the pronunciation of the letter "A" among Germans

[Chris2509]

Any German I met pronounces the letter "a" the same way - like an "e".
for example: Challenge is pronounced "Chellenge", Palace is pronounced "Pelace".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOWCW_ceTGw 0:16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXPlpwnsMZo 0:13

^ Here are two examples to show what I mean.


I pronounce the "a" in these cases like the U in the word "cup": "Chullenge"


1. Is my pronunciation correct?
2. Is the way Germans pronounce it correct as well?

 

[Barb_D]

Welcome to Using English. :hi:

Why don't you pronounce it like an A?

Do you say "chut" instead of "chat"?

 

[Chris2509]

Welcome to Using English. :hi:

Why don't you pronounce it like an A?

Do you say "chut" instead of "chat"?

No, of course not, I meant only those words where you can pronounce a like u, like challenge and palace.
Can you answer the question please?

 

[Barb_D]

I say it as a soft A (a)
"Challenge" starts the same way as "chat."
"Palace" starts with "Pal" (like, your friend, your buddy, your pal)

 

[Chris2509]

I say it as a soft A (a)
"Challenge" starts the same way as "chat."
"Pallace" starts with "Pal" (like, your friend, your buddy, your pal)

so you'd say the 2 guys in the videos pronounce it correctly?

 

[Barb_D]

I'm sure you know that English has many different accents.

It sounded like "English with a German accent" but not the way a native speaker in the US would say it.

(The second video was a young lady, not a 'guy')

 

[Chris2509]

I'm sure you know that English has many different accents.

It sounded like "English with a German accent" but not the way a native speaker in the US would say it.

(The second video was a young lady, not a 'guy')

I just don't understand why do they insist on pronouncing it "chEllenge". It's not like an open a doesn't exist in German.