If you pronounce English 'shown' and ask your instructor to pronounce
German schon, you will notice that the first sound of the German
word is not quite the same as the English sound. To produce the German
sound you will have to round and protrude your lips more than you do for
the English sound.
Practice 1
schon
schnitt
Böschung
lutschen
Mensch
losch
Scheck
Schlot
Wäsche
wünschen
falsch
Tisch
Schiff
schrieb
Mischung
fälschen
Klatsch
Fleisch
The same sound occurs in the following words, although here the
German writing system uses the symbol s:
Practice 2
Stadt
Spass
streng
springen
steht
Spiel
Strasse
Spross
B. German s
The symbol s is used in the German writing system to represent
two more sounds: a voiceless sound as in English 'bus', 'buss' or
'must', and a voiced sound as in English 'housing' or 'busy'. Practice
first the voiceless sounds. Notice too, by the way, that German writing
may have either s or ss representing this sound.
Practice 3 (voiceless)
des
Busse
wusste
wies
Musse
wüst
Schmiss
Wasser
Liste
Mus
schösse
weist
Hotels
schupse
Mast
Autos
hiessen
grast
Klops
essen
schupst
Boots
Rätsel
lotst
Practice 4 (voiced)
Sohn
besondere
singen
Muse
sende
Thesen
Sieg
Losung
C. German z
We have noted above that the cluster ts occurs in German in
such words as Boots and Rätsel. The symbol z is
used in the German writing system to represent the same cluster.
Practice the following words with your instructor:
lotsen
Bozen
Rätsel
Brezel
miedst
siezt
This combination of sounds can also occur at the end and at the
beginning of a word. Sometimes after a vowel tz is written. Now
practice the sounds with your instructor in the following words: