How to pronounce 'ch' in German 🤔

[uploadschedule]

As a german speaker who randomly got this video recommended, I can confirm that pronouncing Eichhörnchen is pure hell

[nlxtinct]

Hahahaha squirrel one killed me thank you tho, very useful!

[suudallas]

I was struggling with that sound and you made it really easy for me Thank you

[tideghost]

The ch digraph represents two sounds that are allophones: /x/ and /ç/. So ch in “machen” is /x/ and “Reich” is /ç/.

[welchomestudio]

As a Frenchman, I've always found ch quite easy to pronounce, but it's not a common trait amongst my friends, even those who learnt German at school.
I think of this sound as a hard "y" sound.
For instance, d and t are basically the same thing, one being the soft version, and the other is the hard version of the same sound. D and T.
Same thing for the TH sound. This and Thick. Soft th and hard th.
Same for V and F. Soft and hard versions of the same sound.
To me, the German CH is the hard version of the sound you find in the words "eye", "lie", or even "I". Just pronounce the soft "y" sound in a hard way, and there you have it: the German ch.

[tom_something]

That darned squirrel!

Non-native English speakers often struggle with "squirrel" in English. But it's simpler to pronounce in many other languages:

Spanish: ardilla
Mandarin: songshu
Italian: Scoiattolo
Russian: Byelka

English "squirrel" may have met its match with German's "Eichhörnchen".

Funny thing is, squirrels eat acorns, and "Eichhorn" sounds like "acorn" despite apparently having no etymological ties to the nut-thing that comes out of the trees. But it's a super easy way for a native English speaker to remember the name. It's like "cute little acorn". But remembering isn't the problem. The pronunciation. My goodness. Quite challenging, from my current skill level. Hopefully it doesn't come up in conversation.

I'm just getting started learning Geman, and even little things trip me up. Like sometimes in a sentence, you'll have one word that ends in an S or a immediately followed by a word that starts with S. And when I hear people say it, they can make that transition so fluidly. But for me, it's like shifting gears with a bad transmission. I have to drop to neutral before I can engage that second word.

[Fastie]

Can you do the same for the 'r' sound? I struggle with it!

[SirajBasharmal]

I am siraj from afghanistan currently in germany i following your videos thanks so much

[pauselab]

I just try to pronounce r which is wrong but close enough to be understood

[pigeon_]

If you’re an English speaker try saying the word “human” and it’s basically the sound at the start

[excancerpoik]

thats the easy ch sound its the other one thats hard

[mohamedaladdin]

Last word really difficult to pronounce 😂

[ilikecreeper]

If you are Chinese or the sound exists in your language, German ch is basically xi sound

[Logicalhumanbeing]

I release either shh or khh sound for ch and I hear shh when you pronounce it 😭😭😭

[isaacschlindwein]

Finalmente consegui entender como pronunciar esse "Ich". A comparação com o gato rosnando é o que me fez entender😂😂

Agora eu sei que preciso fechar a boca e mostrar os dentes para pronunciar melhor😂

[stalfithrildi]

Sounds a little like the Welsh Ll sound

[aidenrokez]

Been learning German lately and struggle with the ch sound, especially because I was born with a tounge tie.
Liebe Grüße aus den USA

[Ibrahim.Hatipoglu.]

I don't learn German, but I was claiming that i pronounce all the letters in the world
So always look for difficult sounds in every language
I think I pronounce the letter perfectly(ch)
Because its very close to turkish k(i speak iraqi turkmen language which it very close to turkish)
I think the only problem is the Danish letter soft d so far

[saljura]

My girlfriend lives in Solingen and she pronounces the "ch" in "ich" with a "sh" sound. Is that a typical pronunciation in some parts of Germany?

[cherbear]

Damn, I'm watching this and saying it along with you and still struggling. 😂😩😭 That last one is torture. Pray for me. 😭