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[Facts] Re: Pronunciation of Jochen
Hi there. I do it this way: keep trying all our versions until you find one that your personal mouth feels comfy with.The O in Jochen is more or less our AW.
Then, the dreaded CH. Your tongue can touch the top of your mouth right behind your top teeth (front of your tongue), where your hard palate curves up (middle of your tongue) and right at the back where your uvula hangs down. To say the English H your tongue doesn't touch the top of your mouth at all. For the German CH, say the English H, remember what you did, keep your tongue in that position, and then raise the middle of your tongue until it just touches the hard palate at the top of your mouth. And then do what you did to make the English H sound. (You should achieve what my old German teacher called 'a little puff of vind'.) There is a family resemblance to, er, throat-clearing, but it's not identical!Happy practising!
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No tongue!You don't use your tongue when saying the hard CH in Jochen - the sound comes from the throat. When saying a soft CH like in the German way to pronounce Michael, then you'll have to use the tongue.Regards, Satu
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