Forty real tongue twisters from languages all over the world. Each one is printed big in its own language, with a say-it-out-loud guide, its literal translation, and a chili-rated Twist-o-Meter. Say each one three times fast.
## O rato roeu a roupa do rei de Roma.
No. 1 · Brazilian Portuguese
The rat gnawed the clothes of the king of Rome.
In Portuguese, the starting 'R' sounds like a heavy, raspy 'H' deep in your throat. Repeating that deep friction quickly makes you sound like a panting dog!
## Μια πάπια μα ποια πάπια; Μια πάπια με παπιά.
No. 2 · Greek
mia papia ma pia papia? mia papia me papia.
A duck, but which duck? A duck with ducklings.
Greek shifts accents to change words. 'Pápia' means a duck, but 'papiá' means ducklings. Saying it fast sounds like a DJ scratching a record with P and A sounds!
## Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse, sont-elles sèches? Archi-sèches.
No. 3 · French
The socks of the archduchess, are they dry? Extra dry.
Forces your tongue to rapidly switch between a hissing S and a shushing SH. Going too fast creates a mouth traffic jam, making you say 'sho-shesh' instead!
## Pštros s pštrosicí a pštrosáčaty šli do pštrosačárny.
No. 4 · Czech
A male ostrich with a female ostrich and baby ostriches went to the ostrich house.
Czech is famous for skipping vowels. To say ostrich, you must pop your lips, hush, tap your teeth, and roll an R before any vowel appears!
## 妈妈骑马，马慢，妈妈骂马。
No. 5 · Mandarin Chinese
māma qí mǎ, mǎ màn, māma mà mǎ.
Mom rides horse, horse slow, mom scolds horse.
Mandarin uses pitch to change meaning. If you mess up the high pitch of 'mom' and the dipping pitch of 'horse', the horse rides your mom!
## 一蚊一斤龜，七蚊一斤雞。
No. 6 · Cantonese
jat1 man1 jat1 gan1 gwai1, cat1 man1 jat1 gan1 gai1.
One dollar one catty turtle, seven dollars one catty chicken.
The trap is making a 'gw' sound versus a 'g' sound. Form a tight W for turtle, but stay flat for chicken, or you buy a twicken!
## 隣の客はよく柿食う客だ。
No. 7 · Japanese
tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kuu kyaku da.
Next-door's customer is often persimmon eating customer.
You smash 'k' and 'y' together for kyaku, then spit out pure 'k' sounds for kaki kuu. Your tongue gets tangled doing sharp strikes.
## 저기 저 콩깍지는 깐 콩깍지냐 안 깐 콩깍지냐.
No. 8 · Korean
jeogi jeo kongkkakjineun kkan kongkkakjinya an kkan kongkkakjinya.
Over-there that bean-pod is peeled bean-pod or not peeled bean-pod?
Korean has a tense K sound requiring tight throat muscles. Stacking kong, kkak, and kkan together tightens your throat until you cluck like a chicken!
## රතු රට රටකජු
No. 9 · Sri Lankan Sinhala
rathu rata ratakaju.
Red country peanuts.
The rolled 'R' combined with the sharp 'T' and 'K' sounds makes your tongue trip over its own shoelaces.
## Bumili ako ng bituka ng butiki sa botika
No. 10 · Standard Filipino
Bought I intestine of lizard at pharmacy.
Your lips close for 'B', your tongue taps for 'T', and your throat clicks for 'K' while constantly swapping the vowels.
## ខ្ញុំខ្លាចខ្លាឃ្មុំព្រោះវាចង់ខាំខ្ញុំ
No. 11 · Cambodian Khmer
knhom klach kla kmom prous vea jong kam knhom.
I fear tiger bee because it wants to bite me.
Khmer groups massive consonant chunks. Saying 'klach kla kmom' slams K, L, and M together in your mouth without any breathing vowels between them.
## கொக்கு நெட்ட கொக்கு, நெட்ட கொக்கு இட்ட முட்ட கட்ட முட்ட
No. 12 · Indian Tamil
kokku netta kokku, netta kokku itta mutta katta mutta.
Crane tall crane, tall crane laid egg hard egg.
Tamil uses double-consonants like 'kk' and 'tt'. You must completely stop the airflow in your mouth for a split second before popping the sounds out.
## በግ ቤት በግ ገባ
No. 13 · Amharic
beg bet beg geba.
Sheep house sheep goes in.
B, g, and t sounds are made at completely different parts of your mouth (lips, throat, teeth). Saying it fast squishes them into a single mushy noise!
## أرنبنا في منور أنور وأرنب أنور في منورنا
No. 14 · Egyptian Arabic
arnabna fi manwar anwar, wa arnab anwar fi manwarna.
Our rabbit is in the light-shaft of Anwar, and the rabbit of Anwar is in our light-shaft.
Almost every single word uses the letters n, r, and w. Your tongue gets entirely lost in an endless loop of nasal n's and rolled r's.
## UCele ucambalele ocansini ucabanga ngecebo lokuciba ucilo ngomcibisholo.
No. 15 · Zulu
Cele is lying down on the grass mat thinking about a plan to hurl at a lark with an arrow.
Zulu features percussive click consonants. Every 'c' is a sharp dental click made by sucking your tongue against your front teeth, which ties your tongue in knots between normal vowels.
## El volcán de Parangaricutirimícuaro se quiere desparangaricutirimicuarizar.
No. 16 · Mexican Spanish
The volcano of Parangaricutirimicuaro wants to un-parangaricutirimicuarize itself.
You must navigate two giant twelve-syllable words full of rolling r's and crisp c's and t's without running out of breath or skipping a single beat.