The signs above the letters in German are there to help you with the pronunciation. So in that respect German is easier than English, which adopts words and prinunciations from all over the world. In German what you see is what you say.
Two Germans told me:
There is only one sign above the letters in German, called the umlaut, like a small circle. There are only three letters which have the umlaut in German.
⟨ä⟩, ⟨ö⟩ and ⟨ü⟩,
A
The first is a small circle above the a. It turns the a as in the English word apple into an ay as in the English word maid and the German word pronounced maid-shen meaning girl.
O
The second umlaut is above the o.
Schönberg (German: beautiful hill)
Alternative spelling: Shoenberg. Pronounced like Shern-berg.
U
The third umlaut is above the u.
Useful Website for travellers:
https://www.amazon.de/German-All-One-Dummies-CD/dp/
About The Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, is a teacher of English and other languages to colleges, students and businesses.
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