Can One Sounnd Like A Native German?

Is it possible for a non-native speaker to

sound like a native one?
or is there a some kind of age that after it one cannot lose one's accent when speaking a foreign
language?

18 Answers

Frank Dauenhauer, literature lover

427 Views · Frank has 210+ answers in Language

The original question is:

Is it possible for a non-native speaker to sound like a native one?

Answer:

Yes, as shown by some actors such as Hugh Laurie, Christian Bale, Don Cheadle, Colin Farrell,
Toni Colette, Daniel Day-Lewis, and others. (See: 15 Actors Who Masterfully Hide Their
Natural Accents ).

Also, see the following:

 How can I sound like a native speaker of English?

 Accents: Is it possible for a non-native English speaker to sound completely native?
 How long did it take you, a non-native speaker, to sound like a native english speaker?

Written Mar 1 · View Upvotes · Answer requested by Merzhelnoureb

Related QuestionsMore Answers Below

 Accents: Is it possible for a non-native English speaker to sound completely native?

 At what age would it still be possible to sound like a native speaker?
 As a non-native English speaker, how can I improve my accent?
 How long did it take you, a non-native speaker, to sound like a native english speaker?
 Can non-native speakers ever learn to use sounds not found in their native language?
Zeibura S. Kathau, English native, fluent in Czech, stutter in 6 others.
566 Views · Zeibura has 150+ answers and 4 endorsements in Language

It's possible. Especially in English. Depends who you're talking to though. Once when my mum
was visiting me in Prague we ran into a friend of mine on the street and we had a short chat, after
he left she asked me "what part of America he was from" and was quite surprised when I
answered Slovakia. He speaks good English, probably C1 level, but I doubt an American would
have flagged him as an American. What my mum obviously could tell was that he didn't sound
English, but since he spoke so naturally she assumed he was a native speaker from somewhere
else in the world, and we generally don't know American or Southern Hemisphere accents well
enough to distinguish the finer details.

To sound convincing in English and probably also in other highly pluricentric languages like
Spanish, you don't have to get your accent spot on, because there are so many thousands of
accents and most people will get close enough to one after they've studied long enough (as long
as they've been working on their pronunciation). People will often guess where you're from when
you talk to them in their language, if you get Holland or any Scandinavian country then you're
doing well, and as soon as they start guessing faraway English-speaking countries, you've made
it. I remember how proud I felt the first time a Czech person guessed I was from Yugoslavia,
which was a massive improvement on everyone thinking I was German.

In other languages it can be very hard. I think one of the hardest languages to learn to pronounce
proficiently might be Georgian – something that often takes native speakers over 10 years to
learn fully. I've A2Aed someone who might be able to answer if they think this feat is achievable
or not.

There is a common linguistics myth that "after a certain age you can't learn any new sounds." It's
bollocks and it probably arose somewhere like England where people are always trying to cop
out of learning foreign languages :-) It just takes longer, depending on how different the sound is
to ones you already know, and you can get help with it from speech therapists which often gets
pretty deep, but it's efficient.

Written Feb 29 · View Upvotes · Answer requested by Merzhelnoureb

Manuel Aicart, Linguist

198 Views · Most Viewed Writer in Learning Languages with 360+ answers

After a certain age (critical period) it becomes very difficult to sound like a native in a second
language (L2). If we were hard-wired to learn subsequent languages like we learn our first
language (L1) we wouldn't be asking this question.
As an adult, losing your native accent is quite difficult and largely depends on each individual's
motivation, hard work, the L1-L2 distance and your language aptitude. A search for "accent
reduction courses" on Amazon yields interesting results, which you may want to check out:
accent reduction.

There is also nothing wrong in adopting a the-sky's-the-limit or a nothing-is-impossible-if-you-

set-your-mind-to-it attitude, but I think best learning comes when we set realistic goals in our
learning journeys and are content with our abilities.

Questions around language learning end up in a series of I-can-do-it-and-so-can-you association

fallacies that language learners should beware of.

For a related answer:

 Why do some people keep their accent from a foreign language?

Written Mar 3 · View Upvotes

Brian Collins, I'm a linguist; one of my BAs is in theoretical linguistics

434 Views · Most Viewed Writer in Learning Languages with 150+ answers

Sorta. It is possible for some non-native speakers to sound like a native speaker to some native
speakers.

There will always be some native speakers who can hear the slight almost imperceptible things,
at least when they say one sentence or something like that.

For example, my psycholinguistics professor is a native German speaker who moved to the US
when he was 13 years old. He can barely even speak German, and yet sometimes does not sound
like a native English speaker.

Most of the time he could pass for a native speaker easily. One day he was saying "ok students...
let's open..." but instead said students [ʃtudɛnts] (with an extremely backed non-west coast
sounding [u] and a [ʃ] instead of /s/), got caught up on that, became extremely distracted and said
the rest of his sentence with a German accent so thick it sounded like a spoof. Then he laughed,
caught his train of thought, and started talking how he normally does.

Many American English speakers however cannot tell the difference between West Coast
American English, Canadian English, and Chicago American English. They don't notice enough
of the small things to even tell native dialects apart, so they might not catch near-native sounding
second language speakers.

Written Mar 7 · View Upvotes · Answer requested by Merzhelnoureb

Angelika Davey, As a teacher and learner I know how wonderful learning languages can be.
378 Views · Angelika has 30+ answers in Learning Languages

Hi and thanks for the A2A!

I think it varies. Fort example, I know people who have lived in the UK for years and speak
perfect English, yet, as soon as you hear them you know they are German/ French. they have a
typical German or French accent and cannot change it.

As for myself, I don't think I have a German accent. Most people are surprised to hear that I'm
German and if I didn't tell them they wouldn't know at all.

Having said that, when I was working as a supply teacher in primary schools, the following
situation frequently happened:

I arrive in a new class and start talking to the children. After a few minutes a child asks 'Where
do you come from, Miss?' I reply giving the town I live. Their reply is 'But where do you
REALLY come from?' They always notice something foreign in my (non existing) accent. I then
always play a game and ask them to guess where I might come from. Bearing in mind that I am a
white European, the guesses always were China, Japan, Africa, Afghanistan .... oh, and finally
Germany ☺
One child one day asked me if I was from this world, and this was a genuine question, she was
not joking - always great fun!

Written Mar 1 · View Upvotes · Answer requested by Merzhelnoureb and Uri Trejo

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5 German Pronunciation Tips That Will Help You Sound Like A Native

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Itay
TF002

German pronunciation and spelling is actually quite simple. There, I said it.

(Did I just hear you groan? Wait! Hear me out…)

Let's take French for example. There are many nasal vowels that are difficult to pronounce, and
the French spelling system is full of confusing complexities. They write Bordeaux but they say
Bordo. Silent consonants are all over,’ tobacco’ is written tabac but pronounced taba. A number
of words show variation: ‘August’ – août – may be pronounced ut or u, ‘all’ – tous – can be tu or
tus.

And what about English? Have you had enough (or enuf) trouble spelling to make you want to
scream (or skreem)? You are not alone. Since the 17th century, scholars have been protesting the
irregularities that occur in English spelling. Check out Ed Rondthaler's video for an eye-opening
experience. It's hilarious.

My point is that German pronunciation and spelling is quite easy because there are simple and
reliable rules. You basically spell what you hear, and once you know and understand the sounds
of German letters, you are all set.

This might look confusing at first, but as German pronunciation and spelling rules are regular
and predictable, all that is required is some practice. From experience with my students I can tell
that a little effort makes a big difference, and usually I notice the improvement immediately.
The following tips will not only help you sound more like a native speaker, but also improve
your spelling skills.

1. Z

The German pronunciation of Z is always “TS”, even in foreign names like Mazda [Matsda] and
Suzuki [Zootsukee]. Many students struggle with this sound at the beginning of a word, such as
zu (to), zehn (ten), Zeit (time) or Zelt (tent). Imagine the English words “streets” or “rats”. They
end with the typical German Z sound. Try to pronounce this sound at the beginning of the word
“zu” [tsoo]. Well done, now you sound like a German!

2. ST & SP

These are pronounced “sht” and “shp” at the beginning of a word or syllable: Stuttgart
[Shtutgart], Spiel ([shpi:l], “game”). “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” – You are right, this sentence
also starts with “shp”.

3. V & W

The German V is usually pronounced “F” at the beginning of words and syllables: viel (a lot),
Vater (father), von (from). The German W is pronounced “V”, e.g. weil (because). Pronouncing
these sounds correctly really makes a big difference.

4. AU

Like English ‘ow’ in ‘how’ and ‘now’. The vowel in German braun is very like the vowel in
English ‘brown’.
5. EU

This combination of letters exists in many German words and is pronounced “OY” like in
“oyster”. Examples are: Europa [Oyropah], Euro [Oyro], Deutschland [Doytshland]

What are your experiences with German pronunciation? Please share your thoughts in the
comments below.

Itay is the founder of German Online Gym, a dynamic e-Learning portal exclusively dedicated to
German language and culture training. Please click here for more information.

Hero image by waving at you (CC-BY-SA-2.0)

How to Speak German like a Native

05/20/2015 created by Patrick K.

You would like to try speaking German because you know how to say "Guten Morgen" and "Auf
Wiedersehen"? That could be useful for a start but you will soon need a few other tips! Here we
give you the opportunity to survive this German adventure and sound like a native when
speaking to German people: German vocabulary, idiomatic phrases, common language… Saying
hello, meeting someone, greeting a person for his birthday…you will be able to deal with every
situation! Los geht’s!
Morgen!

"Guten Morgen" is not so much used by German people. A simple "Morgen!" is more than
enough to say hello to someone in the morning.

Es freut mich!

This is what you are supposed to say when meeting someone for the first time in Germany. It is
the equivalent of “nice to meet you!”.

Alles klar

Alles klar is used to show the person you are talking to that you understood perfectly what she
said. You hear it sometimes at the end of a conversation: alles klar, tschüß! - “all right, bye!”.
German people also uses it as a question to check if everything is all right: alles klar?

Genau

Using genau in a conversation will make you sound like a native in German! This short word is
very common and easy to use in a sentence. This word means “that’s right”, “exactly”, “you are
right”… Try listening to German people; you will hear it all the time!

Gott sei Dank!

Literally "Thank God". Like in English quite a lot of German phrases are influenced by
religion. You will also hear Meine Güte or Oh mein Gott.

Alles Gute!

You may have learnt in class that “happy birthday” in German is: Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum
Geburtstag… Literally “Heartful wishes on your birthday”. If you feel like you can’t actually say
that, don’t worry! Oftentimes German people greet friends or family with a simple Alles Gute!
which means “all the best”. Much easier, right?

Zack, zack!

Zack, zack, would be the English “chop, chop!”! It gives you the idea of a quick move to go on
with something else. Zack, zack, so let’s move to the next one quickly!

Quatsch!

When you want to say ach Quatsch , it’s like saying “don’t be silly” or “that’s nonsense!”.

Stimmt

Stimmt is to agree with someone. It is often used when the person you are talking to convinced
you about something or tells you about something you did not think about. It is like “oh yes it’s
true” or “you are right”.

Mahlzeit!

If it’s true there is in German the formal phrase Guten Appetit; it could be useful as well to know this
other version when wishing someone to enjoy his meal. You can even find a literal translation of the
English sentence: Lass es euch schmecken!

Mach’s gut!

This would be the equivalent or the English “take care”. This is the perfect thing to say when leaving
someone and say goodbye.

Tschüss!

Tschüss would be the general word to use every time you want to say goodbye, whether you
know the person or not. Of course you also have the famous auf Wiedersehen but let’s say that if
you are not sure about its pronunciation, just go for a Tschüss…!

Bonus: German language and…food!

Discover funny phrases in German that have a special flavour…!

Es ist mir Wurst

Literally: This is me sausage

Meaning: I don’t care

Ich freue mich wie ein Schnitzel

Literally: I am as glad as a Schnitzel

Meaning: I am very happy

Quark

Literally: Soft white cheese

Meaning: Like "Quatsch", it’s nonsense

Alles in Butter?

Literally: Everything in butter?

Meaning: Everything okay?
Abwarten und Tee trinken

Literally: Wait and drink tea

Meaning: Being patient

If you have any other words or phrases you would like to share with us, go to our Sprachcaffe Facebook
page and post them as a comment under this article’s post! Tschüss und bis bald !

To native German speakers: what does the American accent sound like for those that have
learned German (self.German)

submitted 1 year ago by redCashionThreshold (B1)

I was watching this Easy German video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOjmzdM8il0&list=PL3936178A38BB5F87&index=39

And there were alot of criticisms made of the interviewer and her American accent. In fairness,
as an American I think she has a particularly strong accent when speaking English as well. But it
reminded me of something I've always wondered, which is: what does an American accent sound
like to native German ears?

Italian sounds sexy, French sounds sophisticated, Korean sounds angry (stereotypes, I know), but
does American sound just... American?

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[–]LumPenPacKNative (Rheinfränkisch) 10 points 1 year ago

It's much better in the newer video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OAuZBHxZag

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[–]iBlaze4sc 6 points 1 year ago

I still think its pretty bad :P

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[–]LumPenPacKNative (Rheinfränkisch) 5 points 1 year ago

It's not that bad. It's still not perfect, but I wouldn't even expect that. At least she is trying to
improve her. There are some American correspondents living here in Germany for years. Those
correspondents are even quite often in some talk shows on Television but their pronunciation
isn't much better. Although you can understand everything they say. In my opinion vocabulary
and grammar is much more important.

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[–]rewbossBA in Modern Languages 12 points 1 year ago

I'm not German myself, but from talking to Germans I think it depends whether they learned
British English at school or American English. People seem to prefer whichever version they
originally learned, and find the other version either difficult to understand or simply ugly.

Stereotypically, I suppose an American accent would be connected with (sorry) arrogance or,
more positively, self-confidence. Ask a German who speaks little English to "do an American
accent", and they'll probably give you something full of long, nasal vowels and lots of very
obvious (retroflex) Rs.

The young lady's mistakes include many of the usual suspects. The vowel sounds aren't quite
right (she pronounces some of the long vowels as diphthongs, especially noticeable with "Okay",
although I would say that she otherwise gets them much less wrong than many Americans I have
heard); also, she pronounces most of her Rs as American-style retroflex Rs, although she
occasionally tries to roll them.

To be honest, I think she has a pretty decent accent. The comments section is never the right
place to go for constructive criticism or reasonable debate: I certainly wouldn't pay any attention
to the guy who claims to be able to sound like a native in half a dozen European languages.

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[–]IrishBreakfastWay stage (A2) 11 points 1 year ago*

I use the Easy German videos to help with my learning process as well, and that video actually
stood out to me in particular. I'm American, and her speech stood out to me like a sore thumb in
a really unpleasant way-- not because of her "accent" or voice per se, but rather because it felt
like a lack of respect for actually learning the proper sounds and pronunciations of words in
German. Maybe it's just the way I look at languages and other cultures, but I feel like learning a
foreign language shouldn't simply be learning the words and pronouncing them however you see
fit, but rather understanding the sound changes and tone on a basic level like a native speaker. I
know it wasn't her intention in the video and she's clearly very well-spoken in German (much
better than I am), but as an American I couldn't help cringing at what kind of comes off as an "I
don't care, I'll speak your language however I want" kind of attitude that we're often stereotyped
with. She seems to completely gloss over simple sounds, like the non-rhotic "R", the "ch" at the
ends of words, and the overall melodic tone of the language.

I have a very neutral east coast American accent and have an ear for dialects from working as a
voice over artist, but I still make sure to work my ass off drilling every single word and sound
that I learn in German many many times to make sure I sound as authentic as possible when it
comes to actually speaking it-- because I think it's a beautiful language that I want to respect, and
because I want to be able to go to Germany or talk with German speaking people and come off
as an intelligent and decently-spoken person first, and as a foreigner/American second.

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[–]sweetleef 15 points 1 year ago

rather because it felt like a lack of respect

It's clear that she's put in a huge amount of time and effort in learning the language and
developing her comprehension, and she's out there doing videos in the language to teach others
about it - it seems absurd to claim all that work was motivated by a "lack of respect".

Some people are better at mimicking native sounds than others, just like some are better at
hitting the right notes while singing, and some never get it no matter how hard they try. Is your
inability to sing like Adele because you "lack respect" for singing?

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[–]IrishBreakfastWay stage (A2) 5 points 1 year ago*

I didn't say it was an actual lack of respect-- I said that's the kind of personal response I had from
hearing her speak, despite knowing that's clearly not her intention, which might also be why
other people commented on the video saying it stood out to them so much. Obviously she loves
the language enough to learn it to fluency, I was trying to reason why the American accent
seemed so strong to people in that example through my own reaction to it-- particular key sound
changes that are missing and stick out. I could have worded that a bit better, I realized after I
wrote it that it could come off as a little preachy which wasn't my intention. :)
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[–]sweetleef 3 points 1 year ago

Well, consider that your native knowledge of English affects your ability to detect the accent -
you pick up easily on sounds you know well, and they sound exaggerated to you.

Try listening to a native Chinese or Swahili speaker speaking German - you will notice they're
not native Germans, but the differences won't be nearly as obvious and clear to you.

Regarding this girl, I have worked with learners and have seen great variation amongst people's
ability to mimic sounds and/or to avoid using their own native sounds. Some people "get it"
immediately, others never do despite years of sincerely trying, and most are in the middle. It's a
talent like any other - singing or sports or mechanics, etc. And of course it will take effort from
the person, and some people aren't willing to put that effort in - I just don't think that's the case
here.

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[–]DelsteinThreshold (B1) - Native English 3 points 1 year ago

I actually agree with you, somewhat. I don't mind other accents in English or other languages,
but for some reason, when Americans speak other languages with an American accent, it really
annoys me, I don't know why. It is the only accent that just sounds off to me.

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[–]sweetleef 2 points 1 year ago

It is the only accent that just sounds off to me.

That's because you're a native English speaker. You can pick out the English sounds
immediately, and the differences seem exaggerated. Also, at least in the early stages, you will
probably find a native English speaker easier to understand than a native German, for the same
reason.

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[–]acbrasil 1 point 1 year ago

I think it's staged, and her German is a lot better than what is in this video. They do it for
comedic value. And don't forget too, a lot of foreigners cling to certain aspects of their
pronunciation on purpose. In Brazil, there are 2 French chefs on TV that speak with thick French
accents. If they spoke perfect unaccented Brazilian Portuguese, how would they be any different
from any regular old Brazilian chef?? Accents are hard as heck to get rid of. I like to start a
conversation with someone and see how long it is before they discover that I wasn't born here.

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[–]bluekonstanceVantage (B2) - Korean-American 3 points 1 year ago

Italian sounds sexy, French sounds sophisticated, but Korean sounds angry? What the heck...

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[–]Rial91Native (Palatine) 3 points 1 year ago

I've never heard about the Korean one either. Usually it's German that is said to sound angry.

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[–]DelsteinThreshold (B1) - Native English 7 points 1 year ago

But neither German nor Korean sounds angry, except when the speaker actually is angry.

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[–]Selbstdenker 2 points 1 year ago

Which, of course, is usually the case with Germans ;)

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[–]ranarwaka(B2) 6 points 1 year ago

Italian sounds sexy

Damn I must be doing something wrong, people find my accent more funny than sexy usually :(
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[–][deleted] 1 year ago

[deleted]

[–]siebdrucksalat 1 point 1 year ago

He uses verbrämen completely wrong. It means the opposite of what he's trying to say. He
should have used diskreditieren, in Verruf bringen or schlechtmachen.

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[–]diphjiNative (Nuremberg) 2 points 1 year ago

i got this american friend, and his dad doesn't speak german well. most of the time we stick to
english, but when he does speak german with me i can't help but imagine him sitting on a horse
with a huge cowboy hat and a straw of wheath in his mouth :P

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[–]PM_ME_SNAKES 2 points 1 year ago

Oh... Oh god. At first I was like, her accent isn't bad at all...

Then the second woman started talking.

Painful.

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[–]wifichick 1 point 1 year ago

She sounds like a mid-west accent - with crisp pronunciation. She would not sound out of place
in lower peninsula of Michigan - but I might wonder if she was a language arts teacher (because
their articulations are usually very crisp).

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[–]totally_a_goon 1 point 1 year ago

The classic "American" accent sounds to me - both in English and German - as if the speaker
was tipsy to outright drunk, depending on how strong it is. It's mostly the way the "r"s are
pronounced, I think.

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[–]primus454Vantage (B2) 1 point 1 year ago

Digging through old threads I came across this. Oh my god. Yea, it is pretty bad. Points for
fluency, but she messes up two critical pronunciations regularly, which were some of the first
things I felt were important to get down: "ich" und "-er".

I heard for "ich", both "ish" or "itch" (said with american english)

And all of her "-er"s are totally american like "runnER".

The reasons accents are so important is because the the phonemes ARE the words. Spelling
comes second. Forcing one accent over a different language by the fact of common spelling
systems is like a man wearing panties and a bra. It is fine if that is what he wants to do, but that
is not the proper use of those garments and he will attract some head shaking from others.

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[–]NirocaldenNative (Norddeutschland) 0 points 1 year ago

What's the "American" accent you're thinking of? Someone from Boston sounds different than
someone from Georgia, Texas or Southern California...

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[–]kitten_on_smack 8 points 1 year ago

Just like someone from London sounds nothing like someone from Newcastle but there is still an
'English' accent in wider imagination.

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[–]El_Seven 1 point 1 year ago

Thanks to Waze, UK - Natalie is my sexy satnav mistress.

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[–]cmh186 7 points 1 year ago

I would imagine OP is referring to the so called General American Accent one hears when
watching essentially any program on Fox, ABC, CNN or any other national media in the US. It is
characterized by, among other elements, the cot-caught merger, and is widely viewed as the ideal
way of speaking in US news, entertainment and even business. This video from Business Insider
is an entertaining example of someone with a regional American accent trying to modify their
pronunciation to more closely fir in with "the standard." The pressure to speak in this "accent
neutral" way, particularly in the business and entertainment industries, has even lead to the
creation of companies specializing in accent training and reduction like this one, which caters in
particular to non-native English speaking professionals and executives living in the US, offering
courses like American Accent Acquisition aimed at accent reduction. So, despite the fact that
there are a number of well defined and highly stereotyped regional accents spoken in the US, the
General American Accent is likely the version most commonly thought of around the world as
sounding "American."

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[–][deleted] 1 year ago

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[–]fluent_dysphasia 2 points 1 year ago

Bless your little heart.

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[–]thestickystickman 4 points 1 year ago

Probably the 'standard' American accent- like what you get in the west.

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[–]fruehlingseffektNative (NRW) 0 points 1 year ago

It sounds like the person had to much chewing gum. A bit lazy you know.
Since chewing gum is an american invention and chewing tabocco culture is also great in th
USA, it might influced the speaking habits.