Learn Hardcore German: Mein Sprachpartner hört sich jede Sprachnachricht geduldig an und korrigiert meine Aussprache. - My language partner listens to every voice message patiently and corrects my pronunciation.

hören on its own = “to hear” (more passive, just perceiving sound)
- Ich höre Musik. – I hear music.
sich etwas anhören = “to listen to something” (actively, often from beginning to end)
- Ich höre mir die Sprachnachricht an. – I listen to the voice message.

So:

Mein Sprachpartner hört sich jede Sprachnachricht … an
literally: My language partner listens to every voice message … (through).

Without sich, anhören usually means “to sound”:

Die Sprachnachricht hört sich komisch an. – The voice message sounds strange.

What exactly does anhören do here, and why is an at the end?

Anhören is a separable prefix verb: an + hören.

In the infinitive: (sich) etwas anhören
In the main clause (present tense): the prefix an separates and goes to the end:
- Mein Sprachpartner hört sich jede Sprachnachricht an.

Structure:

hört = conjugated verb in 2nd position
sich jede Sprachnachricht = middle field (objects etc.)
an = separable prefix goes to the end

This is standard German word order for separable verbs in a main clause.

What role does sich play in hört sich … an?

Sich is a reflexive pronoun referring back to Mein Sprachpartner.

Pattern: sich (Dativ) etwas (Akkusativ) anhören
= to listen to something (for oneself, actively)

Mein Sprachpartner (subject, nominative)
sich (reflexive pronoun, dative)
jede Sprachnachricht (direct object, accusative)

Compare:

Er hört mir zu. – He listens to me. (verb: zuhören, takes a dative person)
Er hört sich jede Sprachnachricht an. – He listens to every voice message. (verb: sich etwas anhören, takes a reflexive dative + accusative object)

Why is it jede Sprachnachricht and not jeden Sprachnachricht?

Because Sprachnachricht is feminine: die Sprachnachricht.

We’re using accusative singular (direct object of hört sich … an), and the declension of jede- is:

Feminine, nominative: jede
Feminine, accusative: jede

So:

Nominative:
Jede Sprachnachricht ist lang. – Every voice message is long.
Accusative (here):
Er hört sich jede Sprachnachricht an. – He listens to every voice message.

Jeden would be accusative masculine (for something like jeden Tag, jeden Brief, etc.), which does not fit the feminine noun Sprachnachricht.

What does Sprachpartner literally mean, and what gender is it?

Sprachpartner is a compound noun:

Sprache – language
Partner – partner

Literally: “language partner”, i.e. conversation / exchange partner for a language.

Gender:

der Sprachpartner (masculine)
Plural: die Sprachpartner

So Mein Sprachpartner uses mein in the masculine nominative singular form.

Why is Sprachpartner capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence.

Sprachpartner, Sprachnachricht, Aussprache are all nouns, so they all start with a capital letter.
Adjectives and verbs are normally not capitalized (unless they are turned into nouns, which is another topic).

What is geduldig here – adjective or adverb? And why is it in that position?

Here geduldig functions as an adverb, describing how he listens:

hört sich … geduldig an = listens patiently

In German, many adjectives are used as adverbs without changing form:

Er spricht laut. – He speaks loudly.
Sie wartet geduldig. – She waits patiently.

Word order: adverbs of manner (how?) typically go after the objects but before a separable prefix:

Mein Sprachpartner hört sich jede Sprachnachricht geduldig an.

You could also say:

Mein Sprachpartner hört sich geduldig jede Sprachnachricht an. (also correct, slightly different emphasis)

But you may not split hört … an with geduldig between hört and the pronoun sich.

Why is it meine Aussprache and not meiner Aussprache?

Because Aussprache is feminine (die Aussprache) and is the direct object of korrigiert, so it is in the accusative singular.

Declension of mein- with a feminine noun:

Nominative: meine Aussprache
Accusative: meine Aussprache
Dative: meiner Aussprache
Genitive: meiner Aussprache

Here we need accusative, and nominative and accusative look the same in the feminine: meine.

If we used meiner Aussprache, that would be dative or genitive, which does not fit the verb korrigiert.

What case is meine Aussprache, and which verb does it go with?

Meine Aussprache is accusative singular feminine.

It is the direct object of the verb korrigiert:

(Er) korrigiert was? – meine Aussprache

So structurally:

Mein Sprachpartner – subject (nominative)
korrigiert – verb
meine Aussprache – direct object (accusative)

Why is there no subject before korrigiert and why is korrigiert at the end?

The sentence has one subject for both actions:

Mein Sprachpartner (subject)
hört sich … an (first verb phrase)
und korrigiert meine Aussprache (second verb phrase)

In German (as in English), when the subject is the same in both parts joined by und, you don’t need to repeat it:

Mein Sprachpartner hört sich … an und (er) korrigiert meine Aussprache.

Placing korrigiert:

In the second clause und korrigiert meine Aussprache, korrigiert is in the normal 2nd position of that clause:
- [und] [korrigiert] [meine Aussprache].

The overall clause is:

Mein Sprachpartner – 1st position
hört – 2nd position (conjugated verb of the first part)
sich jede Sprachnachricht geduldig an und korrigiert meine Aussprache – rest of the field
Within that, the second verb phrase starts after und with its own verb in 1st place of that small phrase: korrigiert.

What’s the difference between sich etwas anhören and jemandem zuhören?

Both involve listening, but they focus on slightly different things:

sich etwas anhören (reflexive, with accusative object)
- Pattern: sich (Dativ) etwas (Akkusativ) anhören
- Focus: the entire piece of audio / content (a message, a song, a speech)
- Examples:
  - Ich höre mir die Sprachnachricht an. – I listen to the voice message.
  - Er hört sich das Lied an. – He listens to the song.
jemandem zuhören (dative object, usually a person)
- Pattern: jemandem (Dativ) zuhören
- Focus: listening attentively to a person
- Examples:
  - Er hört seinem Lehrer zu. – He listens to his teacher.
  - Sie hört mir nie zu. – She never listens to me.

In your sentence, the focus is on each voice message as a piece of audio, so sich jede Sprachnachricht anhören is the natural choice.

Is the present tense hört / korrigiert used the same way as English simple present here?

Yes. German Präsens covers:

habitual actions (like English simple present)
current actions (like English “is doing”)
sometimes future meaning (like English “is going to do / will do”)

In this sentence, it describes a regular, typical behavior:

Mein Sprachpartner hört sich jede Sprachnachricht geduldig an und korrigiert meine Aussprache.
= My language partner listens patiently to every voice message and corrects my pronunciation (as a general habit).