Hi guys, thanks for contributing to the discussion!

When the letters 'ch' follow the German 'back' vowels 'a', 'o', 'u' and 'au', the sound produced corresponds to the 'ch' heard when Scots talk about 'Lo<em>ch</em> Ness'. Sometimes it's also transcribed as kh in English.

In most other cases (e.g. ich), a different sound is required that is articulated much further forward in the mouth. It resembles the 'h' sound made at the start of English words such as 'huge', 'humour' or 'humane'.

"Sch" is a different story altogether, it's simply pronounced like an English SH. (the fish = der Fisch; same pronunciation in English and German, different spelling)

Hello Nacir,

"I think the real challenge for the foreigners would be the "ch" sound for example in sprechen. it is "Shpreshen" but the first "sh" is noisy one and the second "sh" is softer."

I disagree on the second ch in sprechen. In standard German it's pronounced like the "ch" in "ich". Maybe you live somewhere where people butcher it ;)

And here is a rare exception in German: Ch has different sounds in the following words

1. Buch

2. Bücher

3. Ich

4. Fisch

and last but not least

4. Deutschland 

:)

It is true, German has simple pronunciation rules but sometimes it is hard to pronounce German words. For example, "Pferd" (p and f are to be pronuoced). I think the real challenge for the foreigners would be the "ch" sound for example in sprechen. it is "Shpreshen" but the first "sh" is noisy one and the second "sh" is softer. So it is not that easy to pronounce like native speakers :)

This is wonderful. Thanks you .