But the important thing is that these non-standard sounds are used exclusively in words of foreign origin.
Pronunciation features of German sounds
As mentioned above, the German language requires enhanced articulation, especially when pronouncing sounds such as: t, p, k, s, f, (i)ch, sch and (a)ch.
An important thing when pronouncing German sounds is a wide opening of the mouth.
Pronunciation of German vowels requires increased lip work.
If the German word begins with a vowel, then this vowel must be pronounced clearly and sharply, with a strong tension of the vocal cords.
BIn principle, most German letters are fairly easy to pronounce. However, in the German alphabet there is a small number of letters that are called umlauts.
It is necessary to give examples of German pronunciation, for this a table with transcription is provided:
| Letter in the German alphabet | Russian sound of a German letter | Transcription | Example |
A A |
a | [a:] | der Apfel (apple) |
B B |
bae | [bε:] | die Biene (bee) |
C C |
tse | [tsε:] | der Clown (clown) |
D D |
te | [de:] | der Delphin |
E E |
e | [e:] | der Elefant (elephant) |
F F |
ef | [εf] | der Fisch (fish) |
G G |
ge | [ge] | die Gans (goose) |
H H |
ha | [ha:] | der Hase (hare) |
I I |
and | [i:] | in (in) |
J J |
iot | [jot] | das Jod |
K K |
ka | [ka:] | der Katze (cat) |
L L |
[εl] | die Lampe | |
M M |
um | [εm] | die Maus (mouse) |
N N |
en | [εn] | die Nadel (needle) |
O O |
o | [o:] | die Oliven (olives) |
P P |
pe | [pe:] | die Palme |
Q Q |
ku | [ku:] | das Quadrat |
R R |
er | [εr] | das Radie (radio) |
S S |
es | [εs] | das Sonne (sun) |
T T |
te | [te:] | die Tomate |
U U |
y | [u:] | die Uhr (hours) |
V V |
fau | [fao] | der Vogel (crow) |
W W |
ve | [ve:] | die Wanne (bath) |
X X |
x | [iks] | der Bo xer (boxer) |
Y Y |
upsilon | [ypsilon] | der Yoga (yoga) |
Z Z |
zet | [tsεt] | die Zitrone(lemon) |
Ä Ä |
e | [ε] | der Bär (bear) |
Ö Ö |
die Öle (sunflower oil) | ||
Ü Ü |
[y] | die übung (exercise) | |
S |
S | [s] | der Fu ß (foot) |
Accent
As for the stress in words of German origin, it has a fixed character and very rarely can change its original location in a certain word.
For roots, the emphasis is on the first syllable. If there are prefixes available, then either the prefix will take the stress for itself, or the root itself. As for the German postfixes, in most cases they are not percussive. But in compound words, two stresses can be present at the same time - the main and the secondary. Accented abbreviations will always have the last letter.
