If you’ve ever sat around with friends trying to say a tongue twister, you’ll know how difficult they can be. Tongue twisters are phrases that contain similar sounds and are designed to be hard to pronounce, even in your first language, so they’re excellent tools for learning another language!
Why tongue twisters are helpful for learning
Difficult sound combinations and unfamiliar sounds
Tongue twisters help us practice pronunciation. Not only are they fun to say, but they also help train our ear to distinguish between sounds that may not exist in our own language. With repetition, we get used to producing the difficult sound combinations, which helps improve fluency. And, since they’re naturally hard to say, saying normal sentences afterwards feels easier!
Repetition and memory
Just like the wacky sentences in your Duolingo courses, tongue twisters have plenty of learning benefits, even if you probably won’t use them in conversation. Since we repeat the phrases in tongue twisters multiple times in a row, we get used to forming them. And if we know the meaning of the tongue twister, it can get stuck in our head, cementing these new sounds and grammar patterns into our brain!
Noticing word boundaries and rhythm
Tongue twisters also help us distinguish word boundaries and become more familiar with the rhythm of the language. By repeating the phrase over and over and identifying where one word ends and another begins, we can apply this to other sentences and phrases in the language, and our comprehension will improve!
List of fun tongue twisters by language
| Language | Tongue twister | What it’s good for |
|---|---|---|
| English | red leather, yellow leather | Practicing the “th” sound and the “l” and “r” sounds |
| How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? | Articulation and rhythm | |
| French | Les chaussettes de l’archi-duchesse, sont-elles sèches ou archi-sèches ? The socks of the arch-duchess, are they dry or extra dry? |
Practicing the “s” and “sh” sounds |
| La roue sur la rue roule, la rue sous la roue reste. The wheel on the street rolls, the street under the wheel remains. |
Practicing the French “r” sound and the “ou” and “u” sounds | |
| Japanese | あかまきがみあおまきがみきまきがみ (akamakigami, aomakigami, kimakigami) red scroll, blue scroll, yellow scroll |
Articulation and rhythm |
| とうきょうとっきょきょかきょくちょう (Toukyou tokkyo kyokakyokuchou) Director of the Tokyo patent approval office |
Practicing common Japanese consonant clusters | |
| Spanish | “erre” con “erre” guitarra, “erre” con “erre” barril “r” with “r” guitar, “r” with “r” barrel |
Practicing the trilled “r” sound |
| Ñoño Yáñez come ñame en las mañanas con el niño. Ñoño Yáñez [name] eats yams in the morning with the boy. |
Practicing the “ñ” sound commonly found in Spanish | |
| Italian | Quel pazzo ha rubato un pizzo prezioso con un pezzo di pizza in un pozzo. That weird guy stole precious lace with a piece of pizza in a well. |
Practicing the “zz” sound next to different vowels |
| Sul tagliere gli agli taglia, non tagliare la tovaglia. On the cutting board, cut the garlic, don’t cut the tablecloth. |
Practicing the “gli” sound common in Italian |
Do the twist!
Tongue twisters are a great way to learn and have a few laughs. Sometimes it’s best to relax and have fun with new sounds, with no pressure to get it right on the first try!