METHODS OF TEACHING

Tongue Twisters at the English Lesson

I would like to tell you about my experience of working with tongue twisters at English lessons. In my
opinion, they are very useful in all stages of teaching English, because of their shortness and full sense
they are rather convenient as pre-activity and post-activity at each lesson.

1. In early classes students find in them certain letters and combinations of letters according to a definite
rule of reading and try to read them.

2. Later, tongue twisters are used during phonetic drills at the beginning of the lessons, where the students
learn to pronounce this or that sound correctly, that is as gymnastics for lips and tongue.

3. Among the proposed 3 or 4 tongue twisters you can find regular or irregular verbs, words formed with
prefixes and suffixes, and examples of some grammar aspects (Participles, verb tenses, etc.).

4. When translating and learning them by heart students enrich their vocabulary.

5. It is good to work on intonation of English sentences, when the students pronounce a tongue twister as
if they are young, old-aged, tired, frightened, proud, complaining, gossiping, etc.

6. Finally, it is funny material for extra-classes, when children are asked to illustrate or dramatize them, or
to compete in the speed of reading them.

7. It goes without saying, tongue twisters are a part of English folklore, which helps us to understand this
language better.

In the upper grades students compose tongue twisters themselves. Here are the stages:

The teacher offers some words, for example: to shoo, to shoot, a shoot, a shooter.

eacher: What is common to these words?

Class: [u:]

eacher: What other words with these sounds do you know?

Class: Shoes, shoe-tree, shoe-string, shoe-lace, shoeblack, shoemaker (students use dictionary).

eacher: Let us combine some of these words into one sentence.

Class gives some variants, for example:

A shoemaker takes a shoe-tree and a shoe-string and shoe shooter.

A shoemaker and a shoeblack, shoo a shooter with a shoe-string.

Shoo a shooter who shoots in the shoot wood.

Shame on you, shooter in shoes.

VARIANT 2
eacher: Find some words with the sounds [bi:].

Class: Be, beetle, bee, beef, busy, beer. . .

Composed tongue twisters:

Be as busy as a bee, but not beef-witted as a beetle.

A bee and a beetle beat a beefeater.

A bee and a beetle are busy eating beef and drinking beer.

You see, we can use any sound we like.

Such work attracts all students strong and weak. Among their creations there are no identical ones. If
somebodys own tongue twister doesnt come to our complete works, it is not a misfortune. The process of
working is satisfying, too. Work with tongue twisters impels students to self-education, makes them
susceptible to foreign language. They are not afraid of speaking English, and they express their emotions
in English.

So, try and you will be surprised by the results.

During my long time teaching I have gathered a lot of tongue twisters.

The majority of them were given to me by Americans with whom I had a chance to be in contact.

I want to share them with you.

TONGUE TWISTERS (1)

A skunk sat on a stump and thunk (thought) the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, wheres the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Betty Better bought some butter. But, she said, this butters bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my
batter bitter. But a bit of better butter will make my bitter batter better. So she bought a bit of better butter
and made her bitter batter better.

A big black bug bit a big black bear, made the big black bear bleed blood.

The sixth sick sheiks sixth sheeps sick.

I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.

A tutor who tooted a flute, tried to tutor two tooters to toot.

Said the two to their tutor, Is it harder to toot or to tutor two tooters to toot?

Shy Shelly says she shall sew sheets.

I am not the pheasant plucker; Im the pheasant pluckers mate.

I am only plucking pheasants cause the pheasant pluckers running late.

A flea and a fly flew up in a flue. Said the flea, Let us fly! Said the fly, Let us flee! So they flew through a
flaw in the flue.

I need not your needles, theyre needless to me; for kneading of noodles, twere needless, you see.

But did my neat knickers but need to be kneed, I then should have need of needles indeed.

Ruby Rugbys brother bought and brought her back some rubber baby-buggy bumpers.

Which witch wished which wicked wish?

The two-twenty-two train tore through the tunnel.

Twelve twins twirled twelve twigs.

If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?

Swan swam over the sea. Swim, swan, swim! Swan swam back again. Well swum, swan!

I thought a thought. But the thought I thought wasnt the thought I thought I thought.

Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?

On mules we find two legs behind and two we find before. We stand behind before we find what those
behind be for.

One-One was a racehorse; Two-Two was one, too.

When One-One won one race, Two-Two won one, too.

The sawingest saw I ever saw saw was the saw I saw saw in Arkansas.

TONGUE TWISTERS (2)

There was a young fisher named Fisher who fished for a fish in a fissure.

The fish with a grin, pulled the fisherman in; now theyre fishing the fissure for Fischer.

Pretty Kitty Creighton had a cotton batten cat. The cotton batten cat was bitten by a rat.

The kitten that was bitten had a button for an eye, and biting off the button made the cotton batten fly.

She sells sea shells by the sea shore. The shells she sells are surely seashells.

So if she sells shells on the seashore, Im sure she sells seashore shells.

A bitter biting bittern bit a better brother bittern, and the bitter better bittern bit the bitter biter back.

And the bitter bittern, bitten, by the better bitten bittern, said, Im a bitter biter bit, alack!

Mr. See owned a saw. And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw. Now Sees saw sawed Soars seasaw before Soar
saw See, which made Soar sore. Had Soar seen Sees saw before See sawed Soars seesaw, Sees saw
would not have sawed Soars seesaw. So Sees saw sawed Soars seesaw. But it was sad to see Soar so
sore-just because Sees saw sawed Soars seesaw.
I cannot bear to see a bear bear down upon a hare.

When bare of hair he strips the hare, right there I cry, Forebear!

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a 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.

My dame hath a lame tame crane; my dame hath a crane that is lame.

Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep. The seven silly sheep Silly Sally shooed shilly-shallied south.
These sheep shouldnt sleep in a shack; sheep should sleep in a shed.

Youve no need to light a night-light on a light night like tonight. For a night-lights lights a slight light, and
tonights a night thats light. When a nights light, like tonights light, it is really not quite right, to light night-
lights with their slight lights on a light night like tonight.

Crisp crusts crackle crunchily.

Give Papa a cup of proper coffee in a copper coffee cup.

Of all the felt I ever felt, I never felt a piece of felt which felt as fine as that felt felt, when first I felt that felt
hats felt.

Chop shops stock chops.

A blokes back bike brake block broke.

A pleasant place to place a plaice is a place where a plaice is pleased to be placed.

Who washed Washingtons white woolen underwear when Washingtons washer woman went West?

Six thick thistle sticks. Six thick thistles stick.

Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?

Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.