Vowels: may be long (usually when doubled or followed by h) or short
- Short a – like ‘a’ in “hat”, or ‘u’ in “hut”
- Long a – like ‘ah’ in “father” Short e – like ‘e’ in “let” or “bet” Long e – like ‘a’ in “state”
- Short i – like ‘i’ in “hit”
- Long i – like ‘i’ in “marine” or ‘ee’ in “see”
- Short o – like ‘o’ in “hot” Long o – like ‘or’ in “torn” Short u – like ‘u’ in “put”
- Long u – like ‘o’ in “who” or ‘oo’ in “pool”
Consonants
- B – when followed by consonant, like ‘p’ in “tap”; otherwise like the ‘b’ in “boy”
- Ch – when followed by a, o, u, or au, like ‘ch’ in Scottish “loch”; otherwise like ‘ish’.
- D – when final or followed by a consonant, like ‘t’ in “cat”; otherwise like ‘d’ in “day”
- F – like ‘f’ in “friend”
- G – when final or followed by a consonant, like ‘k’; otherwise like English
- H -as in English
- J – like the ‘y’ in “yes”
- I, M, N – as in English
- NG – like he ‘ng’ in “sing”
- P – as in English, even when followed by another consonant like ‘k’ + ‘v’
- R – trilled as in Spanish
- S – when initial letter or before a vowel, like ‘s’ in “rose”; when final word or before consonant, like ‘s’ in “sea”; when initial letter before ‘p’ or ‘t’, like ‘sh’ in “ship”
- T, TH- as in English
- V – like ‘f’ in “fear”
- W – like ‘v’ in “vine”
- X – like ‘x’ in “tax”
- Z – like ‘ts’ in “hurts”
Diphthongs
- EI, AI, EY, & AY – like ‘i’ in “mile” or “sigh”
- AU – like ‘ow’ in “meow”
- EU – like ‘oi’ in “boil” or ‘oy’ in “boy”
Bicycling Specific Phrases
- Bicycle: Fahrrad (say far-rahd)
- Flat tire: Loch im Rad (say Lohk im rahd)
- Water: Wasser (say vahsir)
- I am on a bicycle tour: Ich mache eine Fahrradtour. (Say: Eek mahkeh ine far-rahd-tour.)