Tongue Twisters for Pronunciation Practice

Every country and language has them. Tongue twisters are a part of the life, the culture and the unique experience of growing up in any country. Maybe your remember doing these to kill time on a long car trip. I certainly do. In pre-internet times, tongue twisters, a game of “I spy” or “20 Questions” was always a good time. Try some of these for fun, and with all the extra repetition, you’ll improve your English at the same time.

To practise the pronunciation of P, try these tongue twisters:

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?

To practise the pronunciation of B & V try these tongue twisters:

Blue blurry vines blind

Betty loves the velvet vest best

Barber baby bubbles and a bumblebee

Burnt base, vicious vase

Vivacious Val vacuumed Violet’s very vivid vehicle

Eleven benevolent elephants (x3)

Betty Botter bought some butter
But she said the butter’s bitter
If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter
But a bit of better butter will make my batter better
So ‘twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter

A very big bevy of very blue blueberries

To practise the pronunciation of “Th” try these tongue twisters:

I thought I thought of thinking of thanking you

Tom threw Tim three thumbtacks

He threw three free throws

Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better

To practise the pronunciation of L and R try these tongue twisters:

How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

Red lorry, yellow lorry (x3)

Red leather, yellow leather (x3)

Two tried and true tridents (x3)

Rolling red wagons (x3)

To practise the pronunciation of S, Sh, and Ch try these tongue twisters:

She sells seashells by the seashore
And the shells that she sells
Are sea shells I’m sure

I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop
Susie works in a shoeshine shop.
Where she shines she sits,
and where she sits she shines

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

If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?

I wish to wash my Irish wristwatch

We surely shall see the sun shine soon

She sees cheese (x3)

I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit

I saw a kitten eating chicken in the kitchen

Enjoy yourself, don’t be shy. Just give it a try, and be sure to shut the doors and turn up the music. You can download a copy using the widget below: