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I am confused (m)
in reply to a message by Ylva
To me the "ch" in Mädchen and the "ch" in Charles are two very different sounds.
Otherwise, I agree -- the "ch" in Mädchen is the typical German "ch" (like in nicht).I think this thread calls for our resident Germans, Satu and Andy :).~ Ivayla,
skillfully disguised as a responsible adult

This message was edited 12/5/2005, 10:24 PM

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You are right, the CH sound in Charles and Mädchen sounds different. There are two CH sounds in German, one is hard (like in "Bach" or "Loch Ness"), one (like in Mädchen) is soft. You would have to lift the back of your tounge almost to your palate to leave just a small gap for the air to slip through. The sound you produce now is voiceless.
This sound is very hard to produce for Americans I found and only few of those who speak very good German really manage it. So CHarles isn't the worst try.
I heard, in Arabic there are five or more CH sounds …
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