Spanish → German
German uses 43 sounds. You already own 15 of them from Spanish. The other 28 are the work — and 24 of those are the dangerous kind: close enough to something you already say that you will substitute them without hearing yourself do it.
The silent swaps
Your mouth has something close enough to reach for. These survive for years precisely because they sound right to you — the fix is hearing the difference first, not trying harder.
the move: palatal → velar
German: to sing · written "ng", "n before k"
No /ɡ/ after it, unlike English 'finger'.
Your /ɲ/ is the one in año (year).
the move: bilabial → labiodental
German: water · written "w", "v (loans)"
Your /β/ is the one in haber (to have).
the move: dental → alveolar
German: sun · written "s before a vowel"
Your /ð/ is the one in nada (nothing).
the move: alveolar → postalveolar
German: school · written "sch", "s in st-/sp-"
Your /s/ is the one in sol (sun).
the move: velar → palatal
German: I · written "ch (after front vowels, consonants, in -chen)", "-ig"
Whisper a 'y' (as in yes) hard. Ich-Laut.
Your /x/ is the one in jamón (ham).
the move: postalveolar → alveolar
German: time · written "z", "tz", "c (before e, i)", "-tion"
Your /t͡ʃ/ is the one in chico (boy).
the move: close → near-close
German: child · written "i (short)"
Your /i/ is the one in sí (yes).
the move: close → near-close
German: mother · written "u (short)"
Your /u/ is the one in luz (light).
the move: longer
German: father · written "a (long)", "aa", "ah"
Your /a/ is the one in casa (house).
the move: longer
German: lake · written "e (long)", "ee", "eh"
Your /e/ is the one in mesa (table).
the move: longer
German: love · written "ie", "i (long)", "ih", "ieh"
Your /i/ is the one in sí (yes).
the move: longer
German: bread · written "o (long)", "oo", "oh"
Your /o/ is the one in oso (bear).
the move: longer
German: good · written "u (long)", "uh"
Your /u/ is the one in luz (light).
the move: velar → uvular
German: red · written "r (before a vowel)"
Uvular like French. Bavaria/Austria roll it.
Your /ɣ/ is the one in agua (water).
the move: open → open-mid
German: bed · written "e (short)", "ä (short)"
Your /a/ is the one in casa (house).
the move: close-mid → open-mid
German: sun · written "o (short)"
Your /o/ is the one in oso (bear).
the move: postalveolar → labiodental
German: horse · written "pf"
Your /t͡ʃ/ is the one in chico (boy).
the move: close → near-close, rounded
German: five · written "ü (short)", "y"
Your /i/ is the one in sí (yes).
the move: rounded, longer
German: beautiful · written "ö (long)", "öh"
Your /e/ is the one in mesa (table).
the move: rounded, longer
German: door · written "ü (long)", "üh"
Your /i/ is the one in sí (yes).
the move: it glides, yours would hold still
German: my · written "ei", "ai", "ey", "ay"
ei is always /aɪ/ (like English 'eye'), never 'ay'.
Your /a/ is the one in casa (house).
the move: it glides, yours would hold still
German: house · written "au"
Your /a/ is the one in casa (house).
the move: open → near-open, front → central
German: mother · written "-er (final)", "r after a vowel"
Vocalised r — sounds like a light 'uh'. Tür /tyːɐ̯/.
Your /a/ is the one in casa (house).
Words you may say identically
Two or more German sounds landing on one sound of yours. Until the ear separates them, the mouth cannot — which is what the ear trainer is for.
Genuinely new
Nothing in Spanish sits close to these. They sound foreign in your mouth — which is the good news: you can hear that you are not saying them yet.
house
After a vowel h is silent and lengthens it: sehen /ˈzeːən/.
Closest thing you own: — but labiodental → glottal.
cheese
Many speakers say /eː/.
Closest thing you own: — but open → open-mid, longer.
can
Closest thing you own: — but open → open-mid, rounded.
new
Closest thing you own: — but it glides, yours would hold still, close-mid → open-mid.
Rhythm and pitch
The layer spelling never records, and the one that makes a correct sentence still sound foreign.
| Spanish | German | |
|---|---|---|
| Rhythm | Syllable-timed | Stress-timed |
| Stress | Fully contrastive, and mercifully written: if a word breaks the default pattern (stress on the second-to-last syllable for vowel/-n/-s endings, on the last otherwise) it carries an accent. Three-way minimal sets are common and the accent is the only thing separating them. | Contrastive in a very German way: with separable-vs-inseparable prefix verbs, the stress tells you which grammar you are in — and therefore what the sentence means. Otherwise stress sits on the stem syllable, and the unstressed prefixes (be-, ge-, er-, ver-, zer-, ent-) never take it. |
What you have that German doesn't
12 sounds with no job in German. They are not mistakes — but they are where an accent leaks in, because a sound you own is easy to use when a hard one is due.
The honest caveat
This is a prediction from the shape of two sound systems, not a recording of you. It says what your inventory makes likely — it cannot know that your Spanish has a regional variety that already owns one of these, or that you learned German from someone whose accent you copied. A teacher listening to you beats it. Use it to know what to listen for.
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