Pronunciation on the phone
Are you worried about having a strong German accent? Don’t be. Nobody will expect you to have a British or American accent, and an accent will not necessarily make it difficult to understand you. In fact an accent can sound very charming. But there are certain sounds you have to pronounce with care. Pronunciation and accent are related, but there is a small, significant difference. [adcode categories=“kommunikation,korrespondenz“]
Pronunciation means how the various sounds of a word, in particular the vowel sounds, are spoken and where the accent is put on a particular word. An accent is a specific way of speaking that shows where you come from.
Your pronunciation is not perfect – for sure
So you can have a perfect British or American accent, but pronounce words incorrectly, and you may have quite a strong German accent but pronounce everything correctly.
It’s easy to mispronounce words in English because English spelling is so crazy. An English friend told a funny story about when she was at university and had to give a talk about the Antipodes – which is a word used to describe Australia and New Zealand. She had only ever seen it written down, never heard it spoken. In her head, she had always pronounced it "Anti-Podes", with two syllables, and "podes" rhyming with "codes." But people looked puzzled when she started her presentation. Afterwards, someone gently told her the correct pronunciation: its an-ti-po-dies, four syllables, with the accent on the second syllable. She can laugh about it now, but it was very embarrassing at the time.
Make sure you avoid embarrassing pronunciation mistakes by following these guidelines.
Record yourself
Would you understand yourself on the phone? Record yourself and find out. Use your phone, mobile phone or an MP3-Player. Listen to yourself some days later to see what you sound like.
Practice potentially dangerous words
The most difficult sound for German Speakers is arguably „th“ which is pronounced as in this or as in thing. Then there is the difference between „ch“ as in „chair“ and „sh“ as in „shop“. The difference between prize and price can also be problematic.
Learn often mispronounced words
Finally, one word often mispronounced is „cost“. It has a short „o“ and rhymes with the German word „Post“. Very often, people pronounce it „coast“, to rhyme with „Toast“, in which case it means „Küste“.