Your accent is not what lowers the score
Speaking tests measure how easily a listener understands you, not how native you sound. A clear German accent is compatible with the top bands, and German speakers are usually highly intelligible in English already.
So this is a short list. Most of what marks you as German costs nothing.
The main issue: hardening the end of a word
German hardens a voiced consonant at the end of a word — Rad is said like Rat, Hund like Hunt. English does not do this, and the difference carries meaning.
| You may say | You mean | Result |
|---|---|---|
| bet | bed | a different word |
| dock | dog | a different word |
| half | have | a different word |
| bat | bad | a different word |
| pick | pig | a different word |
It also deletes grammar. The English -ed and -s endings are voiced after a voiced sound, so hardening them removes the ending a listener is listening for:
- played (ends in a d sound) → playt
- dogs (ends in a z sound) → docks
- lives (ends in a z sound) → life
W and V
German w is pronounced like an English v, and German v like an English f. Both habits carry over.
- wine → vine, west → vest, we → ve
- very can drift towards ferry
For English /w/, round your lips as if to whistle and let no teeth touch your lip. If your top teeth touch your bottom lip, you have made a v.
The rest of the list
| Sound | Why it's hard | What a listener may hear |
|---|---|---|
| /θ/ and /ð/ (th) | Not in German; become /s/, /z/, /t/ or /d/. | think → sink, this → zis |
| initial /s/ | German s before a vowel is voiced. | sun → zun, see → zee |
| /st-/ and /sp-/ | German says scht- and schp-. | stone → shtone, speak → shpeak |
| /r/ | German r is made at the back of the throat. | Very audible, rarely causes confusion — low priority |
| /æ/ vs /e/ | The contrast is unfamiliar. | bad / bed, man / men |
As with French, the /r/ is the most recognisable feature of the accent and one of the least costly. Leave it until last, if at all.
How to practise
- Record yourself. As you speak you hear what you intended, not what came out.
- Spend your first weeks on final voicing. Read aloud with a hand on your throat and keep the buzz through the ends of words. Watch every -ed and -s.
- Then /w/. Round the lips, keep the teeth off the lip.
- Then the th sounds, in full sentences.
Aflo scores your speech sound by sound and shows you which sounds were hardest to catch.
For the test, and for real life
For the exam: keep your word endings voiced, separate w from v, and work on th. Your accent is otherwise not costing you anything.
Outside the exam you may want to sound more English or more American, for work or for yourself. That is a reasonable goal and a separate one from scoring well. Clarity is what the test pays for; the accent can stay.
Frequently asked questions
Will my German accent lower my speaking score?
No. These tests score intelligibility rather than native-likeness, and Aflo's pronunciation scoring has a floor so that differences which are only accent stop affecting the score. German speakers are usually already very intelligible in English; the list of things worth fixing is short.
What should I fix first?
Final voicing. German hardens a voiced consonant at the end of a word, so bed becomes bet and dog becomes dock — different words. It also flattens the -ed and -s endings, which carry tense and number, so the examiner hears a grammar mistake too. It lowers two scores at once.
Should I fix my German r?
It is low priority. It is the most recognisable feature of the accent but it rarely causes a misunderstanding, so it costs very little. Work on the things that change words first.
How do I stop saying 'vine' for 'wine'?
German w is pronounced like an English v, so the habit transfers. For English /w/, round your lips as if to whistle and keep your teeth away from your lip entirely. If your top teeth touch your bottom lip, you have produced a v.