Perfect for pronunciation practice! A collection of English tongue twisters.
Tongue twisters are used a lot in Japan for fun and for practicing enunciation.
Did you know that these tongue twisters actually exist in English, too?
In English, tongue twisters are called “tongue twisters.”
Tongue twisters are very useful when learning English pronunciation, and they can even help you practice sounds that Japanese speakers often find difficult!
In this article, we’ll introduce English tongue twisters like these.
Even when words sound similar, they often feature subtle differences in how they’re pronounced, so you can study the distinctions between each sound as well.
Be sure to practice and master English pronunciation!
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- A collection of words that start with “de”. Perfect for shiritori and word games.
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Perfect for pronunciation practice! A collection of English tongue twisters (11–20)
Eight apes ate eight apples.
The trick is to open your mouth sideways and really use your jaw when pronouncing it! “Eight apes ate eight apples” is a tongue twister that means “Eight monkeys ate eight apples.” Except for the final word “apples,” all the other words use the /eɪ/ sound.
When you listen, you can hear the repeated “ay” sound.
The key to this tongue twister is to clearly distinguish the sounds of “a” and “e,” and to smoothly connect “eight apes” and “ate eight” as you say them.
If you link them smoothly while paying attention to your mouth shape and movement, you’ll nail it!
Vivian believes violent,violet bugs have very big value.
A tongue twister where distinguishing between B and V is important.
"Vivian believes violent, violet bugs have very big value" は、日本語で「ビビアンは乱暴なスミレ色の虫には大きな価値があると信じている」という意味の早口言葉です。
The letter B is pronounced the same as the Japanese ba-gyo sounds, with the lips closed once before releasing.
V, on the other hand, is a sound that doesn’t exist in Japanese.
To pronounce V, lightly touch your upper front teeth to your lower lip and let the sound vibrate.
If you focus on making a clear difference in your lip movement, you can master the difference between B and V!
In conclusion
We’ve introduced some English tongue twisters—how did you like them? If you try translating each one into Japanese, some of them turn out pretty amusing, so be sure to check the Japanese translations as well. Since they use your mouth and tongue even more than Japanese, take breaks and have fun!