Tongue Twisters

In order to improve pronunciation, learners may need to build up unused muscles

in their mouths and build the habit of making sounds correctly. Tongue twisters in
which difficult sounds are repeated or contrasted are the calisthenics of
pronunciation practice.

Directions: Choose the tongue twisters which practice the sounds you are working
on. Repeat them three to five times daily. Start saying them slowly and as your
pronunciation improves, say them more quickly.

Tongue Twisters for Vowels

Practice with many vowel sounds /E/, /A/, /«/, //, /I/, /Q/
Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said “This butter’s bitter.
“If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter.”
So, she bought some better butter, better than the bitter butter.
When she put it in her batter, the butter made her batter better.

Practice with many vowel sounds /Q/, /A/, /Aw/, //, /«/, /Ay/,
Gnats are not now gnawing on the nuts at night.

Practice with /iy/ and /I/

The sheep on the ship slipped on the sheet of sleet.
The keen king kissed the quick queen on her green ring.

Practice with diphthongs /Ay/, /y/, and /Aw/

/Ay/ Quite nice white mice
/Aw/ How now brown cow
/y/ The spoiled boy foiled the coy boy’s joy by purloining his toy.

Practice with /ow/

Joe told a joke he wrote on his own.
I know that’s not the note that Noel wrote.
The coat from the coast cost more than most
Practice with /uw/, /U/, and /«/
Make some fun, funky food and with some luck
You can bake a kooky cookie or stew a stupid duck
You can look it all up in a cool cook book
Or you can find a good excuse why you shouldn’t have to cook.

Practice with /uw/

There was a rude dude in the mood for food.
Whenever he chewed we all viewed his food.
The better the food, the more he chewed,
So I served crude food to this rude dude.

Practice with /U/

How much wood could a woodchuck could chuck wood? If a woodchuck could
chuck wood in a truck, would a woodchuck cluck while the wood was chucked?

Practice with long and short vowels

· Put the bad bat back in the bag.
· It didn’t faze the thief to thieve in my face.
· He let himself be led to the place for the plays.
· The man in the cap had a hat and a cap.
Tongue Twisters for consonants
Practice with /T/, /D/ (TH)
Thirty thousand thirsty snakes thirstily drank three thousand lakes.

Whether the weather is cold, or whether the weather is hot,

We’ll be together whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.

Practice with /r/, /l/, /n/

‘Round and ‘round the rugged rocks the raggedly rascal ran.

Little Lucy likes to lick lemon-lime lollypops.

Nice Nancy nibbles nervously on nuts.

Red lorry, yellow lorry

Little Red Riding Hood

Practice with /s/, /z/, /S/ (SH), /tS/ (CH), /dZ/, and /j/ (y)
Suzy sells seashells by the seashore where the sun shines on the shop signs.

Yellow Jell-O, cherry cheesecake, sweet sugar cookies and a chocolate chip shake.

Practice with /p/ and /f/

Note: (Be very careful with this one!!!)
I’m not a pheasant plucker, I’m the pheasant plucker’s son,
And I’m only plucking pheasants until the pheasant pluckers come.

Practice with /b/ and /v/

There’s a ban on vans at the curb by the curve.

I’m very bad at volleyball, but very fine at basketball.

Practice with /p/ and /b/

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Barney Babbitt bagged a bushel of big blue berries.

Practice with /v/ and /w/

We are very weary of wearing white woven wool.
We wish to wear vivid violet velvet vintage vests.
WLHS  Theatre  Arts  –  Acting  I  

TONGUE  TWISTERS  
You  must  memorize  and  be  able  to  recite  three  of  any  of  the  following  SHORT  tongue  twisters  
for  a  full  15  points.  OR,  you  can  memorize  and  recite  ONE  SHORT  and  ONE  LONG  for  a  full  15  
points.    If  you  would  like  2  points  extra  credit,  you  can  recite  one  extra  tongue  twister  (short  
or  long).    
 
When  reciting,  please  think  of  vocal  projection,  posture,  and  articulation!  
   
 
SHORT:    
 
The  lips,  the  teeth,  the  tip  of  the  tongue,  the   Can  you  imagine  an  imaginary  Menagerie  
toes  with  tips  to  tickle   Manager  imagining  
managing  an  imaginary  Menagerie?  
A  big  black  bug  bit  a  big  black  bear,  made  a  big    
black  bear  bleed  blood   A  pale  pink  proud  peacock  pompously  preened  
its  pretty  plumage.  
How  much  wood  could  a  woodchuck  chuck  if  a    
woodchuck  could  chuck  wood?   If  a  dog  chews  shoes,  which  shoes  should  he  
choose  to  chew?  
Red  leather  yellow  leather  blue  leather  purple    
leather   You  can  have  
Fried  fresh  fish  
Unique  New  York  Unique  New  York  you  know   Fish  fried  fresh  
you  need  Unique  New  York   Fresh  fried  fish  
Fresh  fish  fried  
I  am  a  mother  pheasant  plucker,  I  pluck  mother   Or  fish  fresh  fried  .  
pheasants.  I  am  the  best  mother  pheasant    
plucker  to  ever  pluck  a  mother  pheasant   Vigorous  Vesta  voiced  voluble  verse  
  vociferously.  
Tricky  Tristan  eats  Tasty  Treats  on  Tuesdays    
while  tickling  his  tiny  toddler,  Tim   I  often  sit  and  think  and  fish  and  s  it  and  fish  
  and  think  and  sit  and  fish  -­‐  and  think  -­‐  and  wish  
A  tidy  tiger  tied  a  tie  tighter  to  tidy  her  tiny  tail.   that  I  could  get  a  fish.  
   
Seventeen  slimy  slugs  sat  in  Satin  sunbonnets   A  skunk  sat  on  a  stump,  
singing  short  sad  songs.   The  skunk  thunk  the  stump  stunk  
  And  the  stump  thunk  the  skunk  stunk.  
A  rhinoceros  rushed  into  a  restaurant  and    
ordered  ribs  of  beef,  rabbit,  rolls,  raspberries,   I  was  looking  back  
radishes  ,  rhubarb  pie  and  rice.   To  see  if  she  was  looking  back  
  To  see  if  I  was  looking  back  
  To  see  if  she  was  looking  back  at  me.  
   
  She  stood  on  the  balcony  inexplicably  
  mimicking  him  hiccuping  
  and  welcoming  him  in  
WLHS  Theatre  Arts  –  Acting  I  

LONG:    
   
To  sit  in  sullen  silence     A  peck  of  pickled  pepper  Peter  Piper  picked;  
On  a  dull  dark  dock   If  Peter  Piper  picked  a  peck  of  pickled  peppers,  
In  a  pestilential  prison   Where's  the  peck  of  pickled  pepper  Peter  Piper  
With  a  life  long  lock   picked?  
Awaiting  the  sensation    
Of  a  short  sharp  shock   A  flea  and  a  fly  in  a  flue  
From  a  cheap  and  chippy  chopper   were  in  trouble  so  what  could  they  do?  
On  a  big  black  block   Said  the  fly,  "  Let  us  flee"  
  Said  the  flea  ,  "  Let  us  fly"  
If  a  doctor  doctored  another  doctor,   so  they  flew  through  a  flaw  in  the  flue.  
Would  the  doctor  doing  the  doctoring    
Doctor  the  other  doctor   If  Timothy  Theophilus  Thicklewade  Thackham  
In  the  way  the  doctored  doctor  wanted  to  be   thrust  his  two  thick  thumbs  through  three  
doctored,  Or  would  the  doctor  doing  the   hundred  and  thirty  three  thousand  
doctoring  Doctor  the  other  doctor   three  hundred  and  thirty  three  thick  and  thin  
In  his  own  way?   thistles,  where  are  the  three  hundred  and  thirty  
  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  
The  Duke  paid  the  money  due  to  the  Jew  before   thirty  three  thick  and  thin  thistles  that  Timothy  
the  dew  was  off  the  grass  on  Tuesday   Theophilus  Thicklewade  Thackham  thrust  his  
And  the  Jew  having  duly  acknowledged  it  said   two  thick  thumbs  through  ?  
adieu  to  the  Duke  for  ever.    
  Whether  the  weather  be  fine  
  Or  whether  the  weather  be  not,  
  Whether  t  e  weather  be  cold  
  Or  whether  the  weather  be  hot,  
  We'll  weather  the  weather  
  Whatever  the  weather,  
  Whether  we  like  it  or  not    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tongue Twisters for beginners

"A big black bug bit a big black dog on his big black nose."

"Eleven owls licked eleven, little, liquorice lollipops."

"Fresh fried fish, fish fresh fried, fried fish fresh, fish fried fresh."

"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood"

"I can think of six thin things, but I can think of six thick things too."

"If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?"

"Not these things here, but those things there."

"Red leather yellow leather."

"Red lorry, yellow lorry."

"Zebra zig and zebra zag."

“A tricky frisky snake with sixty super scaly stripes.”

“Give papa a cup of proper coffee in a copper coffee cup."

“She sells sea shells by the sea shore."

“The big bug bit the little beetle, but the little beetle bit the big bug back."
Tongue Twisters for advanced English speakers

 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?

 Denise sees the fleece,

Denise sees the fleas.
At least Denise could sneeze
and feed and freeze the fleas

 There was a fisherman named Fisher

who fished for some fish in a fissure.
Till a fish with a grin,
pulled the fisherman in.
Now they're fishing the fissure for Fisher.

 When I went to Warsaw, I saw a saw that could out saw any saw that I ever saw. Now, if
you go to Warsaw and see a saw that could out saw the saw I saw, I'd like to see your
saw saw.

 Out in the pasture the nature watcher watches the catcher. While the catcher watches
the pitcher who pitches the balls. Whether the temperature's up or whether the
temperature's down, the nature watcher, the catcher and the pitcher are always
around. The pitcher pitches, the catcher catches and the watcher watches. So whether
the temperature's rises or whether the temperature falls the nature watcher just
watches the catcher who's watching the pitcher who's watching the balls.
 If you understand, say "understand".
If you don't understand, say "don't understand".
But if you understand and say "don't understand".
how do I understand that you understand. Understand!?

 A bitter biting bittern bit a better biting bittern

And the better biting bittern bit the bitter biting bittern back.
Said the bitter biting bittern to the better biting bittern
“I’m a bitter biting bittern bitten back”

 Esau Wood saw a wood saw, saw wood, as no wood saw would saw wood. If Esau Wood
saw a wood saw, saw wood, as no wood saw would saw wood, where is the wood saw
which would saw wood, as no wood saw would saw wood.

 Sheila is selling her shop at the seashore

For shops at the seashore are so sure to lose
And she’s not so sure of what she should be selling
Should Sheila sell seashells or should she sell shoes