这些英语绕口令你能轻松完成吗?

Can You Wrap Your Words Around These Tongue-Twisters? 这些英语绕口令你能轻松完成吗?

Can you say quickly and successfully: "She sells sea shells by the sea shore?" It is hard even for native speakers to say perfectly¹.

Do you have an idea what this Japanese sentence means?

"Sumomo mo momo momo mo momo, Sumomo mo momo mo momono uchi."

You might think this is about Sumo, the national sport in Japan. Sumo is a kind of martial² art. Two sumo wrestlers fight in a ring. Do you want to know the answer? Continue reading, or play the video.

Saying a tongue-twister is a kind of word game.

People try to say a sentence with many words that sound the same. The goal is saying the sentence quickly with no mistakes.

People play this game to improve their language skills. It seems complicated⁴, but with practice, you can say a tongue-twister well. Of course, it is very fun, too.

The Japanese Conversation Club is a community of American University students with an interest in learning⁶ or sharing the Japanese language. On October 8, some students from this club struggled with tongue-twisters.

International students who learn Japanese are eager to know about Japanese conversation style, Japanese culture and Japanese people. Students from Japan teach Japanese and communicate in everyday language.

The club's English speakers do the same thing. Through this experience, they realize how their familiar language is charming⁷ and difficult to explain.

The English speakers tried Japanese tongue-twisters. They also guess the meaning of the tongue-twisters they tried. The Japanese speakers tried English tongue-twisters.

Nami Irikuchi, an exchange student from Japan, said two English tongue-twisters very well. Every English speaker was surprised because it was also difficult for them.

A tongue-twisters she tried was "Two tiny tigers take two taxis to town."  She could say these repeatedly⁸ three times in a row.

Erin Taylor, an English speaker, studied in Japan for a semester⁹ when she was a high school student. She tried one of the most complicated tongue-twisters. It is "Tokyo tokkyo kyokakyoku kyokutyo kyukyo tokkyo kyoka kyakka." She did a good job. Even a Japanese student could not say it.

The funny sound tongue-twister means that the president of Tokyo patent office hurriedly rejects the permission.

An exchange student, Yuki Nishimura, said he should have practiced before he participated in this activity when he made mistakes.

He challenged "Ted⁵ fed Fred bread, and Fred fed Ted bread."

Finally, do you remember this tongue-twister "sumomo mo momo momo mo momo, sumomomo momomo momo no uchi?"

Daniel Rodriguez, an English speaker, tried it. He did well but he did not know the meaning. It means that a Japanese plum is a kind of peach, a peach is also a peach; both Japanese plum and peach are kinds of peaches. It is not about sumo wrestlers!

This is list of English tongue-twisters.

Ted fed Fred bread, and Fred fed Ted bread.

He threw three free throws.

A big black bug¹⁰ bit a big black bear and made the big black bear bleed blood.

If a noisy noise annoys an onion, an annoying noisy noise annoys an onion more!

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.

Two tiny tigers take two taxis to town.

There are many tongue-twisters. Find your favorite one.

Words in This Story

tongue-twister -n.- a word, name, phrase, or sentence that is hard to say

wrestler³ – n. someone who competes in the sport of wrestling                 

patent – n. an official document that gives a person or company the right to be the only one that makes or sells a product for a certain period of time

hurriedly- - n. happening or done very quickly or too quickly

1 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

2 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

3 wrestler   

n.摔角选手，扭

参考例句：

• The wrestler tripped up his opponent.那个摔跤运动员把对手绊倒在地。
• The stronger wrestler won the first throw.较壮的那个摔跤手第一跤就赢了。

4 complicated   

adj.错综复杂的，麻烦的，结构复杂的

参考例句：

• The poem is so complicated that I cannot make out its meaning.这首诗太复杂，我理解不了它的意思。
• This is the most complicated case I have ever handled.这是我所处理过的最为复杂的案子。

5 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

6 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

7 charming   

adj.迷人的，可爱的

参考例句：

• She looked small and gentle and altogether charming.她看起来小巧文雅,十分迷人。
• She has charming manners.她具有媚人的风姿。

8 repeatedly   

adv.重复地，再三地

参考例句：

• The loudspeakers blared the speech repeatedly.扬声器里反复大声地播送那篇演讲。
• He repeatedly beat his foot upon the floor.他反复用脚敲着地板。

9 semester   

n.一学期，半学年，六个月的时间

参考例句：

• A student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester.每个学生一学期可能要修四五门课程。
• I had an especially rough time during my first semester.我第一个学期的日子难受极了。

10 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。