[For Seniors] Oral Exercises to Keep Eating Deliciously and Enjoyably
Daily meals are important for staying healthy for years to come.
To help older adults enjoy their meals, try actively incorporating oral exercises into your daily routine.
As we age, it becomes harder to swallow food, and the risk of choking and aspiration increases.
To help prevent aspiration, simple oral exercises before eating are recommended.
In this article, we introduce easy pre-meal oral exercises recommended for older adults.
To improve swallowing, it’s important not only to exercise the mouth but also to loosen the muscles around the mouth, as well as the shoulders and neck.
Incorporate these oral exercises and enjoy your meals.
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[For Seniors] Oral Exercises to Keep Eating Deliciously and Enjoyably Forever (41–50)
The plum that Mr. Umeda from Ome planted turned into delicious umeboshi.
This is a tongue twister that tells a plum-themed story, notable for its repeated use of the word “ume.” Push your lips forward when pronouncing the “u” sound, and be mindful of the contrast with the following sounds to move your mouth fully.
Another key point is that “ue” is mixed in with “ume,” which makes the overall phrase trickier to say due to its accent pattern.
If you pay attention to your lip movements and clearly visualize the story, it should become easier to pronounce.
Frogs hop hop, three hop hop; together hop hop, six hop hop.
A classic tongue twister that depicts frogs gathering—such a cute-sounding phrase.
The key is the lip movement and breath control for “pyoko.” You close your lips once to pronounce “pyo,” then release breath to produce “ko.” Be mindful of the combination and articulate it clearly.
Think of using your breath consciously to train not only your mouth but also the muscles in your throat.
Also, placing a different mouth shape right before the lip-focused “pyo” makes it harder to say, which in turn helps you focus more deliberately on shaping your lips.
This sushi has a bit too much vinegar.
It’s a tongue twister that sounds like a simple comment about sushi, as if taken from everyday conversation.
The way you move your mouth for “su” and “shi” is important, and how you use your breath is also key for smooth pronunciation.
If you focus on rounding your lips for “su” and spreading your lips sideways while keeping your teeth closed for “shi,” you can engage your mouth muscles properly.
Using breath will also make the “s” sounds clearer, so that’s another point to watch.
It’s helpful to start by paying attention to your mouth shape and then gradually increase your speed.
Again, mama—eyelid, blink
It’s a simple yet tricky tongue-twister that depicts an ordinary mom in her everyday life.
Since it contains many instances of the sound “ma,” which is pronounced after briefly closing the lips, it’s important to move your mouth clearly.
From there, gradually increasing your speed should be manageable.
Also, because different words using “ma” appear in succession and can be confusing, keep your focus on the upcoming words.
If you vividly imagine the scene described by the phrase, the flow of the words becomes easier to grasp, so that’s recommended as well.
Papa Panda, Mama Panda, Grandpa Panda, Grandma Panda
Tongue twisters with animal themes are a classic.
Through the words, you can picture a cute scene with animals lined up.
Sounds like “pa” and “ma” are hard to pronounce unless you close your lips first, so when they come in succession, the key is that your mouth really has to move.
Because you need to take the time to close your lips, being mindful of your mouth movements is important if you want to speak clearly while increasing speed.
Aim for clear pronunciation first, then gradually pick up the pace to train the muscles around your mouth.
A monk skillfully painted a picture of a monk on a folding screen.
It’s one of the classic tongue twisters in Japan, and the phrase evokes scenes like those from rakugo or old folktales.
Because words with similar sounds appear in sequence—like bōsu (monk), byōbu (folding screen), and jōzu (skilled)—be sure to pay close attention to the subtle differences in pronunciation and mouth movements.
If you find it hard to connect smoothly to the next word, it can help to understand the meaning of the tongue twister and visualize the scene.
Also, avoid letting the sounds blur together, like saying “boo-zu” or “byoo-bu”; that won’t train your articulation.
The key is to consciously pronounce the “u” sounds as well.
There are two chickens in the garden.
A classic tongue twister that depicts chickens in a garden, notable for the repeated ‘niwa’ sounds.
Since ‘ni’ is pronounced with the lips stretched sideways and ‘wa’ with the mouth opened wider, focusing on articulation gives the muscles around your mouth a solid workout.
The faster you go, the harder it is to distinguish the next word, making it easy to miscount how many times ‘niwa’ appears—another key feature of this phrase.
To pronounce it smoothly, it’s important to clearly visualize the scene the words describe and to pay attention not only to pronunciation but also to accent.