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Improving Fluency and Pronunciation with Tongue Twisters.

 

Tongue twisters have been around for generations, and not only are they fun, but they help you to speak better and boost your repertoire of exciting and fun-sounding words. Here’s our lowdown on some popular tongue twisters, and why you and your students should recite them together.

What are Tongue Twisters?

In actual fact, tongue twisters are phrases, which have similar sounding words in a repetitive sequence. They aid language development, boost vocabulary, and are a lot of fun when recited together in a group.

Tongue twisters can help kids and students of all ages to learn English and pronunciation and are equally relevant for both first and second language learning. Kids naturally begin to develop their speech and diction at home with their families at a young age, whilst second language learners begin at various stages of their lives in the classroom. Tongue twisters can help both groups to stretch the muscles that are necessary for speech as well as helping them develop clear pronunciation and speech patterns.

Saying tongue twisters is always a lot of fun, but they are even more fun when they are recited in groups. 

Here are our 20 best tongue twisters which will give you or your students a real challenge.

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1. I Scream

scream, you scream, we all scream, for ice cream!

2. 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

Where’s the peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?

3. Betty Botter

Betty Botter bought a bit of butter.

“But,” she said, “this bit of butter’s bitter,

But a bit of better butter mixed with this butter might just make my bit of bitter butter better.”

So, Betty bought a bit of better butter to make her bitter butter better.

4. Susie Shine

I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop.

Where she shines, she sits, and where she sits, she shines.

5. Woodchuck

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if the woodchuck could chuck wood?

He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,

And chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would,

If a woodchuck could chuck wood.

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6. Doctor Doctor

If one doctor doctors another doctor,

Then which doctor is doctoring the doctored doctor?

Does the doctor who doctors the doctor, doctor the doctor the way the doctor he is doctoring doctors?

Or does he doctor the doctor the way the doctor who doctors doctors?

7. Thought A Thought

I thought a thought,

But the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought.

If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought,

I wouldn’t have thought so much.

8. Fuzzy Wuzzy

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear,

Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair,

Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy, was he?

9. She Sells

She sells seashells by the seashore

And the shells she sells by the seashore are seashells for sure.

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10. All I Want is a Proper Cup of Coffee

All I want is a proper cup of coffee,
Made in a proper copper coffee pot
I may be off my dot
But I want a cup of coffee
From a proper coffee pot.

Tin coffee pots and iron coffee pots
They’re no use to me –
If I can’t have a proper cup of coffee
In a proper copper coffee pot
I’ll have a cup of tea.

1. Bleeding Boys

Brave, bleeding boys battle bald, biting babies

Biting babies ride battle toys while bumbling boys brave bald biting babies.

12. Denise Sees

Denise sees the fleece,

Denise sees the fleas.

At least Denise could sneeze

And feed and freeze the fleas.

13. Dark Dock

To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,

In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,

Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,

From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!

14. Luke Luck

Luke Luck likes lakes.

Luke’s duck likes lakes.

Luke Luck licks lakes.

Luke’s duck licks lakes.

Duck takes licks in lakes Luke Luck likes.

Luke Luck takes licks in lakes duck likes.

15. Cheese Trees

Through three cheese trees three free fleas flew

While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew

Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze

Freezy trees made these trees’ cheese freeze

That’s what made these three free fleas sneeze

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16. Black And Brown Background

Black background, brown background,

Brown background, black background,

Background background, black, black, brown, brown.

17. Why Willy?!

Why do you cry, Willy?

Why, Willy?

Why, why, why?!

Why do you cry?

Willy, Willy!

Willy cry, why you cry, Willy?

18. Ned Nott and Sam Shott

Ned Nott was shot and Sam Shott was not.
So it is better to be Shott than Nott.

Some say Nott was not shot.
But Shott says he shot Nott.
Either the shot Shott shot at Nott was not shot,
Or Nott was shot.

If the shot Shott shot shot Nott, Nott was shot.
But if the shot Shott shot shot Shott,
Then Shott was shot, not Nott.

However, the shot Shott shot shot not Shott, but Nott.

19. Butter And Jelly

Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.

Spread it thick, say it quick!

Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread,

Spread it thicker, say it quicker!

Yellow butter, purple jelly, red jam, black bread.

Don’t eat until you are spreading it like a spread!

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20. Chester Cheetah

Chester cheetah chews a chunk of cheap cheddar cheese

If the chunk of cheese chunked Chester cheetah,

What would Chester cheetah chew and chunk on?

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