The most difficult sounds to pronounce are typically the ones that do not exist in your native language (or in languages whose sounds you have already mastered). For English speakers these include the umlauted vowels ö and ü. Fortunately, there is a very effective method you can use for arriving at these sounds.

To pronounce the ö-sound, say “ay” as in day (or as in the German word See). While continuing to make this sound, tightly round your lips. Look in a mirror to make sure your lips are actually rounded. Voilà! The resulting sound is the ö-sound.

A similar method results in the ü-sound. Say “ee” as in see (or as in the German word vier). Again, while saying the sound, round your lips. The resulting sound is the ü-sound.

Like any unfamiliar sounds, being able to pronounce ö and ü correctly will come with repeated practice. After you find the correct mouth position using the tips above, practice reading words containing these characters aloud. Below are several audio files for you to listen to.

Here are two lists of commonly used words to get you started:

Long ö-sound

http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/10-langes-oe-female-TGP.mp3 Short ö-sound

http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/10-kurzes-oe-female-TGP.mp3 Long ü-sound

http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/10-langes-ue-female-TGP.mp3 Short ü-sound

http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/10-kurzes-ue-female-TGP.mp3 Long ö is full with strongly rounded lips. Short ö is shorter in duration and sounds more clipped. Long ü is full with strongly rounded lips. Short ü is shorter in duration and sounds more clipped. schön

mögen

nötig

Söhne

Lösung

möglich

hören

persönlich

Österreich

König können

zwölf

Körper

Töchter

öffentlich

löschen

Köche

Schlösser

völlig

öfter Tür

führen

Schüler

Füße

grün

für

über

natürlich

früher

üblich fünf

müssen

dürfen

Stück

wünschen

künftig

erfüllen

Glück

Küche

Gründe

And now here are some sets of minimal pairs using the long and short o, ö, u, and ü sounds. Listen closely to the differences between the sounds.

Short o-sound Short ö-sound http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/short-o-and-oe.mp3 bocke

konnte

Tochter Böcke

könnte

Töchter

Long o-sound Long ö-sound http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/langes-o-and-oe.mp3 losen

Boden

lohne lösen

Böden

löhne

Short u-sound Short ü-sound http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/short-u-and-ue.mp3 Mutter

durfte

Burgen Mütter

dürfte

bürgen

Long u-sound Long ü-sound http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/long-u-and-ue.mp3 Spuren

gute

Bruder spüren

Güte

Brüder

Short vowel sound Long vowel sound http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/short-long-oe-and-ue.mp3 Hölle

flösse

schösse

wüsste

Hütte

Fülle Höhle

Flöße

Schöße

Wüste

hüte

fühle

Short ö-sound Short ü-sound http://www.thegermanprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/short-oe-and-ue.mp3 Hölle

Röcke

Köche

Stöcke

knöpft Hülle

rücke

Küche

Stücke

knüpft