Q:

How is "tr" pronounced?

In my dialect of English, we pronounce tr like chr (IPA: [t͡ʃɹ]; like tsch if using the German spelling of the sound).

Tree is pronounced chree.
Train is pronounced Chrain.
Track is pronounced Chrack.
Trade is pronounced Chrade.

Where the ch beginning is similar to choose, chop or chat, but not like Christ. If I said train like how it is spelled, people would get confused because it would sound like terrain.
I heard my German teacher pronounce the word tragen in the same way so it sounds like tschragen. Does German pronounce tr that way? If not, how should I pronunce tr and how can I learn this pronunciation?

A:

In English, t and r are both produced with the tip of the tongue, but at slightly different positions. When the tongue glides back from the t position to the r position, you get something like a sh /ʃ/ in between. In German, r is either pronounced in the back of the mouth (with the uvula) or with the tip of the tongue, but in the latter case, the tongue is not moved back from the t position, so there is no /ʃ/ in between.

