In Heidelberg, we had a American teacher. One guy in our class was named Ömer. He just called him Ohmer (but did sound more like Oma) and after some time he just called him Homer.

"Germans don't like the D so much" Es ist definitiv nicht kindisch, wenn ich deswegen lache :D

I am Brazilian and I have some knowledge of German. Since you like accents, I'd like to suggest you to make a text in German and ask your followers who can read something in German so that you can check their pronunciation based on their nationality.

I'm American with a strong German last name - Hochhalter. You can imagine how difficult this is for everybody in America to pronounce properly. I'm so used to people mispronouncing my name that I often wish I could change my name. I traveled to Munich several years ago and I was so happy when the person in customs took my passport and pronounced my name perfectly. The Germans were disappointed that I didn't speak German having such a strong German name. 90% of all the people I know have nicknames for me, or even after knowing me for years don't even try saying my last name. I guess the only solution is for me to move to Germany so people won't tease me, or mispronounce my name.

I have a problem pronouncing "Schwül" and "Schwul".... German speakers know I am foreign when I say things like "Das wetter in Texas ist immer schwul" XDD

I love this video!!!! I have tried to teach myself German, and the whole block could hear me laughing at myself.

I detect some sexual innuendo in this video.

I love these videos! I'm an American living in Germany and I love that I can relate to both of you! Excited for more videos. 👍👍❤️

I took some introductory German courses in high school. It's often viewed as an angry, harsh language but I can see that is a misconception.

In Bavaria, where Dana lives, lustig and durstig are actually pronounced with a g sound as she did.

This is one of your best co-vidoes yet! Sehr cool!

Wow, I had no idea learning a language could be so, well, satisfying. Thank you for making it fun to learn so much about German. Keep rockin the camera!

For me as an American, Dana's German pronunciation really grates on my ears, although it's a given that her knowledge of the language is 10x better. It helps having _native_ German teachers early on to correct the specifics of your pronunciation. Still, this video is useful! I may be falling into several of the pitfalls still: - Pronouncing the 'd' too roundly and softly. - Cutting off the '-ig' ending too sharply rather than dragging it out. - Using too much 'h' in the beginning of words like "Haare" Umlauts are a bitch. If you were to pronounce "der Käfer" in a normal American accent (with long 'ā' sound) it would almost be correct, but not quite. The same applies for long 'ō' vs. 'ö', and long 'ū' vs. 'ü' - they sound almost right but are slightly different. It's very hard to teach yourself to both hear and speak these vowels correctly. The best description I've heard yet it to start by making a short 'ĕ' sound (as in the word "element", or "der Tee") and then while holding your mouth in this position try to pronounce the 'a', 'o', and 'u' to achieve 'ä', 'ö', and 'ü'. The 'äu' combination, as in "die Bäume" is entirely different still (like 'oi'). While not difficult for Americans to master, the 'st' or 'sp' beginning to a word in German, as in "stark" or "Spaß" is pronounced like 'sht-'. That is just one more unexpected variation of the 's' in German... 'ß', 'ss', 'zz', 'shh' ??? Also, can anyone explain the pronunciation of "die Orange" in German? It sounds sort of like a nasal French 'n'. Very strange.

I didn't expect a series of linguistic videos to go sexual XD

Klasse! Finde eure Videos einzeln schon toll, kombiniert ergänzt ihr euch prima, so daß es eine Freude ist, die Videos zu sehen und zu hören.

THIS IS SO HELPFUL. Thank you! I'm dusting off my German for a trip next summer, and this is going to help my accent *SO* much!

6:16 "but the Germans don't like the D so much". That sounded wrong inside my head xD

Wie macht der Reißverschluss? ''Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr''

The comments here are so friendly, constructive and informative. Very refreshing. I wish that would be standard on youtube. Nice upload by the way. Good thing you two made a video together.

this is a great video! i went to defense language institute in monterey ca, to learn german. they coached us on these very things! amazing observations. my bmw motorcycle dealer is from hamburg, and he looked at me very surprised when he said i had "almost no accent." your tax dollars at work. i've met folks from austria, germany, etc, that thought i was truly native, and have said so before my dutch employer. like trixi, though, i've always loved accents :)

hahahaha!! I love how this video turned out. Great job, Trixi. Really insightful, helpful explanation and hilarious editing 😂😂😂

Yes, we Americans have a lot of trouble with the "ch" sounds, and we tend to not distinguish between the versions of the "ch" sound. Also, German "r" is very difficult, but I have a question. In my German class we were taught the German "back r" as the standard and the "front r" as dialect. Could it be that we were taught incorrectly or perhaps we were taught an obsolete standard of pronunciation?

Your English is impeccable. Its better than a lot of people in England. Your analysis is great, but also extremely useful. Most other videos just say the words. You show us where we are going wrong. From now on I will pronounce Guten Tag as Guten Tak, or at least make the G more defined and harder. Could you do more videos like this, maybe in more detail and breaking it down a bit more. As someone who is learning a bit of German for a holiday, the CH sound is very difficult, I must have said it a thousand times and it comes out differently everytime. Love the channel!!!

I predict lots of views for this video as there is a lot to "chew" on. Nice work. Thanks to both of you. ☺

6:45 length doesnt matter - Trixi 2016/17

Hi, Trixie - Can you tell the difference between an America and British accent - when they are speaking German? If so, which words give their nationality away?

this was exactly what I was curious about and by one of my favorite youtubers win win!

I got here via Dana's channel, glad she connected me to you. Greetings from Texas.

Good analysis ! I'm a Dutchman who used to be very fluent in German. My German teachers always used to say, that Germans are very discplined, including in how they speak: they make work of pronouncing every syllable individually; sort of biting off every syllable separately, like biting chunks off a candybar, and processing words that way. You classify your accent as considerable, but actually I think your English pronunciation is pretty good ! It's just that your habit of the German one-whole-syllable-at-a-time staccato rhythm remains VERY present in your English. Have you ever tried to relax that a little bit, when speaking English ? Try it and see - or listen - what happens !

I'm having trouble getting past "American's don't like the D". I started giggling like a school girl lol! I'm not sure if you know what that means in America though. Thanks for the laugh!

Richtig gut und richtig viele, wichtige Aspekte genannt, meiner Meinung nach! Wenn nicht sogar alles erwähnt! Toll :)

This is so cool, I love accents as well. This video is very informative. Kudos.

In certain parts of germany if a word ends with "ig" u say it as "ich", but this is not the case in bavaria. We actually say it as "ig". So u cant blame Dana since she lives in munich :) But this happens only if we speak "Hochdeutsch" which barely happens and if it happens we try to avoid use these words. That`s at least my experience... ^^

Diese Zweideutigkeiten sind einfach genial! 😋

I'm currently studying linguistics. This channel has really been a joy to watch!

A comment about vowels. In English we will often add emphasis by lengthening the word. A simple "no" becomes "noooo". In German class we were taught that a German may add emphasis by pronouncing the word shorter, like to add emphasis to "nein" one would shorten the vowel sound. Is this correct, or was I taught wrong? Also regarding vowels, Americans tend to put a lot of slide into our diphthong vowels, but if my German teachers were correct the German diphthongs tend to be more clipped. Is this correct?

Das "-ig" wird aber nur in Deutschland als "-ich". In Österreich wird das "-ig" wie ein "-ig" ausgesprochen (wobei es zu einem "-ik" wird :D) z.B. das Wort Honig.

Kann mir jemand folgendes Erklären: Ist durstich die hochdeutsche aussprache für durstig? Ich komme aus Bayern und hab nur einen leichten akzent aber sage immer durstig, fertig, lustig. Kenne niemanden im Umfeld der LustiCH oder fertiCH sagen würde... Für mich klingt das -ig von Dana korrekt.

Love the video!! Well done!

Trixie that is such a nice and informative video! have been waiting for it since you tweeted about it 😊 I never really realize what makes the American accent, the American accent in German, until now 😅 But I feel like the American accent sounds just so cute 😂👌

i love this video, but now i wish there was a just as good video with the languages switched, so that i can get rid of my german accent when speaking english ;) (not that its that bad, but american people still hear it)

Whenever I try my British or American friends to pronounce streicheln, lächeln, they absolutely fail. But let's be honest it isn't easy and we Germans also struggle alot learning other languages :). Just think of the fact that many Germans can't pronounce the th properly and native Britain's think that when we speak English we literally chop down woods.

First of all, I love your videos! :) I am an American and it is so funny how you discussed differences between us regarding words beginning with an H because I just naturally do the same thing as you before I begin enunciating the rest of the word. I make a whispery "heeeeeeee" sound, especially with words starting with "he" before I continue with the word! So, I have a feeling I would do quite well with German words that start with H. By the way, I'll be another American guinea pig for you!

I am also fascinated with accents. I am a southerner from the US and also speak German. Surprisingly, I think some of the characteristics of my native southern accent works well when I speak German like in the -er on the end of words. Love the videos!

Ich kenne mich einigermaßen mit Phonetik aus und kann dir sagen: das englische R ist immer vorne im Mund und das deutsche R ist fast immer hinten. Es gibt nur wenige Ausnahme bei den Deutschen: in manchen hessischen Dialekten wird das R wie im Englischen gesprochen [ɹ], in anderen hessischen Dialekten wird es vorne geschlagen [ɾ], im Süden Deutschlands wird es gerollt [r]. Das normale deutsche R ist entweder [ʁ] oder [ʀ] und demzufolge nach dem [h] das hinterste Phonem im Deutschen. Hier ist eine Tabelle über fast alle Laute, die es in Sprachen gibt: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonant#Features Je weiter links, desto weiter vorne im Mund. Die Aussprache [ɪç] für -ig ist eigentlich nur typisch norddeutsch. Norddeutsche Grammatiker haben es einfach nur zum Standard ausgerufen. Lautgesetzlich kommt für das Standarddeutsche, bzw. das Hochdeutsche (hoch = bergig, also südlich; NICHT hoch im Sinne einer Hochkultur) nichts anderes als [ɪk] raus.

I think you should also analyse an Australian accent!

I loved this! Next time, though, you need to have you and Dana both pronounce the words or phrases so we can really hear the subtle differences.

You hit the nail on the head with this video haha as an American this is exactly what I struggle with! Thank you for this video it's so helpful!

ig on end (lustig) will not pronunced lustich in southern Germany or Austria

Click 4:08 repeatedly to make Trixie say 'arse'. British English at it's best.

To be frank, I watched your videos about a year ago when I was doing the Abitur, now I'm studying German and English and it's much more amusing because I have a lot more connection to these accent differences now. (such as the glottal stop (the breaks we Germans make) and the "Auslautverhärtung" (changing voiced sounds to voiceless in the end of words and word parts)) It's really funny to find all this in your videos

Great video! I always use the flipped r instead of the German r. I’ll definitely have to work on that, lol. Thanks!

PTSDöner pls make the same video but zhe other way around, thus Tricky Trixxy misspronouncing everything in English and you explain why. Best regards from the Bone Army!! btw Trix, ich bin in dich verliebt ♡ lass uns zusammen introvertiert sein

American vowels have diphthongs, much more than Germans. Americans carry on their diphthong habit over to other languages

really enlightening, love the show. ty :)

You always pick the most interesting language topics!

I literally could not tell a difference between the German ee and the American ee

I do not trust the rabbit..-:)

Lovin your videos. Thank you again.

Kannte sie einfach bevor ich dich kannte XD btw hgw zu 100k

im Canadian so this doesn't apply to me lol

i love when womens are rolling the "r" :33333333

That was an amazing breakdown! I didn't realize there were so many pitfalls in learning german

I took 5 years of German in school and went there twice as an exchange student. I'm glad to finally see someone else who likes to look at the foreign accents to try to help decipher and analyse. I've had several people look at me like I was nuts when I said the best thing to really help my pronunciation of German words was looking at and hearing German natives speaking English. It really helped me see how the stressed syllables are very different and see how the different letters are spoken differently in the different languages.

Dana's accent on Easy German is so hilariously cringy. I don't understand how someone can understand so much of the language without devoting any time to pronunciation!

Dana's accent is pretty annoying. Every time she pronounces her name I hear 'dunna'. Still, at least she doesn't use vocal fry. Vocal fry is the scourge of English pronunciation.

I have trouble with sentence structure. In English, the verb is almost always in the middle. In German, it's often at the end of a sentence. How do I know which is correct?

Great video, I hope we see more like this.

Aber das -ig sollte auch so ausgesprochen werden, nur viele machen das falsch.

This was very fascinating! And helpful. When learning German the biggest thing I struggle with is using/rembering the correct gender of words to use; including, but not limited to, Der, Die, and Das.

The "Abendessen" issue you mentioned at the end I believe would be remedied with furthering one's (German) vocabulary. I (as an American who has dabbled in German) haven't really encountered that but I think that because I knew Abend and Essen are two works separately making one (as German does frequently) that pronouncing it would have the separating after the D (THE D :P) not before. I LOVE YOU AND YOUR CHANNEL! Thank you for doing it. Keep up the great work! Guten Ta[k], Freundin von Mir! :P

You hit the nail on the head with the last one... I still sometimes have to draw lines in long german words to figure out where the roots are...

This was really helpful and now I know what to pay attention to when I speak. Thank you

This video is really helpful! I'm an American living in Germany and I am always looking for ways to perfect my accent while speaking German. I want to sound as authentic as possible, so thanks for the tips! :)

I don't really understand everything you presented here as I am not actively learning German, but I really appreciate this kind of talk and this is something that I've noticed is less or more of a problem from person to person and from language to language.

American Guineapigs, ich habe wiedermal so gelacht, deine Mimik und Gestik ist einfach Genial. Bitte mehr davon. 😂👍 Ansonsten sind deine Videos auch sehr interessant und informativ, liebe Grüße.🙋‍♂️

This was educational and interesting. Thanks :)

I remember when I was first learning German in middle school. I loved it from the beginning, but I remember really focusing on 'forgetting' the American English sounds and really trying hard to mimic what I heard. I still think its about really listening and trying to make the sound you hear, not the sound you know...oh and it's also about retraining the muscles of your mouth. You have use your lips and jaw and tongue differently than your used to in making these new sounds. I think this is true for anyone learning a new language.

Pretty spot on! Perspective note; I've always said the 's' like an english 'z'! Although, it's not completely correct, it makes things a lot easier to say out loud definitely if it's a new word. Also, the ending 'd' like a 't' and 'er' like an 'a' were the first rules ever learned, and easiest. Good video. Kudos!

Thank you for doing this video. This helped me understand how to pronounce German words a little better. Hopefully, I can take your tips and apply them to my German 1020 homework.

Wow this is a great resource! and basically summarizes my struggles with speaking/reading for the past years. -_- Only addition is less an "accent", but nonetheless...I just cannot yet fully internalize the switching of the "ei" & "ie" pronunciation between ENG and DE.

Hi Trixy, do you have the same, between Spanish and Deutsch. I'm curious about the differences.

I might be wrong in this, but the "ch" sound in German is either a palatal fricative or a velar fricative, depending on the vowel sound that occurs before it (if one exists). More fronted vowels, such as in the words ich or brechen, have the palatal fricative while back vowels, such as in words machen or rauchen, use the velar fricative. The closest that English has to the palatal fricative is in words such as "he" or "here" where an /h/ sound is followed by an /i/ sound.

This is super helpful to learning german, ty :)

I like these videos! After two years in Germany I was happy to correctly pronounce Köln. I lived for six years in Siegen (pronounced Ziegen) and discovered that the Siegerländer Dialekt was like an American speaking German. Ask a Siegerländer to say "Wir gehen runter in Keller". They emphasize the "r". I met a German doctor from Siegen who vacationed with his wife in the Black Forest. He told me that the locals assumed he was an American and often complimented him for speaking excellent German. They all laughed when he told them he was a German.

Hey Trixie, Hey Dana :-) - nice Video :-)

Excellent stuff, entertaining 😀

It's interesting hearing your impressions of English and German sounds. I'm used to thinking about them the other way around. Your English is terrific. I'm jealous. My German sucks.

I am an American who studied in Salzburg for 4 months and the ig ( like in zwanzig) sounded more like a typical g in American English. I am now going to study in Lüneburg and it is hard to switch back and forth between the two pronunciations. Which is preferable?

I am an American with a Mexican heritage trying to learn German right now. The R's ARE hard. (pun intended. lol). Americans are used to using the lips for an 'R', where Spanish uses the tongue, but it sounds like German is in between?? The 'tr' in German is insanely hard for me though. I think it sounds more German if I aim for a Spanish pronunciation, but move that letter combo a little farther back from my teeth..but it's super hard for me. Any suggestions on how to get the right sound? "Brot" is fun to say in German, but "trinken" drives me up the wall.

I have to admit I really like the accent when English speaking people try to speak German, even with their different way of speaking "R", the soft "sh" like in "ich" (which they often speak like "sh") or the umlaut ("ä" is actually not really a problem for them but "ü" and "ö"). It may sound funny, but it's cute and actually, it is a compliment for my ear and heart because they just try it. So, my dear friends from other countries, be never shy trying to speak German! You will always get my respect and appause! About the "d" at the end, "wand" exists also in English (but of couse has another meaning) is roughly spoken in the same way as in German, while "rund" is relatively near to "round". It's always interesting to check out which German and English words are related or deviated from each other, and knowing that, the pronounciation is often quite the same.

Fun! I love when KZfaqrs I'm subscribed to collaborate :-)

Thanks for this video! I loved watching it. I've always wondered how Americans sound to Germans. I learned German in high school and I've spent some time in Germany. At a bar one night, a local patron didn't believe that I was American. He told me I sounded Dutch. When I asked if that was a good thing, he replied "not really, but kind of". LOL still to this day, I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. Thanks as always for the great videos!

Wow,Wow,Wow, I love you both so much, and i am in stitches !!!

I don't know about any of you other English speakers, but I struggle with speaking the proper 'German speed' (aka faster than English) any tips?

Oh the part about melodious and rhythm is true... I never noticed that. Great info! Just wondering, other than Americans and Canadians, do the British also have similar problems? Another thought is, does growing up in a monolingual environment make it harder to learn another language accent-free?

I live where there are a lot of Amish. Last month, a road sign was put up with the following on it: "Gevetauct Shäs Gebt". Can anyone help me with a translation?

great informative video :)

Where are you from because I can't pin point where you acsent is from I grew up in hessen but I would like to know

I love ur intro melody so much :D i think i heard it on sims game before