Tongue Twisters at the
English Lesson
I would like to tell you about my experience of working with tongue
twisters at English lessons. In my opinion, they are very useful in all stages of teaching
English, because of their shortness and full sense they are rather convenient as
pre-activity and post-activity at each lesson.
1. In early classes students find in them certain letters and
combinations of letters according to a definite rule of reading and try to read them.
2. Later, tongue twisters are used during phonetic drills at the
beginning of the lessons, where the students learn to pronounce this or that sound
correctly, that is as gymnastics for lips and tongue.
3. Among the proposed 3 or 4 tongue twisters you can find regular or
irregular verbs, words formed with prefixes and suffixes, and examples of some grammar
aspects (Participles, verb tenses, etc.).
4. When translating and learning them by heart students enrich their
vocabulary.
5. It is good to work on intonation of English sentences, when the
students pronounce a tongue twister as if they are young, old-aged, tired, frightened,
proud, complaining, gossiping, etc.
6. Finally, it is funny material for extra-classes, when children are
asked to illustrate or dramatize them, or to compete in the speed of reading them.
7. It goes without saying, tongue twisters are a part of English
folklore, which helps us to understand this language better.
In the upper grades students compose tongue twisters themselves. Here
are the stages:
The teacher offers some words, for example: to shoo, to shoot, a shoot,
a shooter.
Тeacher: What is common to these words?
Class: [u:]
Тeacher: What other words with these sounds do you know?
Class: Shoes, shoe-tree, shoe-string, shoe-lace, shoeblack,
shoemaker (students use dictionary).
Тeacher: Let us combine some of these words into one sentence.
Class gives some variants, for example:
A shoemaker takes a shoe-tree and a shoe-string and shoe shooter.
A shoemaker and a shoeblack, shoo a shooter with a shoe-string.
– Shoo a shooter who shoots in the shoot wood.
– Shame on you, shooter in shoes.
VARIANT 2
Тeacher: Find some words with the sounds [bi:].
Class: Be, beetle, bee, beef, busy, beer. . .
Composed tongue twisters:
– Be as busy as a bee, but not beef-witted as a beetle.
– A bee and a beetle beat a beefeater.
– A bee and a beetle are busy eating beef and drinking beer.
You see, we can use any sound we like.
Such work attracts all students – “strong” and “weak”. Among
their creations there are no identical ones. If somebody’s own tongue twister doesn’t
come to our complete works, it is not a misfortune. The process of working is satisfying,
too. Work with tongue twisters impels students to self-education, makes them susceptible
to foreign language. They are not afraid of speaking English, and they express their
emotions in English.
So, try and you will be surprised by the results.
During my long time teaching I have gathered a lot of tongue twisters.
The majority of them were given to me by Americans with whom I had a
chance to be in contact.
I want to share them with you.
TONGUE TWISTERS (1)
A skunk sat on a stump and thunk (thought) the stump stunk, but the
stump thunk the skunk stunk.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Did Peter Piper pick a
peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of
pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
Betty Better bought some butter. “But, “ she said, “this
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 bitter batter better. “ So she bought a bit of better butter
and made her bitter batter better.
A big black bug bit a big black bear, made the big black bear bleed
blood.
The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.
I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.
A tutor who tooted a flute, tried to tutor two tooters to toot.
Said the two to their tutor, “Is it harder to toot or to tutor two
tooters to toot?”
Shy Shelly says she shall sew sheets.
I am not the pheasant plucker; I’m the pheasant plucker’s mate.
I am only plucking pheasants ‘cause the pheasant plucker’s running
late.
A flea and a fly flew up in a flue. Said the flea, “Let us fly!”
Said the fly, “Let us flee!” So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
I need not your needles, they’re needless to me; for kneading of
noodles, ‘twere needless, you see.
But did my neat knickers but need to be kneed, I then should have need
of needles indeed.
Ruby Rugby’s brother bought and brought her back some rubber
baby-buggy bumpers.
Which witch wished which wicked wish?
The two-twenty-two train tore through the tunnel.
Twelve twins twirled twelve twigs.
If Stu chews shoes, should Stu choose the shoes he chews?
Swan swam over the sea. Swim, swan, swim! Swan swam back again. Well
swum, swan!
I thought a thought. But the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I
thought I thought.
Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an
imaginary menagerie?
On mules we find two legs behind and two we find before. We stand
behind before we find what those behind be for.
One-One was a racehorse; Two-Two was one, too.
When One-One won one race, Two-Two won one, too.
The sawingest saw I ever saw saw was the saw I saw saw in Arkansas.
TONGUE TWISTERS (2)
There was a young fisher named Fisher who fished for a fish in a
fissure.
The fish with a grin, pulled the fisherman in; now they’re fishing
the fissure for Fischer.
Pretty Kitty Creighton had a cotton batten cat. The cotton batten cat
was bitten by a rat.
The kitten that was bitten had a button for an eye, and biting off the
button made the cotton batten fly.
She sells sea shells by the sea shore. The shells she sells are surely
seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore, I’m sure she sells seashore
shells.
A bitter biting bittern bit a better brother bittern, and the bitter
better bittern bit the bitter biter back.
And the bitter bittern, bitten, by the better bitten bittern, said,
“I’m a bitter biter bit, alack!”
Mr. See owned a saw. And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw. Now See’s saw sawed
Soar’s seasaw before Soar saw See, which made Soar sore. Had Soar seen See’s saw
before See sawed Soar’s seesaw, See’s saw would not have sawed Soar’s seesaw. So
See’s saw sawed Soar’s seesaw. But it was sad to see Soar so sore-just because See’s
saw sawed Soar’s seesaw.
I cannot bear to see a bear bear down upon a hare.
When bare of hair he strips the hare, right there I cry,
“Forebear!”
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.
My dame hath a lame tame crane; my dame hath a crane that is lame.
Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep. The seven silly sheep
Silly Sally shooed shilly-shallied south. These sheep shouldn’t sleep in a shack; sheep
should sleep in a shed.
You’ve no need to light a night-light on a light night like tonight.
For a night-light’s light’s a slight light, and tonight’s a night that’s light.
When a night’s light, like tonight’s light, it is really not quite right, to light
night-lights with their slight lights on a light night like tonight.
Crisp crusts crackle crunchily.
Give Papa a cup of proper coffee in a copper coffee cup.
Of all the felt I ever felt, I never felt a piece of felt which felt as
fine as that felt felt, when first I felt that felt hat’s felt.
Chop shops stock chops.
A bloke’s back bike brake block broke.
A pleasant place to place a plaice is a place where a plaice is pleased
to be placed.
Who washed Washington’s white woolen underwear when Washington’s
washer woman went West?
Six thick thistle sticks. Six thick thistles stick.
Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?
Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
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