English Pronunciation for German Speakers

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Areas of Difficulty for German Speakers
Consonants

I.              /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /TH/, /z/, and /Z/ in word final position

Pay special attention to the final sound in the following words as you pronounce them.  Do not devoice the final sound.
Slab           crab     grab     grub     scrub   flab      snub    strobe  globe
Sled           fled      grad     stud     scrod   crud     flood    mud     breed
Brag          drag     flag      snug    smug   slug     log       slog     clog
Glove        cave     five      strive   cleave  sleeve  rave     brave   slave
Breathe      teethe   clothe   filth      stealth  blithe   lathe     with     scathe
Graze         amaze  blaze    sneeze  breeze  sleaze   braise   browse crows
Beige                     mirage             garage                          barrage 

II.            /th/ and /TH/

Pronounce these words carefully:

Breath/breathe       bath/bathe        cloth/clothe     

Now try this tongue twister:
Those three thieves threw thirteen things in the thicket of thorn trees. 

III.         /dz/

This sound does not exist in German.  German speakers of English, therefore, pronounce the voiceless version of this fricative.  Pronounce this sound in the following words carefully.
                              
                              Japan         jury                  German           Judaism           Germane         
Merger      forgery            sergeant           bulging            major
Judge         grudge             smudge            nudge              budge  dodge

IV.          /w/ vs. /v/

Distinguish between /w/ and /v/ in the following minimal pairs:
Wane         wail                 west                 wend               wine
Vein          veil                  vest                  vend                vine

V.            /r/

Practice English /r/ in different word positions, and avoid pronouncing it as a trilled /r/ or as a uvular /r/.

Rumble      wrangle           restitution        result       rack         rash
Scaring      leering             luring               purring     peering    sneering
Scar           star                  fire                   banter      gander     smuggler

Vowels: 
I. /i:/, /ei/, /u:/, and /o/
Pronounce the following tense vowels carefully:
                              
                              Feel           steal                 kneel                appeal              scream
Male          scale                bail                  grail                 snail
School       stool                smooth            smooch            pooch
Scold         fold                  gold                 mould              globe

In addition to the above long (tense) vowels, these vowels are also difficult for German speakers:                 

II. /e/ vs. / / 

Make the distinction between the two vowels in the following minimal pairs:

met/mat      set/sat              fed/fad             led/lad              wed/wade

III.       /^/ vs. /a:/

Practice pronouncing the short and long vowels in the following minimal pairs:

curd/card   heard/hard       curt/cart           burn/barn         hurt/heart

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