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Do you know "nicos weg"? I am studying while watching the a1 video. There is a part that says "kein Problem" at the beginning of the video. However, no matter how slow you play it, your pronunciation cannot be heard accurately. The pronunciation I hear is 'en probiem' (sorry that I don't know the exact pronunciation symbol). I can't even hear "K" and "hinterlegen" also sounds "i:" rather than "e" in the "le" part. I've heard of these sounds from my German teacher. It's the sound of saying "i" for a long time and pronouncing "e" for a short time. Listening to various pronunciations, some people honestly pronounce "le". What's the standard pronunciation?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upvuC9FR-xU&list=PLs7zUO7VPyJ6eoN6SmB1UcwvPUagK87ix&index=5 (0:50 hinterlegen, 1:17 kein problem)

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Not an answer but some observations on DW's teaching style. They tend to mix in "natural German" with the "slow and clear German" you're actually meant to understand. So don't get hung up on trying to get every single syllable or you'll never finish. I think they do this so you get used to the sound of naturally spoken German even if you're not meant to understand it all. Also, they want you to get used to figuring out the gist of what people are saying by their tone and actions, even if you don't understand all of the words. They also want you to practice picking out "international words" such as "Restaurant" and "Hotel". In Episode 1 of their radio course "Deutsch, warum nicht?", they have a have a news broadcast, a sports commentary, a children's nursery rhyme, and a song by Klaus Hoffmann. You're certainly not meant to understand much of that as a day 1 beginner.

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  • Thank you I won't try to do everything from the beginning
    – kim
    Commented Feb 1, 2022 at 8:23
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The material on DW generally is a good ressource, and it is pretty standard German they speak also in this particular video:

'Kein Problem':
While standard pronounciation, it is at the same time very rushed or hectically spoken, so that it is very hard to find the 'i' part of the 'ei' sound. To my German ears it is still there, and the 'k' is quite clear.

Generally, 'kein' or 'ein' or similar habe no special pronounciation from what you find in the usual sources (e. g. listen at dict.cc). Now just try to pronounce that at twice the speed and you end up at what hear in the movie you linked.

'hinterlegen':
Also this is very standard pronounciation, like "hintaleegn" (e.g. listen at dict.leo.org). I'm not sure where you hear an 'i' sound other thin in the beginning.

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  • thank you I can't still hear the 'Kein' k pronunciation. It's amazing that the Germans can hear the k sound
    – kim
    Commented Feb 1, 2022 at 6:51
  • My American ears almost hear "hintaleegn" as well, but the speaker merges it with the previous word, so it sounds more like "Hotelintaleegn". Perhaps that's what's causing the confusion. I don't think the "k" in "kein problem" is really audible. Keep in mind that "kein problem" is a vary common expression, and the only plausible alternative is "ein problem", which you wouldn't say in the relaxed way that the driver says it. Native speakers of any language tend to drop sounds and interpolate what's missing without realizing it. It takes a lot of practice for learners to catch up.
    – RDBury
    Commented Feb 1, 2022 at 7:08
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    Native speakers will also sometimes hear sounds which are not really there, just by inferring them. To really hear which sounds are present, it is sometimes necessary to isolate parts by clipping the sound file.
    – Carsten S
    Commented Feb 1, 2022 at 10:29

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