[Recreation] Challenge! A roundup of tongue twisters recommended for elementary school students
Let’s all have fun and exercise our mouths!
We’ve put together some tongue twisters we definitely want elementary schoolers to try.
When you read them, you might think, “These aren’t hard at all,” but when you actually say them, you end up stumbling… Tongue twisters are such a curious kind of game!
You can compete with friends to see who can say them properly, or challenge yourself with harder ones to test your limits—there are lots of ways to play!
Even if you can’t say them smoothly at first, if you keep at it, your articulation might get better and better!
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[Rec] Challenge! A collection of tongue twisters recommended for elementary school students (1–10)
Frogs hop, hop, hop
I think everyone has certain sounds they find hard to pronounce.
Among them, many people struggle with the “ma” consonant row.
So I’d like to share a tongue twister that also works as pronunciation practice: “Kaeru pyoko-pyoko” (frogs hop-hop).
You can probably get through the first half, but the second half has “mikaeru pyoko-pyoko” and “mukaeru pyoko-pyoko,” which are tricky.
Without the “mi” and “mu,” it’s easy, so I do think the “ma” row is what makes it hard.
As a tip, if you consciously take a breath between each phrase, it becomes a little easier to say.
Dialect Girl PucchoNEW!
@sky_it_corporate Could everyone say this?TranslationTranslationtranslation
♬ Original Song – Sky Co., Ltd. [Official] – Sky Co., Ltd. [Official]
Puccho, the candy loved by kids and adults alike.
In this tongue twister, it’s saying, “I told you to save that Puccho for me—why didn’t you keep it?” If you’re not familiar with the dialect, you might not understand a thing even after reading the sentence.
The key to nailing this tongue twister is to set clear breaks as you say it.
First, write out the meaning in words you understand, add pauses, and practice with those divisions.
Red pajamas, yellow pajamas, brown pajamas.
Among the many red-blue-yellow tongue twisters, the one considered the most difficult is “aka pajama, ao pajama, ki pajama” (red pajamas, blue pajamas, yellow pajamas).
Unlike others like “aka makigami, ao makigami, ki makigami” (red scroll, blue scroll, yellow scroll), this one includes phrases with semi-voiced sounds, which significantly raises the difficulty.
It’s recommended to practice the “pajama” part first before attempting the full version.
Just be careful not to overdo it, or you might experience gestalt collapse.
By the way, if the last one is “cha pajama” (brown pajamas) instead of “ki pajama,” it’s even harder.
[Rec] Challenge! A collection of tongue twisters recommended for elementary school students (11–20)
Raw wheat, raw rice, raw eggs
“Nama mugi, nama gome, nama tamago” is a very popular tongue twister.
The tricky part is that it uses a lot of ga- and ma-sounds.
In particular, the middle “nama gome” is hard to say because the ga- and ma-sounds come one after another.
It’s quite difficult, so it might make you frustrated, but try practicing slowly.
By the way, although “nama mugi” isn’t very familiar, it apparently refers to unprocessed barley grains.
It might even spark an interest in food.
Seared short rib
Here’s a tongue twister featuring meat that elementary school kids love! Just hearing or seeing “aburi karubi” (grilled short rib) is enough to make your stomach growl, right? But this phrase is really hard to say… And the more you say it, the deeper you sink into a swamp of not being able to say it at all! When “aburi” and “karubi” are separate, it’s not that difficult, but when you say them together, they start to blend into a mixed-up word and it gets confusing.
One trick is to split it into “aburi-ka” and “rubi,” and focus on saying “rubi.” If you want to make it even harder, try adding “aka” (red), “ao” (blue), and “ki” (yellow) in front of “aburi karubi!”
Three loaches wiggle-wiggle; in total, wiggle-wiggle six wiggle-wiggles.
これは、オノマトペ「にょろにょろ」を使ったかわいい早口言葉です。「三」は「mi」、「六」は「mu」と読んでみてください。「さん」から「にょろ」への切り替えが特に難しいので、意識して練習しましょう。
It’s a classic tongue twister that tends to make you bite your tongue, but imagining loaches wriggling together is fun, and it’s entertaining to keep adding more.
If you’re confident, try saying them in order from 1 and see if you can make it to 9.
Caterpillar Caterpie capybara and chirpily tappy-ing
This is a tongue twister about the Pokémon Caterpie, which looks like a caterpillar.
A caterpillar track is a type of running gear also known as continuous tracks—the wheel section on a hydraulic excavator is an example.
In this scene, a Caterpie fitted with caterpillar tracks is chattering away while drinking tapioca (bubble tea) with a capybara.
It paints a funny picture.
Anyway, there are so many “kya” and “pi” sounds that you’ll probably lose track of what you’re saying halfway through.
Try it while clearly visualizing the scene.