What are tongue twisters and how can they help language learners?
Tongue twisters are phrases or sentences that are challenging to articulate because they contain similar-sounding syllables, words, or letters. They serve as a form of speaking exercise that can help with speech clarity, pronunciation and fluency in any language.
They can be especially helpful for those learning English, as the language’s diverse range of phonemes (distinct units of sound) provides a great exercise for all manner of verbal communication. Tongue twisters can be seen as a form of verbal gymnastics that challenges language learners.
Easy tongue twisters: A peck of pickled peppers
When you’re just beginning, start with some straightforward tongue twisters in English. These will help you get a sense of rhythm, which is crucial for getting your mouth used to the mechanics of English pronunciation. You’ve likely heard of this first one.
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter’s bitter.
- If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?
- Red lorry, yellow lorry.
- Three free throws.
- Ted fed Fred bread. Fred fed Ted bread,
- Fresh fried fish fresh fried.
- Four furious friends fought for the phone.
- Tie twine to three tree twigs.
- Toy boat.
Medium tongue twisters: The proper copper coffee pot challenge
Once you’ve mastered the basics, it’s time to up the ante. These slightly more complex tongue twisters will begin to challenge your diction and speed of speech.
- A proper copper coffee pot.
- Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.
- Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
- She sees cheese on the Chinese chessboard.
- How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
- She sells seashells on the seashore; the shells she sells are surely seashells.
- Too big a toboggan is too big a toboggan to buy to begin to toboggan.
- I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop. Where she sits, she shines, and where she shines, she sits.
- Double bubble gum bubbles double.
- Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
Hard tongue twisters: How much wood can a woodchuck chuck
For those ready to push their skills to the limit, these tongue twisters are particularly tough. They involve tricky combinations of phonemes and are a true workout for your mouth.
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
- The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
- Can you can a canned can into an uncanned can like a canner can can a canned can into an uncanned can?
- The great Greek grape growers grow great Greek grapes but do great Greek grape growers grow great Greek grapes only.
- Swan swam over the sea, swim, swan, swim! Swan swam back again well swum swan.
- A big black bear sat on a big black rug while a big black bug bit the big black bear.
- If you must cross a course cross cow across a crowded cow crossing, cross the cross coarse cow across the crowded cow crossing carefully.
- Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie.
- How much ground would a groundhog grind if a groundhog could grind ground.
What's the hardest tongue twister?
This depends on who you ask, but a study at MIT named the challenge of "Pad kid poured curd pulled cod" the most difficult tongue twister in the world. The phrases “kid poured curd pulled” and “poured curd pulled cod” show why many have twisted their tongues trying to pronounce it.
Another example of a challenging tongue twister is “nearly eerie ear,” emphasizing its difficulty in pronunciation and showcasing the complexity of certain sounds and words.
