Tongue twisters and English pronunciation

One fun way to get used to pronouncing English is to try to say tongue twisters aloud.

These are phrases that are put together to challenge even native speakers of English. Try saying some of these with your friends:

Casual clothes are provisional for leisurely trips across Asia.

Comical economists.

A cheap ship trip.

A gentle judge judges justly

A loyal warrior will rarely worry why we rule.

Keep in mind that when you speak any foreign language, your brain is telling your mouth to move in ways that are completely unfamiliar to you. So pronouncing English correctly is as much a physical exercise – like swimming or riding a bicycle – as it is a mental activity. You must train your face to move in new ways to speak English clearly. These tongue twisters are mostly phrases you will probably never have to say in real life. Yet words that are difficult for some Thai people to pronounce, such as “world wide web,” are familiar common phrases in English. As with any physical exercise, you will become better at these the more you practice. If you cannot say a phrase at all, try it slower. Different Thai people have different problems with pronunciation. Some have the classic Asian problem of confusing the letters l and r. Others do not have a specific difficulty with this issue. Still others only find it hard when an l and an r are close together in a sentence. The more you practice saying such phrases aloud, the more prepared you will be if you must say such words in a public presentation. Any ajarn or student who must deliver a paper in English should prepare for this experience by examining the paper for any words that are especially difficult to pronounce. Especially if you know you must repeat a word several times, be sure you know how to pronounce it before the day of your presentation. If you are in doubt and there is no native English speaker you can ask, online dictionaries exist with pronunciation guides. A computer-generated voice will tell you how to pronounce any word if you click on the little speaker icon of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, for example.

More tongue twisters:

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Dust is a disk’s worst enemy.

Freshly fried flying fish, freshly fried flesh.

Green glass globes glow greenly.

Her whole right hand really hurts.

You should listen repeatedly online to the ideal pronunciation of the word you are unsure of, until you are confident about how to say it. Then try it out on your friends and see if they can do it as well as you. Just as singers and actors have warmup exercises for their voices before they perform, so you can use these tongue twisters as preparation for saying whatever you must say in English.

A pessimistic pest exists amidst us.

A truly rural frugal ruler.

I can think of six thin things and of six thick things too.

If he slipped, should she slip?

Judicial system.

Literally literary.

Mixed biscuits.

Please pay promptly.

 

Another common challenge in pronunciation for some Thai people is when consonants are put together in words ending in cks such as socks or in sks as in risks. Even very intelligent and accomplished students can have problems with these sounds and others because their mouths are not accustomed to receiving messages from their brains to make this sound. The point is to train your brain and face to confront this difficulty, if you are having trouble. The more you practice, the easier it will be. This kind of training takes time, so do not expect miracles overnight.

Seth at Sainsbury’s sells thick socks.

Sexist sixties.

She sees cheese.

She sits in her slip and sips Schlitz.

Synonym cinnamon.

Thieves seize skis.

Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?

World Wide Web

X-ray checks clear chests.

The growth rate will likely decline.

The risk of debt is one of the relative risks.

 

 (all images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).