I'm not quite following this - do you want us to tell you how to pronounce these german phrases? do you know anything about german pronunciation at all?

where did you get them from? some of them are a bit weird - for the one about not eating animal products, for example, a rather more useful phrase might be "Ich esse kein Fleisch" [I eat no meat].

Hi NatureGirl, I applaud you wanting to learn to say these phrases, but you might want to consider vegan translation cards that you can present at the restaurants. They are widely available online for printout or for purchase. Even if you learn to say those words, chances are you'll mispronounce or misspeak (for example say that you want your dish WITH rather than WITHOUT), and you won't have any idea what they're saying in response!

I think the OP wants someone to write out phonetically the way to pronounce those German phrases. I'm no German expert so can't do it but I know that can be a little tricky as some people use different letters to mean something phonetically that isn't the way I would read it, also.

I do know bitte but the OP probably does also.

eg,
I'll bet it won't be easy to understand what various people will write as the phonetic way to pronounce the ch in "ich". I believe it's a palative fricative and wouldn't know how to explain it.

I think the OP wants someone to write out phonetically the way to pronounce those German phrases. I'm no German expert so can't do it but I know that can be a little tricky as some people use different letters to mean something phonetically that isn't the way I would read it, also.>>

mmm - i'm not seeing the "fun" element in doing that.

a few german lessons might have been more productive. however they are going next week so the cards seem quite attractive to me. after all, they can learn all the phonetic phrases they like, but if anyone asks them a Q in reply, they'll be sunk!

You are leaving next week...
Take little 3x5 cards with the above written to back you up.

"Ich esse kein Fleisch, Eier oder Milch."
(I eat no meat, eggs or milk.) ....is fish okay?
Others may quibble but here goes/it will get you by:

Eesh essah kine(like fine) flish (long i also), I-er odor milsh.

"Ich bin Veganerin."
Eesh bin faygon-air-een. (Female vegan!)

"Hat das tierische Produkte?"
Hot doss tier-eesh-ah pro-duktah?

"Bieten sie etwas ohne tierische Produkte?"
(Do you offer anything without animal products?)
Beet-in zee et-vus oh-nah tier-eesh-ah pro-duktah?

This should suffice. Fish=Fisch

"Google Translate" will translate the English into German and also has sound. I use it to practice German. There is also a "Google Translate" iPhone application that I use frequently when I travel.

http://translate.google.com/

I think you need to be very specific about what you do not eat -
since people may think about then differently. Also you need to say you don't eat anything even made with - butter for example.

Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, butter, cheese - and whatever else.

If it were me I would compile a list of vegan restaurants.

And of course, you can always tell them that you are a jelly doughnut

What a shame - no saumagen for you! They do pork so well (I'm drooling right now thinking about pork medallions in a pepper sauce). The pronunciation is extremely important, so written cards may be the way to go. Although, depending on where you go, many will speak some English. And they are so kind about it, that you don't have to be embarrassed about speaking English. But congratulations on trying to use the language - it reflects well on us to give it a try - and they do appreciate the effort. Have fun in Germany - it's a great place to visit - and even better to live here!

NatureGirl, your "German phrases" sound rather strage (but nevertheless funny. Google translate?? ). Germans wouldn't use them. Let me try to give you a better Translation.

No animal products please.
Ich esse keine tierischen Erzeugnisse.

You translated:
Keine tierischen Produkte wenden Sie sich bitte
"no animal products, please refer to"
What could that mean?

I do not eat animal products.
I esse keine Erzeugnisse von Tieren.

Does this have eggs or milk?
Sind da Eier oder Milch drinnen.

Does this have animal products?
Sind da Erzeugnisse von Tieren drinnen?

Do you have anything made without animal products?
Haben Sie etwas ohne tierische Erzeugnisse.

Literal translations from English to German may be easy because ther are many similar words, but "usually" produce odd sentences because those words are not always used in that same context in German.

Did you have some online program translate these for you? I'm no expert in German, though I can pronounce it just fine and studied it for quite a number of years, but some of those phrases would confound the average German waiter.

I don't think anyone's going to attempt to write out the phonetic pronunciations of those phrases, or any others, for you - and unless you understand all the phonetic symbols, it wouldn't mean much to you anyway.

You can go to www.travlang.com or the BBC language websites or many other places on the internet and do your own research into what basic German pronunciation involves. It also depends in part on what area of Germany you plan to visit.

I don't think anyone's going to attempt to write out the phonetic pronunciations of those phrases, or any others, for you - and unless you understand all the phonetic symbols, it wouldn't mean much to you anyway.>>

quite - and I'm still struggling to find the "fun" element in this.

Me too, ann. Definitely not "fun." Even for a language geek like me.

How about this ...

Ich is pronounced to rhyme with fish, or ick, depending on what part of Germany you are from.

Pronounce S like z, pronounce z like tz, pronounce w like v, pronounce v like f:

Sie = zee,
Sind = zind.
etwas = et-vas
von = fon

esse, keine, -nisse, ohne, tierische: pronounce the ending e as `uh' sort of (esse is two syllables ES-suh)

Sie, keine , Tieren: the second vowel is long, opposite from English (kine-uh , teer -en )

Erzeugnisse = er TZOIG niss -uh

Eier = eye-er

But yes, I think you should get something written up. If you are just memorizing sounds you're likely to forget at the crucial moment.

(And keine means no in the sense of ``not any, none''. Don't answer a question with it: No is `nein' (pronounced 9).)

<<Ich is pronounced to rhyme with fish, or ick, depending on what part of Germany you are from.>>

Pronounced ick hardly anywhere in Germany (or Austria, or Switzerland) that I've been, and ish only in a few places. The most common pronunciation is about halfway between, and again, without the OP knowing phonetic symbols, useless to write out.

This is the pronunciation of Ich that is generally taught (she speaks fast and is a bit hard to understand):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyacBmieRvA

German sentence structure is completely different from English (weird, since English is a Germanic language, but true).

So translating word for word will get you some really strange things.

I would print up cards as the German speakers suggested. and concentrate on knowing the names of the categories you can;t eat.

(When I go to a new place I always try to remember the names of things I don't want - like bunny or liver - and then figure everything else will be OK. But obviously that won't work for you - since you need to know all ingredients.)

I don't know - some of those translations sound like they would be fun to try to pronounce. (I have always found wait staff in Germany understand basic English, even if they can't speak much.)

Pronounced ick hardly anywhere in Germany (or Austria, or Switzerland) that I've been, and ish only in a few places. The most common pronunciation is about halfway between, and again, without the OP knowing phonetic symbols, useless to write out.>>

again, st. Cirq, i find myself agreeing with you.

and there is the other problem that even if the OP did manage to pronounce some phrase or other in a way that was understood by the other person, once they'd replied in german it would be game over.

i think that the most useful phrase is going to be "Sprechen Sie Englisch?"

For a correct pronunciation of any phrase in German, try this site: http://www2.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php

Even if the OP did manage to pronounce some phrase or other in a way that was understood by the other person, once they'd replied in german it would be game over.

Quite. A possible reply in German might be translated as 'Just tell us what you can eat and I ask the kitchen if they can prepare something suitable for you.'

The most probable reply to the question, if posed in German by the OP, will be;

"Please tell me what you cannot eat, or what you would like and I will have the kitchen prepare something suitable for you."

delivered back in English

Many many thanks to the group for taking the time to respond! Your suggestions and links are really very helpful and I plan to look into each!

Yes! I did use google translate to get the phrases I posted! Guess it isnt so accurate heh heh. Good to know for the future.

We are just taking a river cruise so unfortunately this time around we wont be in wonderful hidden towns tucked far from tourists where it would be most helpful to have a grasp of the language-if that were case I wouldve done some preparation.

Theyve told us English is widely spoken in the areas we will be. So right-I dont expect to have major probs I just thought it would be fun (or not, according to some, haha) to give it a shot =)

I think you guys have a good idea to just write the phrases out. Maybe I will give it a shot to speak it as I show them the card and we can laugh at my poor attemtps!

And Im laughing b/c I agree-it is one thing to get my phrase out in another language but it is entirely another thing to be able understand their response. I was and am prepared for a light and fun exchange where theyd respond in English.

By the look of it they have lots of good baked items there but Im guessing most have eggs and/or dairy. So I just thought if I could communicate this maybe Ill get lucky somewhere along the way and get a cookie!

I have checked out happycow which lists vegan eateries in our cities so I will def see about checking them out. The phrases were more for on the go-at the little carts and stuff.

I lived in Germany for years but I was very young and I remember very little of the language so unless I want to tell people I love them Im out of luck =)

Again, thanks very much!

Auf wiedersehen!

Many many thanks to the group for taking the time to respond! Your suggestions and links are really very helpful and I plan to look into each!

Yes! I did use google translate to get the phrases I posted! Guess it isnt so accurate heh heh. Good to know for the future.

We are just taking a river cruise so unfortunately this time around we wont be in wonderful hidden towns tucked far from tourists where it would be most helpful to have a grasp of the language-if that were case I wouldve done some preparation.

Theyve told us English is widely spoken in the areas we will be. So right-I dont expect to have major probs I just thought it would be fun (or not, according to some, haha) to give it a shot =)

I think you guys have a good idea to just write the phrases out. Maybe I will give it a shot to speak it as I show them the card and we can laugh at my poor attemtps!

And Im laughing b/c I agree-it is one thing to get my phrase out in another language but it is entirely another thing to be able understand their response. I was and am prepared for a light and fun exchange where theyd respond in English.

By the look of it they have lots of good baked items there but Im guessing most have eggs and/or dairy. So I just thought if I could communicate this maybe Ill get lucky somewhere along the way and get a cookie!

I have checked out happycow which lists vegan eateries in our cities so I will def see about checking them out. The phrases were more for on the go-at the little carts and stuff.

I lived in Germany for years but I was very young and I remember very little of the language so unless I want to tell people I love them Im out of luck =)

Again, thanks very much!

Auf wiedersehen!