| Archive for langcafe2.myfreeforum.org Come in and have your daily cup of languages! |
| Deborah |
Tongue TwistersHere's a very large collection of tongue twisters in different languages:http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/index.htm I'm partial to the simple, say-it-5-times-quickly type, such as "Stupid superstition!" |
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| patriccke |
My worst nightmare when I was in Bristol was "coach station". Never managed to pronounce it at a normal speed! Like the Italian "associazione" (even more difficult with the bolognese pronounciation) | ||
| KSa |
As for me, the most discouraging twisters in English are the words ending in -rth. Basically, unlike many people I don't have any problems with "th", but this combination of "r" and "th" sometimes drives me mad.
In Polish, "W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie" is a classical example of tongue twisters. I must admit I have to speak slowly to pronounce it correctly. The critical point is to jump smoothly from "chrząSZCZ" to "BRZmi" . |
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| Walker |
Maybe that's the Polish tongue twister I once heard. Three Polish exchange students once said it a couple of times but I couldn't even begin to pronounce it. |
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| Loic |
Not really a tongue twister in the classical definition, but my tongue always trips over whenever I say "autant que je sache" or as far as I know.
It is making the smooth transition from "je" and "sache" that trips me all the time. I have to end up saying it slowly. |
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| Deborah |
What's the bolognese pronunciation? |
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| patriccke |
"s" tends to be pronounced between "s" and "sh" (above all before consonant)
"z" is pronounced in the Spanish way when it should be "ts", more or less as in the English "the" when it should be "dz" |
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| André in Zuid-Afrika |
In Afrikaans...
1)Wie weet waar Willie Wouter woon? Willie Wouter woon waar die weste winde waai! 2)Die duiwel druk die domme donkie dwarsdeur die driedubbele doringdraad, dat die domme donkie dwarsdeur die driedubbele doringdraad dwars draai. 3)Die dikke dokter Daan Diederichs drink Dinsdag die derde Desember drie drinkbekers dronkmakende drank; daarna dreig die drankduiwel die dokter, dog die dokter druk die drankduiwel daar doer dwarsdeur die driedubbele doringdraad duskant die damwal. 4)My liewe neef Louw, my neus jeuk nou. Jeuk my liewe neef Louw se neus ook nou? 5)Wie weet waar Willem Wouter woon? Willem Wouter woon waar warm water wyn word. Wie weet waar warm water wyn word? Warm water word wyn waar westewinde waai. Wie weet waar westewinde waai? Weste winde waai waar Wies wasgoed was. 6)Waatlemoenkonfytkompetisie 7)Wat was wat voor wat wat was? |
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| Uriel |
Um, Vanna, I'd like to buy a vowel.... 
Well, there are the old standbys: Betty Botter bought some butter. But she said: "This butter's bitter. If I put it in my batter, it would make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter, that would make my batter better". So she bought a bit of butter, better than her bitter butter, and she put it in her batter, and the batter wasn't bitter. So it was better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter! |
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| Deborah |
Big bad bug's black blood. (Say it quickly several times.) | ||
| Joanne |
One in Tagalog:
Palakang Kabkab, kumakalabukab, kaka-kalabukab pa lamang, kumakalabukab na naman. Another in English: I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit. Upon the slitted sheet, I sit. |
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| André in Zuid-Afrika |
Yes, I always struggle at that point....   
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| Didier69 |
Here is one tongue twister in French :
"les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches ou archisèches ?" |
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| Deborah |
Ah! At last, something that I would consider a tongue twister. So many so-called tongue twisters are just sentences made up of words that begin with the same sound, and are actually very easy to pronounce. But the s/ch (or s/sh, in English) can be relied on to cause confusion. Example: I'm a sheet slitter -- I slit sheets. |
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