Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters in the ESL classroom – yes or no?

Although most don't make any sense at all, they can certainly help your students improve theirpronunciation skills.

Besides, they’re a lot of fun! So, to spice things up a bit and inject a dose of silliness in the classroom, try using some of these classic tongue twisters combined with our useful suggestions for teaching them below:

Classic Tongue Twisters

Peter Piper 

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?

Woodchuck
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.

Easy Tongue Twisters

Ice Cream 

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

I Saw Susie

I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop.

Medium Tongue Twisters

Fuzzy Wuzzy 

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy, was he?

Can you can a can 

Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?

I have got a date 

I have got a date at a quarter to eight; I’ll see you at the gate, so don’t be late.

Two witches, two watches 

If two witches would watch two watches, which witch would watch which watch?

Difficult Tongue Twisters

Betty Botter 

Betty Botter had some butter, “But,” she said, “this butter's bitter. If I bake this bitter butter, 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 baked it in her batter, and the batter was not bitter. So 'twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.

Doctor doctoring 

When a doctor doctors a doctor, does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as the doctor being doctored wants to be doctored or does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as he wants to doctor?