Tongue twisters are very hard to say. As the name suggests, they can tangle your tongue. You should know that they are a great thing to use to impress your friends. Tongue twisters are a fun and engaging way to improve your language skills. Let’s see how!
They Can Help You with Perfecting Your Accent
In tongue twisters, the same groups of sounds are repeated. Because of that, the repetitions are pretty hard to pronounce. The more you practice them, the more familiar you become with the sounds, and this way, you improve your accent.
They Can Help You Learn Vowels
Let’s be honest – you can use a tongue twister to impress some people, but memorizing it won’t give you much useful vocabulary. Whether you want to learn one of the most popular languages spoken globally or just decided to learn a niche language, tongue twisters can improve your other language skills in a fun way! For example, they can help you to learn sounds and vowels.
The tongue twister “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” is a great tool to practice English vowels. Many different-sounding vowels are put between similar-sounding consonants. Once you master them, you can easily use them in everyday conversations.
They Can Improve Your Tonal Speech
Many languages, including Mandarin Chinese, Hmong, Vietnamese, and Thai, operate more on tonal sounds than consonants and vowels. You can find many tone-based tongue twisters, in which the pitch of syllables changes, and the consonants and vowels stay the same.
These types of tongue twisters are a great help for everyone who wants to master tonal speech.
How to Learn a Tongue Twister
First, you need to find the right tongue twister. It is pretty easy to do. You can google tongue twister plus the language you are learning. Be sure to pick the most common ones, as they are perfect to start with.
Try to find a recording with someone saying them, or ask a native speaker to say them to you. This way, you will know exactly how to pronounce them. While repeating a tongue twister, record yourself, for example, on your phone. Afterwards, listen to the recording to know which parts you need to work on more.
Once you can say the tongue twister slowly, speed up your pace. Increase it as much as possible. The faster you can say it, the more of a pro you are!
Other Benefits of Practicing Tongue Twisters
When you practice a tongue twister, you boost your memory. Your brain can later recall tricky phrases and automatically use the speaking skills you need in everyday life. Additionally, when learning complicated sentences, you pay more attention to details. That is a great skill to have, not only for mastering a language but also in everyday life.
Conclusions
You can find various tongue twisters in many languages on the internet for free. Use them to challenge yourself and improve your accent and pronunciation. Always practice them out loud – with others or in front of the mirror. That’s the best way to bring your speaking skills to the next level.
