German 428, German phonetics, How-to's for using the Weiss and Wängler tapes

1. Make sure that you can hear the difference between the English and German sounds when it is indicated that there is a difference.

2. Be sure that you can differentiate between the German sounds contrasted in the listening exercises.

3. Do not practice the German sound until the above requirements are met. Do not go on to any production exercises until you score at 80% on the listening test in each unit. You may have to do the listening practice exercises several times to do this.

4. Learn not only the acoustic but also the articulatory differences between the German and English sounds. …

5. Make sure that production practice is goal directed to correct the above mentioned articulatory differences.

6. Learn to be a critical listener by associating articulatory movements with their acoustic effect. By doing this you will become an effective self-monitor.

7. Remember that the smallest articulatory and acoustic differences may be the most important for the foreign language speaker.

8. Learn to exaggerate movements, particularly those of the lips and cheeks. German sounds are generally produced with more muscular tension and external movement of facial muscles.

9. A mirror can be very helpful in observing external movements of the lips, cheeks, and jaw.

10. Remember that success will only come through practice. Immediate success usually is not the case and not long-lasting without follow-up practice.

11. Slow down your production when first learning the sound. You'll be able to control and monitor the articulatory movements easier.

12. Remember that "ear training" is an integral and necessary part of learning foreign language sounds. It is a simultaneous result of doing special exercises of the articulatory organs.

13. In doing exercises, correct yourself when you have made a mistake. Remember that letting a mistake go by uncorrected is in essence drilling in a faulty pronunciation.

14. Learn to isolate the sound, particularly in correcting errors. When an error is made, repeat the word, isolate the sound, correct it, and then repeat the word with the correct pronunciation.

15. After you are reasonably sure of the correctness of the acoustic and articulatory values of the sounds you are producing, try to speed up you production to a natural rate. Remember the natural does not necessarily mean fast.