The German alphabet looks very familiar. It uses the same 26 letters as English, plus four special characters. While the letters are the same, their names and sounds can be different. Learning how the letters are pronounced is the first step to speaking clearly.

In addition to these, German has three vowels with umlauts (Ä, Ö, Ü) and a special consonant called the Eszett (ß). We'll look at these next.

German vowels have short and long sounds, just like in English. The key difference is that German vowels are "pure." You pronounce them without your mouth changing shape. In English, we often glide from one sound to another, like in the word "oh," which sounds more like "o-wuh."

Umlauts are the two dots over the vowels a, o, and u. They aren't just for decoration; they completely change the sound of the vowel.

Getting the ö and ü sounds right takes practice. Try saying the English sound first, then hold it while rounding your lips as if you were about to whistle. That's the motion to aim for.

Most German consonants sound like their English counterparts, but a few are different. Mastering these will make a big difference in how well you're understood.

The letter ß, called the Eszett or "sharp S," is simply a sharp "ss" sound. It typically appears after a long vowel or a diphthong.

You also need to watch for common letter combinations. The combination ch has two sounds. After the vowels a, o, or u, it's a hard, throaty sound like the 'ch' in the Scottish "loch." After any other vowel or a consonant, it's a soft, hissy sound made in the front of your mouth, like an airy 'h' and 'sh' combined.

Other combinations are more straightforward:

• sch is always like 'sh' in "shoe."
• st and sp at the start of a word or syllable sound like 'sht' and 'shp.'

A diphthong is when two vowels come together to create one new sound. German has a few common ones, and their sounds are very consistent.

Now let's review what you've learned.

Ready to test your knowledge?

That's a quick look at the building blocks of German pronunciation. With these rules in hand, you're ready to start sounding out words and building your vocabulary.