Practice Pronunciation with Tongue Twisters
When you practice speaking using tongue twisters, not only do you improve your pronunciation with the sounds you need to work on, but you (and anyone listening to you) may get a good laugh as well. Tongue twisters are a sentence or a series of sentences which emphasize particular sounds in the English language. Start off slowly and build your speed until you can say the tongue twisters easily. Some tongue twisters can be quite difficult to say quickly. For pronunciation practice, the aim is not to say them quickly but to pronounce them properly.
Tongue twisters can be turned into a game in which you and your friends try to say them as quickly as possible. For a quick game, you and your friends can try to say each tongue twister three times fast. Often, by the third time through, your mouth will be fumbling over the words. This is what can make tongue twisters so entertaining. However, for pronunciation practice, start off slow and easy, carefully producing the sounds which have been giving you trouble.
Here are a few to get you started:
If you are struggling with the ‘th’ sound, try this one: Thirty three thousand people think Thursday is their thirtieth birthday.
The Peter Piper tongue twister is an old classic and is great for practicing the ‘p’ sound:
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,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
This one gives you practice with ‘st’, ‘sh’, and ‘ch’. If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?
Here is one for practicing the ‘f’ sound: Four furious friends fought for the phone.
This one is great for practicing the ‘b’ and ‘bl’ sounds: The big black bug bit the big black bear, but the big black bear bit the big black bug back!
This one is a good exercise for practicing the ‘r’ and ‘w’ sounds: The ruddy widow really wants ripe watermelon and red roses when winter arrives.
Practice the ‘t’ sound with this tongue twister: Two tiny tigers take two taxis to town.
There are tongue twisters available which can help you pronounce almost every sound in the English language. It's also enjoyable to create your own. Not only do they help you pronounce the sounds of English, but they can be made into fun party games too!
August 23, 2018
