how do you pronounce ch in German?

Question

such as Beich
i know th ei is like eye and is the ch a k sound or sch sound
please help

Answer 1

It depends on which vowel it follows. After a, o, u and au, pronounced like the guttural ch in Scottish "loch" - das Buch (book), auch (also). Otherwise it is a palatal sound as in: mich (me), welche (which), wirklich (really). TIP: If no air is passing over your tongue when you say a ch-sound, you aren't saying it correctly. No true equivalent in English. - Although ch doesn't usually have a hard k sound, there are exceptions: Chor, Christoph, Chaos, Orchester, Wachs (wax)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9Y-eKVuF1s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCrNZRJHK7o



http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~joyce1/abinitio/pronounce/consonch.html

Answer 2

The "ch" can have 2 sounds in german, both are a bit similiar though, and they both dont exist in the english language.



But at least one of them exist in other languages, such as spanish for example.



One version of the german "ch" sounds exaclty like the Spanish "J" in Jorge, or "J"uan or eno"j"ado for example. This version is used for example in words like : Bach, wach, noch, doch, gemacht and others.



Here you can listen to this sound : http://www.myjmk.com/voice.php?tsearch=enojado&tlang=1

http://forvo.com/word/bach/







The other one is hard to find, I think I haven't heard it in another language so far, it's kind of the same as the other ch, but it is spoken differently. Whereas the other "ch" is built in the back of your mouth or better said throat, this one is built more in the mouth than in the throat.



It is used in words like : Ich ( i noticed, that most foreigners have a hard time making this sound, some ppl say something like "isch" or the ich with the other ch I mentioned before.) weich, erreicht, teich etc...



Edit : Here's an example for the this "ch" too : http://forvo.com/word/reich/



The crazy thing is, that you can absolutely not know which "ch" is used in a certain word, it just has to be remembered.





Well, I hope I have helped, german is a very hard language and things often are not logical, but I hope I could answer your question.

Answer 3

Good question.We do not have this sound in English.It is like the Dutch-G-Like the Spanish -G- before -e- and-i- and like the Spanish-J [jota] A lot of people substitute an-H- for it.However this is wrong.An -H- can not be sounded at the end of a word..It is not a -K- sound either.Only the Dutch sound it after -S- like in -sch-school.

It is a gutteral sound from the throat breathing out.

Answer 4

The closest sound i can explain it to is..

Open your mouth slightly(almost showing your teeth) and try to make the sound that dead air makes on the radio..

Keep your tongue down..don't move it and exhale

Answer 5

its always the "sch" sound