Are these the most difficult tongue twisters?
The Oxford dictionary explains tongue twister as a “sequence of words or sounds, typically of an alliterative kind, that are difficult to pronounce quickly and correctly.”
On the other hand many native English speakers will remember tongue twisters from their school days. Teachers have long used tongue twisters in class as a fun way to work on pronunciation and especially to pronounce words that repeat a similar sound. When repeated sounds are placed one after another in a sentence, it becomes really difficult to say, let alone say quickly.
As someone who is learning English or studying English abroad, tongue twisters are a great way to practice your pronunciation in order to become a clear and confident English speaker. It’s also a useful exercise to practice sounds that might not exist in other languages. But we warn you, don't be disheartened if you don't get it the first or fifth time round.
The Tongue Twister Challenge
We challenged some native speakers to attempt these tongue twisters, watch the video to find out how well they did – we can say it wasn't easy for them – can you beat them?
Are you willing to go up against a native English speaker?
Share your video on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook using the #KaplanTongueTwisters. Here are the tongue twisters seen in the video:
- Cheap sheep sock shops seek to stock sheep chopsticks
- We surely shall see the sun shine soon
- Rarely leary, Larry’s reeling when Larry rear-ends Rory’s lorry
- He threw three free throws
- Tom threw Tim three thumb tacks
- Three thin thieves thought a thousand thoughts. Now if three thin thieves thought a thousand thoughts how many thoughts did each thief think?
Do you have any other tongue twisters you want to hear a native English speaker attempt? Comment below.
