Tongue twisters are not only funny, but also good practice for your pronounction. Actors and other speakers regularly use them in exercises, often before their performance, to improve their articulation and to warm up.

The difficulty is very often not in saying the tongue twister once, but in repeating it a few times consecutively. Tongue twisters consist mainly of malapropisms (words that sound similar) and repetition. But also of personal names and loaned, foreign terms. Some tongue twisters are even in the Guinness Book of Records.

In the German language a tongue twister is called ‘Zungenbrecher’, which means tongue breaker – a very apt term. See for your self:

Am zehnten zehnten zehn Uhr zehn zogen zehn zahme Ziegen zehn Zentner Zucker zum Zoo.
On October 10, at 10:10 ten tame goats pulled ten centners of sugar to the zoo.

Bäcker Braun bäckt braune Brezeln. Braune Brezeln bäckt Bäcker Braun.
Baker Brown bakes brown pretzels. Brown pretzels bakes baker Brown.

Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid.

Red cabbage remains red cabbage and wedding dress remains wedding dress.

Denn der, der den Dänen dehnt, der dient den Dänen.

Because that one, that stretches the Danes, is that one that serves the Danes.

Es klapperten die Klapperschlangen, bis ihre Klappern schlapper klangen.
The rattlesnakes rattled until their rattles sounded flabbier.

Fischers Fritz ißt frische Fische, frische Fische ißt Fischers Fritz.
Fischer’s Fritz eats fresh fish; fresh fish eats Fischer’s Fritz.

Im dichten Fichtendickicht sind dicke Fichten wichtig.
In the thick spruce thicket thick spruces are important.

Schnecken erschrecken, wenn Schnecken an Schnecken schlecken, weil zum Schrecken vieler Schnecken, Schnecken nicht schmecken.
Snails are shocked when snails lick snails, because to the shock of many snails, snails don’t taste good.

Zwischen zwei Zwetschgenbäumen zwitschern zwei Schwalben.
Between two plum trees two swallows twitter.

For people of foreign nationality, the German language and German articulation are very complicated in general, but Germans also have difficulties repeating their tongue breakers accurately. This does not only apply to Germans, but occurs in all languages.

PS: My two favourite English tongue twisters are the two below.

How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?

Swan swam over the sea,
Swim, swan, swim!
Swan swam back again
Well swum, swan!

Very nice…

I am planning to summarise some Slovak language tongue twisters for the next time. That will be funny!

See you soon.