>>>>It's the same in English- the indefinite article a becomes an before a word starting with a vowel.
>>>>
>>>> For u it depends how it is pronounced - I think
>>>>
>>>>A U-Turn
>>>>An unrelated matter
>>>
>>>On a related note, same goes for words beginning with an aitch - "an honorable exception".
>>>
>>>Btw, a question for the anglophone majority here: is there a word in English which begins with a "u" and has it pronounced as u? Not as uh as in under, not as yoo as in universe, but as u as in butcher, lubricate?
>>
>>to me butcher and lubricate are different sounds.
>>
>>lubricate (I think) is pronounced loobricate
>>
>>It is entirely possible I don't pronounce that "correctly"
>
>
>When in doubt http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lubricate you can click to hear it pronounced

I may try that at home. No sound here at the moment.