Hi i need help to pronouce Ich in german :)?

Question

Is it Ich like loch or ish?


I'm learning German but i dont want to get of on the wrong foot by pronouncing the word wrong. :)


thanks xxx

Answer 1

I can't believe how many TOTALLY WRONG answers you got.

It's neither "ick" nor like the "loch" sound.

The "ch" sound in "ich" is pronounced just like the first sound of the English words "huge" and "human", i.e. by saying a "h" and a "y" (as in "yell") at the same time. That's in Standard German.

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to produce the sound without difficulties. If it's too hard you can use "ish", it's still more acceptable than any of the other alternatives, and a lot of people in the Southwest of Germany do that as well.

Answer 2

haggesitze and whoever else said that ish is acceptable from a foreigner, and is also used in parts of germany by germans themselves (e.g., cologne), and that the sound used elsewhere is very similar to the first sound of huge or human in english, but they forgot to add that first of all it is not quite the same, second many many english speakers say yuge and yuman, so this can be confusing. it is only a good comparison for those english speakers who actually say hyuge and hyuman, then indeed the hy sounds a bit like the german ch in words like ich. someone should also have explained that german ch has several different sounds. in a few words of foreign origin it is k, e.g., chor, chan. otherwise, generally it is pronounced as we just said (sh or hy-like) when preceded by a consonant (e.g., milch, durch) or by one of the vowels i, e, a", o", u", and y (this is called ich-laut, or ich sound), and the same sound in many foreign words when at the beginning of a word (but then often some people say k instead), e.g., chemie. there is another sound (the one many people do have in english in the name bach or the word loch, or yiddish or hebrew words or names like chaim, but which many people do not use, hence the confused reaction of some respondents who probably say ba-K and may not use the word loch at all). this sound is called ach-laut or the ach sound. this sound is hard to describe if you do not know it, and i think giving a technical description (a voiceless fricative produced by making the back of the tongue come close to the velum) will not help. it is a common sound in many other languages though, incl. yiddish, hebrew, greek, russian, etc. etc. and most people will recognize it from hearing it on tv or in movies when characters are german or whatever. this sound is used normally ingerman after the vowels a, o, u, and perhaps in some words of yiddish/hebrew origin in other positions as well. if you don't master this sound, probably replacing it with a strongly articulated h sound (as strong as u can make it) is the best substitution. one final exception rule: the ending -chen always has the ich sound even if preceded by one of the vowels a, o, u, e.g., Mariachen, which means something like dear little Maria. Without getting really technical, this is about as well as one can do to answer this.

Answer 3

I don't know who gave haggesitze the thumbs down. She is the only one who gave a correct and useful answer.
In German the "ch" sound has two different pronunciations, following teh so called "light" vowels and diphtongs e, i, ai,ei, äu, and eu it is pronounced like the initial sound of "huge" in English.
After the dark vowels a, o, u, and au it is pronounced like the "ch" in Scottish "loch".

But the question was how to pronounce "ich", wasn't it?

Answer 4

Instead of trying to explain it, here's a link to a Usborne Quicklink webpage. It has a bunch of audio files for pronouncing German. The top one is "ich".
http://usborne-quicklinks.com/usa/usa_entity_pages/usa_listening_to_sounds.asp?lang=usa&lvl=2&id=1288&From=38&To=39

Answer 5

If I could hear you pronounce the word 'loch' it would help ... most people pronounce it 'lock' which is wrong ... and so it 'ish' ... try not 'closing your throat at the back' entirely, and 'slightly force' the air out from your lungs ... so the sound you get is about 'halfway' between 'lock' and 'ish' ... it's a very 'soft' sound ... both lock and ish are 'hard sounds. It sort of sounds like you have a 'sore throat' and are trying to talk with the back of your tongue not 'touching' the back of your throat, so the sound 'escapes' ...

Answer 6

In extreme German that is reported like the Scottish ch in loch. There are some dialects which pronounce it ish. In Berlin it ameliorations to ike reported eekay. In Bavaria and Austria it reduces to I reported ee.

Answer 7

I don't know, how you pronounce 'loch'. But you your tongue has to touch your back teeth on each side. Then just breath out through your mouth and then you know how to pronoune the 'ch'. the 'i' in front is pronounced like 'ee' in English, but very,very short! Put the two parts together and then you've got it!
Hope this helps.

Answer 8

It's Ich like Loch.

Answer 9

In between. Roll up your tongue, point it at your tooth ridge and try to say the "ch" in "loch"

Answer 10

Imagine you are going to clear your throat. Sounds like the ch in Loch - not a hard ck. A bit like saying i....hhhh with the accent on the hhhhh part.