³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Looking for sympathy

I learned German at school and went on an exchange trip to the town of Lübeck where I stayed with a family. One evening at the dinner table I realised how important it is to get the pronunciation right! I tried to say that I'm living in a white house: Ich lebe in einem weissen Haus. Everyone got quiet and stared at me in a kind of compassionate way. Apparently what I said sounded more like Ich lebe in einem Waisenhaus, I'm living in an orphanage!

Editor's note: In German, a double 's' between vowels sounds the same as in 'Essex', but a single s sounds like 'easy'.

Sent by: Pete

Comments

No comments have been submitted

Share this page

Open/close

Related Links

On bbc.co.uk/languages

12-weeks email tips

Quick fix phrases 36 languages

Teachers and tutors

On bbc.co.uk

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Schools

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Learning

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ World Service Learning English

Elsewhere

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is not responsible for the content of external sites

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ iD

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ navigation

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ © 2014 The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.