A guide for Australians on how long does it take to learn the german alphabet and basic pronunciation?.
## 37. How Long Does It Take to Learn the German Alphabet and Basic Pronunciation? The German alphabet is not as different from English as it might seem โ and the good news is that German pronunciation is far more regular than English pronunciation. Once you learn the rules, you can read German words aloud correctly without having to memorise individual pronunciations. ### The German Alphabet German uses the same 26 letters as English, plus four additional characters: **ร (รค)** โ a-umlaut **ร (รถ)** โ o-umlaut **ร (รผ)** โ u-umlaut **ร (Eszett)** โ sharp-s (represents a double-s sound after long vowels) The alphabet is pronounced: Ah, Beh, Tseh, Deh, Eh, Eff, Geh, Hah, Ee, Yot, Kah, Ell, Emm, Enn, Oh, Peh, Koo, Err, Ess, Teh, Oo, Fow, Weh, Iks, รpsilon, Tsett The *J* is pronounced "Yot" โ which is why German *J* is always an English *Y* sound (*ja* = "ya", *jetzt* = "yetzt"). ### How Long to Learn the Basics? **The alphabet itself:** 30โ60 minutes to memorise, with practice over the next week to become automatic. **Basic pronunciation rules:** 2โ4 hours of focused study covers the core rules. Regular reading practice over 2โ4 weeks builds automatic application. **To read German aloud reasonably accurately:** Most Australian learners achieve this within 4โ8 weeks of consistent study. German spelling-to-sound correspondence is much more regular than English.Found this useful? Share it with other Australians learning German ๐ฆ๐บ
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B1 German / Beginner Swiss German
An Australian who learned German to B1 level without living in Germany โ navigating the same lack of local resources that most Australian learners face. Currently learning Swiss German. This site is the resource I wished had existed when I started.
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