What are tongue twisters?

Everyone knows one tongue twister or another – if in doubt at least the classic „Fisher's Fritz fishes fresh fish …“. In fact, there are a whole range of different tongue twisters:

Tongue twisters with the same initial sound:

In these tongue twisters every word begins with the same sound, e.g. "Ten goats hauled ten hundredweight of sugar to the zoo": If the initial sound is a vowel, the tongue twister is usually quite easy to learn and also suitable as a simple speech exercise for younger children: "Eighty old ants ate eighty pineapples in the evening".

Tongue twisters with the same medial sound:

These tongue twisters consist of words that each or for the most part have the same medial sound, e.g. "Two astronauts chewed and chewed while they picked blue-green moonstones".

Tongue twisters with initial-medial sound combinations:

The most difficult tongue twisters are those in which both initial and medial sounds are repeated - however in alternating combinations: "Red cabbage stays red cabbage and wedding dress stays wedding dress". It becomes even more difficult when intervening sounds like "sch" come into play: "Snails get frightened when snails lick snails, because to the dismay of many snails, snails don't taste good".

Spoonerism tongue twisters:

Spoonerisms are small tongue twisters in the true sense. These little word plays are entertaining on the one hand, and on the other they help children to differentiate and recognize the different sounds and syllables of a word: "In the whole dog-circle there was nothing but round dogs".

Tongue twisters for advanced speakers

For younger children it is a nice exercise to draw a tongue twister while saying it. In this way they can make the connection between the linguistic peculiarities of the tongue twister and the actual meaning of the words. This works especially well with short, relatively simple tongue twisters. Two examples:

„In Ulm, around Ulm and around Ulm" Give your child paper and a pencil so they can draw a city (or just a house). That is Ulm. Now have them draw a circle inside the house – that is in Ulm. Next draw a circle around the house: around Ulm. Finally your child draws a large circle around the first circle – around Ulm. Repeat the tongue twister together while tracing the circles with your finger. „When flies fly behind flies, flies fly after flies" For this tongue twister your child can simply draw a group of flies on the sheet – you might help. Then draw a second group of flies that follows the first. Say the tongue twister together and point to the respective flies that are meant. Longer tongue twisters with z- or sh-sounds are particularly difficult to master. The only thing that helps is practice – again and again, until everyone is in tears of laughter. After all, the fun of tongue twisters lies not only in the funny lines, but especially in the slip-ups.

Between two plum branches sit two pitch-black, Czech-chirping dwarf swallows. On the seven seal-cliffs sit seven seal-clans who poke each other's ribs until they tumble from the cliffs. Fisher's freshly groomed Fritz eats freshly fried fresh-fish patties.

Tongue twisters for children – practical tips for little ones and grown-ups

The grown-ups say the tongue twister slowly and clearly beforehand, if necessary several times – if your child has not understood the meaning of the rhyme, they probably won't be able to remember it.

Repetition is mandatory: A tongue twister must be said at least three times in a row without a pause for it to be really fun.

Practice together: Even adults have difficulty getting certain tongue twisters right without errors. Practice against each other and enjoy together the funniest slip-ups.

No pressure: If your child enjoys the crazy speech exercises, you can 'tongue-twist' to your heart's content. If not, don't force anything – tongue twisters should be fun.

Be patient: Sometimes tongue twisters drive you crazy. If it just won't work, laugh about it – and try again the next day.