German: Useful content. In Germany the alphabet has 26 letters, 3 umlauts (Ä,Ö,Ü) and one ligature (ß). When it comes before a vowel, the German consonant 's' is pronounced like English 'z' in words such as 'zinc' or 'zoo', although the German sound is not as strongly voiced. That may be due in part to the more guttural pronunciation of certain German alphabet sounds and diphthongs and perhaps even a still lingering effect of old WWII movie stereotypes. Introductions, personal pronouns, formal vs informal address, and the important verb "to be" Lesson 2: You already speak German! German Alphabet ABC In this lesson you can listen to the German alphabet. Although it seems complicated, German pronunciation is easier than it looks: no letters are silent, it is phonetically consistent, and some of the more peculiar looking vowel sounds (the umlauts, in particular) actually resemble sounds that are familiar. Home german Lessons german Stories Reviews. One problem you encounter is the different pronunciation of the letter though there are also several sounds in the German letter or two letter combination. Native English speakers often therefore experiences difficulties in distinguishing between the letters 's' and 'z', particularly when they occur at the start of a word. Once non-German speakers familiarize themselves with German’s different sounds, however, another kind of poetic beauty will … A simple method of recognizing whether a vowel is likely to be long or short in a German word is called the Rule of double consonants. The German Consonant 's' . Get a crash course in German pronunciation in this free beginner German lesson. Deutsche Aussprache ~ German Pronunciation Guide Vokale ~ Vowels . And for those kids who want to play and learn German, download the Forvo Kids app. Some letters are pronounced very similar to the English pronunciation, but some others are a little different. 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