A friend, whose native language is Lao, is truly struggling with German pronunciation. This is more than an accent issue. She says there are sounds in German that she simply cannot make, despite all her efforts. She also says that, from her German teacher’s comments, she thinks she does not even hear German sounds in the same way.
Her German reading comprehension and writing are pretty good. But because of the pronunciation problem she cannot make herself understood when speaking German.
She has done all the things her German teachers know to suggest, such as intensive listening to films, radio, podcasts. German media plays in the background at her home all day long. She has attended several residential intensive German courses, both here in Switzerland and in Germany.
Her German teachers seem to be out of suggestions.
Could speech therapy be of help here? If so, what sort of program should she look for?
That’s a known fact. The brain can struggle hearing any difference between certain pitch of a vowel or ignore some unfamiliar hissing sound. The only way is to practice listening, 3-5 years… and boost that with practicing minimal sound pairs. My French tutor was able to exaggerate the difference between French vowels to let me grasp the glimpse of the difference so I could develop it further. Nowadays I have problem with long vowels in German, luckily German speakers don’t bother much if I don’t speaking it correctly and it doesn’t impair my understanding of the spoken language
spontaniously contacting a teacher for actors and/or a teacher for singers comes to mind.
I would definitely contact each and see what they have to say. Might lead to a third possibility.
Unfortunately I have no addresses to offer. Be bold, go straight to a theater/opera house and ask for such teachers.
While listening does no harm, it’s also not very effective on it’s own if she doesn’t hear/perceive certain sounds.
An other option could be a speech therapist for deaf people. After all they have the same problem on a much bigger scale and so many of them learn to speak “normally” in spite of that.
Speech therapy sounds like it could be useful, but the cost could be prohibitive. What about some online resources where the instructor in a video deliberately exaggerates how the mouth and face form to say certain words? Not just listening to German but watching facial movements and positions. I saw one of these videos when I was learning French, and found it useful. But I can’t remember the source. I asked ChatGPT for some options for German.
And here are some possible YT accounts to check out, also suggested by ChatGPT:
“Popular among language learners for clear, slow pronunciation and occasional visual emphasis:
Deutsch mit Benjamin
fröhlich Deutsch
Richtig Deutsch Sprechen”
No, unfortunately not. I didn’t even look at the videos, I just posted what ChatGPT suggesed. I guess that’s what happens when we put too much faith in AI!
Actually, you could ask AI for a list of minimal sound pairs giving it example of words where you have trouble with some sound.
Unless you have real hearing deficiency you’ll grasp it. The key is just to put it into contrast with similar sounding words until you’ll get the idea what the sound is. Then a lot of listening with clear audio in a quiet environment, preferably on a good headphones.
When you practice speaking record yourself. I’d even suggest to keep some recording like once per month, you’ll laugh how badly you’ve spoken few months ago.
and what is the problem with having an accent? The important thing is communication - if she speaks correctly (no grammar problems) and people understand her, why does she want to lose that charm, and speak just standardized German? …
can I read English…? naaaah… Sometimes. Yet most of the times I prefer to read between lines - much more interesting that reading the words.
But hey, as I read the other day " A conspiracy theorist is a person who is right too early"
What i read is ‘someone is getting very frustrated and getting continuous negative reinforcement, on her pursue to speak a language’. My take? First, change teachers. Second, get a couple of ‘sparring partners’ (for language exchange on tandem), who will take things lightly. Third, go to these ’ MeetUp’ meetings, where people talk german, and everybody has a difficult accent.
The more she stresses, the less she’ll advance -or actually, she might stall completely or regress.
But of course, she can also go to a Therapist. Although she might get even more frustrated, when she hears that she’s accent deaf. Which personally, I find more like a blessing, than a curse …
What I said at the very beginning but also mentioned that many deaf people learn to speak properly in spite of that.
The other thing is that she will not necessarily get more frustrated. She will learn something she didn’t know about herself, can tackle it and not be depressed if she doesn’t succeed after all as she knows it’s not lazy- or stupidness but a condition. If she does succeed though it could have an influence on other things in her life. The way she perceives other sounds, music, …
All a matter of attitude. Is a problem reveiling an interesting aspect about me or is a problem just to be switched off, who cares what other interesting aspects it reveals.
By the way, off topic, only reading between other people’s lines leads to nothing but misunderstandings, is kind of ignorant imo and leads to this “you are saying …” thing. A joke we had on EF once.
My friend has been here 8 years, and has devoted much of that time to seriously studying German. She has taken many classes, different teaching styles and different teachers, trying to find a way forward. She constantly seeks out opportunities to communicate, both formally and informally. But after the first ‘Grüezi’ it all goes pear-shaped. The message she inevitably receives, from teachers to shopkeepers and folks on the street as she tries to go about her day, is that no one can understand her.
You can imagine how disheartening daily life is for her.
To add to the stress, at some point she may need a language proficiency certificate.
Hence the idea of speech therapy as a possibility. Acting or singing coaches could also be of help, so thanks for that suggestion. Also thanks for the IPA links, Sichuan.
She has the same trouble with English, by the way. Given the similarities to the languages, another reason to suspect that there could perhaps be something more going on with her inability to hear or make the sounds required.
ah, I thought to ask about this out of curiosity, but I forgot…
IMO, she can learn to hear the new sounds, but it requires time, it’s like an adult trying to learn to ride a bicycle, very frustrating. Once you can hear it, you can figure out how to make the sounds, it’s directly linked.
As an alternative to a speech therapist, what about a speech coach similar to someone coaching actors and public speakers? Would probably be cheaper than a therapist but able to give her tips on how to make key sounds and intonation?
She’s not trying to learn Swissgerman? Most Germans don’t manage to do that
Sichuan posted the Lao sounds, they should REALLY help! Or do her own people at home not understand her either?
I just had a thought that might sound crazy to some: She should sing in German. Do her studies singing (I don’t mean singing to the cashier at Migros … although ).
It helps people that stutter too, singing does amazing things. She can even do it in the shower, the car etc.
A neurolanguage coach might be able to help. Neurolanguage Coaches work on the physical level but also on the neurological part, as neurones ultimately are in charge both in detecting and producing phonemes. Also they can counsel on possible remedies as the use of allophones. Another issue could be possible learning blockages or emotional triggers that can be made conscious and then be addressed. Good luck for your friend
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