pronounce "ich"

I can't get voice recognition to recognize my "ich" in a beginning lesson when it is by itself. "Du" same problem. I am using headset. In a longer sentence my "ich" is accepted. Any ideas for getting past this?

I have noticed that short words at the start of a sentence can be missed if you start speaking too soon, but I don't suppose that is it.
I have found that it helps to emphasis consonants, apparently consonants are more important in German than English.
With me the problem is things like Hmm, and it seems to get muddled with clock times.
It is strange that it can be incredibly fussy about some things but may accept completely the wrong word. :)