Tongue Twisters
A tongue twister is a word or a series of words that are difficult to pronounce. Tongue twisters are fun, but they may also be used to emphasise certain aspects of pronunciation.
Below is a series of tongue twisters that may be used as pronunciation excercises. I have added suggested topics for observation.
Number 1:
I am not the pheasant plucker. I'm the pheasant plucker's son. I'm only plucking pheasants 'till the pheasant plucker comes.
Focus:
distinctive consonants - [f] [t] [k]
vowels: [ʌ]
Number 2:
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,
where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
Focus:
Prosody - asking questions / making statements
consonants: [p]
vowels: [e] [I]
Number 3:
Betty Botter had some butter,
"But," she said, "this butter's bitter.
If I bake this bitter butter,
it would make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter--
that would make my batter better."
So she bought a bit of butter,
better than her bitter butter,
and she baked it in her batter,
and the batter was not bitter.
So 'twas better Betty Botter
bought a bit of better butter.
Focus:
consonants: [t]
vowels: [ʌ] [ɒ] [ɔ:]
Number 4:
She sells sea shells by the seashore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells.
Focus:
consonants: [ʃ] [s]
vowels: [e] [i:] [ɔ :]
Number 5:
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.
Focus:
consonants: [f] [θ]
vowels: [i:] [u:] [ɔ :]
Number 6:
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.
Focus:
consonants: [tʃ ] [w]
vowels: [ʌ ] [ʊ ] [aʊ ]