Learning Languages - Pronunciation

Ok, today, we'll have a breake from the language overviews (don't worry, the Italian language overview will come up next week). The reason for this break is simple: My train trip was longer than planned and I don't have enough time left to write up a good overview. So, please bear with me and enjoy my observations about the role of pronunciation for learning a foreign language.

When I was on the train, I was asked by several people to teach them some simple sentences in German. It turned out that some of the simplest sentences, such as "I love you", aren't simple at all when it comes to German pronunciation (for English natives).

Who would have thought that the German language has so many stumbling blocks for English natives who try to learn it? I was really surprised to see how difficult some of our sounds are for many English native speakers. The "ch", for example, which we use quite often (and, honestly, in two slightly different pronunciations), seems to be one of the reasons why English natives give up on German. Of course, for me, that sound is no problem at all, but I kind of get it...when I try to pronounce the Spanish or Italian "r" sound, the rolling "r", I'm the one having trouble. I've more or less given up on trying to get that sound right and conceded the fact that I will never pass as a native speaker just because I can't produce the rolling "r".

On the other hand, I've been trying to learn Irish for quite some time. You have to know, although I learn best just with a course book and a grammar book, I need to know the pronunciation because I pronounce the words I read in my head. So, when I started learning Irish, I got to the pronunciation guide...and was left standing in the cold! I had never found a language so difficult to pronounce in my whole life! I admit, I still haven't got any farther in learning Irish. I still need to figure out their pronunciation before I can actually start learning the words and grammar...

That said, if you are like me (or are one of the people who learn a language best by speaking), don't give up completely if you have trouble getting the pronunciation right. Get some audio CDs which go with your course book to get a feeling for the pronunciation (that's what I want to do for Irish - just couldn't afford the CDs when I decided to buy them, and kind of forgot about them when I had the money...), or find someone who already speaks the language you want to learn.