Give papa a cup of proper coffee in a copper coffee cup.
Ready to challenge your English pronunciation?
Tongue twisters are a fun, effective way to get better at controlling your tongue and linking your brain to your mouth to come up with the right sounds. English tongue twisters are especially fun because there are so many homophones and homonyms in English that trip up even most native speakers!
What Are Tongue Twisters?
Tongue twisters are linguistic devices that utilize rhyming words and sound repetition, including alliterations or palindromic phrases, to enhance pronunciation and fluency. They are beneficial not only for children but also for adults seeking to improve their speech.
For example:
Double bubble gum, bubbles double.
Here are some fun tongue twisters that you can learn to improve your pronunciation and impress your friends!
Best Tongue Twisters In English for Kids
Thirty-three thirsty, thundering thoroughbreds thumped Mr Thurber on Thursday.
Younger learners and people who are still gaining their bearings with spoken English can try easier tongue twisters to start.
Tongue twisters for kids are an excellent way to enhance their fluency, vocabulary, and language abilities. If you want to elevate your kids' speaking skills, tongue twisters are the solution.
Red and Yellow
Red leather, yellow leather. Red lorry, yellow lorry.
This tongue twister is used a lot as a vocal warm-up for people in the theater. It’s a great way to get your brain into gear for speaking what you mean to say without making mistakes.
Greek Grapes
Greek grapes, Greek grapes, Greek grapes.
The more times you say this tongue twister in a row, the more likely you are to make a mistake. See how many times you can say it before you slip up!
Annoyed Oyster
Any noise annoys an oyster, but a noisy noise annoys an oyster more.
It’s easy to lose track of what you are saying with this fun tongue twister!
List Of Tongue Twister For Beginners & Kids
Unique New York
I like New York, unique New York, I like unique New York.
This is another exercise in controlling your tongue to say what you mean. Try saying it as many times as possible without messing up.
Seashell Sales
She sells seashells by the seashore.
Simple, classic, and always challenging! You might also see it written as “Sally sells seashells,” which makes it a little bit easier since the “sh” sound is replaced with a “sa” sound.
Ziggy The Zebra
Ziggy the zebra zigzagged through the zoo with a zany zither.
Be careful on the "zigzagged" part!
Pad Kid
Pad kid poured curd-pulled cod
Papa A Cup of Proper Coffee
Give Papa a cup of proper coffee in a copper coffee cup.
Fuzzy Wuzzy
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy, was he?
Cute and easy to remember, this simple tongue twister helps you master the “W” sound in English.
Tongue Twisters In English For Adults
Ready for more of a challenge?
These more advanced tongue twisters frequently trip up even the most eloquent of English speakers. Practice them often so you can become a master speaker!
Betty Botter
Betty Botter bought a bit of butter;
“But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter!
If I put it in my batter
It will make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter
Will make my batter better.”
So she bought a bit of butter
Better than the bitter butter,
Made her bitter batter better.
So ’twas better Betty Botter
Bought a bit of better butter.
A little lengthy, this classic tongue twister challenges both your memory and your speaking skills.
Peter Piper
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers, Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Then where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
One of the all-time classics in tongue twisters, Peter Piper quickly turns into “petapetapetapetapeta” if you’re not careful!
Shoe Shine Susie
Susie’s sitting in a shoe shine shop.
Where she sits she shines, and where she shines she sits.
Challenge your tongue with the repetitive “sh” sounds!
Tongue Twisters For Adults
Wrist Watches
Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?
“W” and “S” sounds can easily become tricky and cause you to make mistakes.
Slit Sheets
I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.
This simple-looking exercise is deceptively tricky to master.
Pleasant Pheasant Plucker
I am a mother pheasant plucker, I pluck mother pheasants. I am the best mother pheasant plucker, that ever plucked a mother pheasant!
Not for kids! This fun tongue twister can quickly turn naughty if you aren’t careful with your pronunciation! It’s one of the ultimate tests of tongue-twisting mastery; if you can successfully say it in front of other people, you know you have a golden tongue!
How Do Tongue Twisters Help You Learn English?
First, why are tongue twisters a good tool for learning English? They seem needless and silly, but they also have a lot of value!
Pronunciation
Of course, practicing tongue twisters is a pronunciation practice.
Learning to articulate each sound in the correct order helps you make your tongue more nimble and better able to repeat those same sounds later.
Fluency
Learning to speak and understand English words faster helps you become more fluent as you hesitate with your words less and less.
Articulation
Tongue twisters are excellent for articulation, which is when you speak more clearly and precisely. The articulatory organs include the tongue, lips, teeth, and vocal cords.
If you fail to be articulate, your tongue twisters will become a globby mess of sounds, so it’s important to be able to articulate each word properly!
Vocabulary
Most tongue twisters are made of simple words, but you might learn a new one or two in your studies!
Listening
When you listen to someone else demonstrate a tongue twister, your listening skills go into overdrive to understand each word. When you mirror the words back, you’re affirming what you heard and translating it into your own tongue, further reinforcing your listening and understanding skills!
Confidence
As you learn tongue twisters and can recite them at will, your confidence in your ability to speak gets a huge boost! Your everyday confidence also increases as you increase your skillset and overcome the difficulty of learning tricky sentences.
Tongue twisters also help you improve your accent, whether its the British or American.
Cultural Awareness
Many tongue twisters have references to specific cultural norms, so learning these clever word challenges can also teach you about a place's people, life, and history.
Exercises to Practice Tongue Twisters
Want to improve on your tongue twisters? There are a few exercises you can do to help you get better at controlling how your mouth moves.
Practice Phonetics
Start by practicing the sound you are working on. For example, if you want to get better at “She sells seashells,” practice the “sh” sound and the “se” sound. Then, practice switching between “sh” and “se.”
So, your practice will sound like “shuh, suh, shuh, suh, shuh, suh…”
You can also warm up your vocals, mouth, and tongue by saying all the letters in the alphabet, stretching out the mouth, and moving the tongue in circles to get it limber for your wordy workout.
Piece By Piece
Break up the tongue twister into pieces of 2-5 words and practice it bit by bit. Eventually, you can put it together as a whole.
It’s the same idea as practising a song or a speech; you want to be able to get each bit down pat so that you can confidently say everything at once when you put it all together.
Record Yourself
Recording yourself is a great idea so you can hear how you actually sound! You might not be able to tell what part you’re struggling with until you go back and listen to yourself.
You also might be doing way better than you initially thought! Tongue twisters make it easy to second-guess yourself, so listening back and hearing your progress can really boost your confidence!
Tongue twisters are a really fun way to increase your fluency in any language. English especially has a lot to offer the world of tongue twisters. Give them a try! You will definitely impress even native English speakers with your tongue-twisting skills!
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