(September 8, 2015 at 11:17 pm)Alex K Wrote:(September 8, 2015 at 10:32 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: You are making it hard. "Ihr" sounds almost like "ear" in English. And "Er" sounds almost like "air" in English.
The main difference between Ihr and ear for an American would probably be the rhotic r in "ear", where there is none in "Ihr". The rhotic r is one of the typical shibboleths for recognizing Americans speaking German (next to pronouncing ch as k)
For a non-rhotic Brit, it becomes harder, although the e in "ear" in England is probably closer to a schwa sound, while the i in "Ihr" is more like in english "liter".
Still, there is a subtle difference between the r in "Ihr" and the non rhotic ear, the latter being more open.
Also, the beginning has -I think- a noticeable glottal stop in German "Ihr", but ideally none in British "ear"
That's a good tip. So the r in ihr is non-rotic for native German, and with the way you are describing the I sound, then the word is pronounced almost like "ee-ah"? I can hear that when I hear it spoken. And Er is almost like "eh-ah". Is that getting kind of close?
My daughter also does struggle with the ch sounding like a k. Some things to work on.
“Eternity is a terrible thought. I mean, where's it going to end?”
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
