15 Russian Tongue Twisters to Perfect Your Pronunciation!

[00:00:00]Privet studenta. Have you already tried saying a Russian word, but your tongue starts glitching and mixing up all the syllables and letters? Don't worry, that's totally normal and that's why today I'm going to give you a list of my 15 favorite tongue twisters to help you fix that. Don't get discouraged after a few failed attempts to sound like a native. That's not an unsolvable problem and it's actually pretty easy to fix.

[00:00:25]Many of us forget that our tongue is a simple muscle just like any other muscle in our body. And in order to sound better, it needs to be trained just like your arms need to be trained if you want to do push-ups. That's where tongue twister exercises can become a very useful daily routine for you just like regular workouts. So, today we're going to treat this like a real workout session. I don't want you to just sit and passively watch. I want you to actually participate in this video to train your tongue and repeat these tongue twisters with me. Starting with the easiest ones and then challenging ourselves with more tricky ones. And by the way, if you are new here, I'm Paulina. I'm a native Russian speaker and I have been teaching complete beginners every single day for years. I have heard all sounds and phonetic traps students who don't do such additional exercises usually struggle with and how much easier it suddenly gets to speak Russian once you train your mouth and tongue enough and finally start to enjoy speaking. So, if you're ready, let's twist your tongue. Level one, warm up.

[00:01:33]All right, let's start easy. This first five are short and your mouth should be able to handle them with just a little bit of focus. Think of it as the warm up before the real workout. So, the first one here is packet pod popcorn.

[00:01:48]Literally, that means packet for popcorn. The trap here is the p sound repeating three times in a row. In the Russian, "p" is a clean unaspirated stop. No air puff like in English. So, keep it tight. Let's say it slowly.

[00:02:06]packet packet but popcorn packet but popcorn Now, let's say it a little bit faster.

[00:02:18]packet but popcorn packet but popcorn Can you go even faster?

[00:02:25]Let's try.

[00:02:27]packet but popcorn Try you.

[00:02:32]Good.

[00:02:33]The next one. uyezha yezhata u uzha uzhata That means that hedgehog has baby hedgehogs, a snake has baby snakes.

[00:02:46]What makes this one tricky is the switch between "ye" and "u" at the start of each half. Your brain knows the rhythm, so it just wants to copy the same vowel twice. Let's say it slowly. uyezha yezhata u uzha uzhata At normal speed. uyezha yezhata u uzha uzhata Let's go a little faster. uyezha yezhata u uzha uzhata Can you do it even faster? Try it.

[00:03:21]Okay, great. The next one. Mama myla Milu mylom.

[00:03:26]Mama myla Milu mylom. Literally, that means mom was washing Mila with soap.

[00:03:33]All these "m" and "l" sounds All these sounds smooth at first, but the sound in the words "myla" "mylom" is something to watch out. This sound "u" doesn't exist in English. The tongue goes back.

[00:03:53]The lips don't round. Try to say e e and then pull back your tongue. E uh uh uh and keep this position of your tongue and you will get this sound uh.

[00:04:06]Let's pronounce this tongue twister slowly. Mama myla milu mylom.

[00:04:17]Now with normal speed. Mama myla milu mylom. Let's do it again. Mama myla milu mylom. Let's go a bit faster. Mama myla milu mylom.

[00:04:31]Can you do that?

[00:04:32]Try it.

[00:04:34]Okay, good. Next. The next one palili liliyu videli lidiyu. Literally that means we watered Lily, we saw Lydia. Six l sounds in a row. This is the tongue equivalent of playing the same piano key six times without losing the rhythm. Go slowly first. Palili liliyu videli lidiyu.

[00:05:06]Now let's go at normal speed. Palili liliyu videli lidiyu.

[00:05:13]Let's go a bit faster. Palili liliyu videli lidiyu.

[00:05:18]Can you do that?

[00:05:21]Okay, moving on. The next one is slightly longer. Khokhlatye khakhatushki khokhotam khakhatali. Literally that means crested gigglers were laughing hard. The sound in Russian is a real sound. It's the sound at the back of your throat, just like a Scottish loch.

[00:05:45]>> [snorts] >> Not an like in English. It's >> [sighs and gasps] >> Every word here starts from that same place in your throat. Let's say this tongue twister slowly.

[00:06:02]>> [sighs] >> Now at normal pace.

[00:06:16]Now a little bit faster.

[00:06:23]Can you do that?

[00:06:25]Okay, good. If that felt comfortable, your mouth is warming up nicely. Oh, by the way, I have gathered all these tongue twisters plus a few bonuses ones as well as pronunciation tips in a PDF.

[00:06:40]And if you want to grab it for free, just click the link in the description.

[00:06:44]Now we go up a notch. The sentences get a little longer and the sounds start combining in a ways that aren't as forgiving. Level two. Getting harder.

[00:06:56]And the first one here Literally, that means because of horses running, there is dust flying over the field. Let's go slowly.

[00:07:20]This one is all about the rhythm.

[00:07:25]Alternate constantly. And there is a vowel reduction happening with unstressed o. In Russian, unstressed o is always pronounced as something like a. Normal pace.

[00:07:43]Now let's Can you do that?

[00:07:50]Challenging, huh? The next one.

[00:07:56]Literally that means that a raven lost her baby raven. Here is everywhere here and the word Voronenka at the end has a stressed yo. That changes the vowel quality completely. So don't flatten it. Let's say it slowly.

[00:08:27]At normal pace.

[00:08:35]you do that?

[00:08:40]Good. Next one.

[00:08:51]white snow, white chalk, white sugar is also white.

[00:08:57]So the bell root repeats four times, but the last one bell drops the ending.

[00:09:04]That's an important Russian pattern.

[00:09:06]Short form adjectives. That's how they work. Your brain will want to say "bely" again, but don't get it wrong. Let's say it slowly.

[00:09:25]Now at normal pace.

[00:09:33]And a little bit faster. bit faster.

[00:09:40]Can you do that?

[00:09:42]Great. Let's move on. Next one.

[00:09:48]Literally that means there is grass in the backyard and there is wood on the grass. Two consonant clusters is back to back. Tr and dr. It's one sound, one movement. Tr dr. So, let's say it slowly. Na dvarye trava na trave drava. Na dvarye trava, na trave drava.

[00:10:18]And a little bit faster. Na dvarye trava, na trave drava.

[00:10:22]Can you do that?

[00:10:25]Yeah, I understand it's challenging.

[00:10:26]Okay, we are halfway through. From here it gets real. Three twisters that are going to make your tongue work for it.

[00:10:36]Level three, real workout. Let's begin with Shila Sasha Sashke shapku.

[00:10:44]A lot of s and sh. Literally that means Sasha sewed a hat for another Sasha.

[00:10:51]Now we have both s and sh in the same sentence and they sound similar enough that your mouth starts confusing them at speed. Sh is the back of the mouth and s is in the front.

[00:11:08]Let's say it slowly. Shila Sasha Sashke shapku. Now at normal speed.

[00:11:19]Shila Sasha Sashke shapku. And a little bit faster.

[00:11:25]Shila Sasha Sashke shapku. Can you do that?

[00:11:30]Okay, let's move to the next one. The next one is going to be buzzing. Listen up.

[00:11:41]Literally that means the beetle is buzzing.

[00:11:44]It's buzzing but it's not spinning. The "zh" sound is already difficult. It's like in measure, measure.

[00:11:54]You see? But it's heavier. It's buzzing.

[00:11:58]It's deeper in the mouth. And here it doubles. Zhuzhzhit. Zhuzhzhit. It's literally "zh" next to another "zh".

[00:12:08]So, let it vibrate. Let's say it slowly.

[00:12:12]Zhuzhzhit.

[00:12:14]Zhuzhzhelitsa.

[00:12:17]Zhuzhzhit.

[00:12:19]Da nye kruzhitsya.

[00:12:23]Now at normal speed. Zhuzhzhit zhuzhzhelitsa.

[00:12:27]Zhuzhzhit da nye kruzhitsya.

[00:12:31]And a little bit faster. Zhuzhzhit zhuzhzhelitsa. Zhuzhzhit da nye kruzhitsya. Can you do that? Try.

[00:12:39]Okay, good. Okay, the next one. U chetyryokh cherepashek chetyre cherepashonka.

[00:12:47]Literally that means that four turtles have four baby turtles. Every single word here starts with "ch" or "ch".

[00:12:56]"Ch" in Russian is a soft and quick.

[00:12:59]Like "ch" in cheese. But it's a little bit lighter. The challenge here is not the sound itself. It's saying it six times in a row. Let's do that slowly. U.

[00:13:12]Chetyryokh.

[00:13:14]Cherepashek.

[00:13:17]Chetyre cherepashonka.

[00:13:22]Let's go at normal speed. U chetyryokh cherepashek chetyre >> And a little bit faster.

[00:13:36]Can you do that?

[00:13:38]Nice try. Let's move on. Two left before the final boss. This one catch people off guard because they look familiar, but try saying them fast and you will see why they're at level four. So, level four, very difficult. Okay, let's go with this one.

[00:14:01]Literally that means Sasha was moving along the highway and she was sucking on a sushka is the kind of Russian pastry that looks like a dry donut. It's very crusty. So, this one is the classic switch trap. Shla Sasha shosse. That's sh and s. Then sasala sushku. That's already s ending on sh.

[00:14:26]So, your mouth locks into one sound and refuses to switch in time. Let's go slowly.

[00:14:34]Shla Sasha pa shosse i sasala sushku.

[00:14:46]Now let's go at normal pace. Shla Sasha pa shosse i sasala sushku.

[00:14:55]Can you go a little faster with me? Shla Sasha pa shosse i sasala sushku. But could you try going even faster? Shla Sasha pa shosse i sasala sushku. Yeah, that's a real challenge. Let's see the next one. The next one is a little longer, so listen up. Kukushka kukushonku kupila kapushon. Kak v kapushone on smeshon. Literally that means a cuckoo, but a hood for her baby cuckoo. Baby cuckoo puts on a hood, and he looks funny in it. So, there are syllables ku, ku, ka, and then sh keeps jumping back in. The rhythm lulls you, and then kapushon breaks it.

[00:15:42]Stay alert all the way to the end. Let's say it slowly. Kukushka kukushonku kupila kapushon.

[00:15:58]Kak v kapushone on smeshon.

[00:16:06]Now, let's put it all together.

[00:16:09]Kukushka kukushonku kupila kapushon. Kak v kapushone on smeshon.

[00:16:19]Let's try going slightly faster. Kukushka kukushonku kupila kapushon. Kak v kapushone on smeshon.

[00:16:30]Will you dare to go even faster?

[00:16:33]Okay, let's try. Kukushka kukushonku kupila kapushon. Kak v kapushone on smeshon. Can you try it?

[00:16:41]Okay, good. And now, the final one, level five. This one is not just a tongue twister, it's a rhythm trap. It sounds almost too simple at first, and that's exactly the trick. So, level five, final boss. The last one is actually sounds like a mini dialogue.

[00:17:00]You will see what I mean. Listen up.

[00:17:02]Rasskazhite pro pokupki. Pro kakiye pro pokupki? Pro pokupki pro pokupki pro pokupochki moi. So, okay, this is long.

[00:17:12]Literally, that means, "Tell me about your shopping."

[00:17:16]And then, there is an answer. About what shopping? And then, there is another line about shopping, about shopping, about my shopping. Yeah, based on repetition. The b and k are repeating the whole way through. But, the real trap here is pokupochki. The ending. It's a diminutive form, and the suffix changes the rhythm just enough to trap you.

[00:17:41]Let's go through that slowly.

[00:18:04]Let's put it all together. All the syllables of this long tongue twister.

[00:18:15]Again. Again.

[00:18:17]Again.

[00:18:18]Again.

[00:18:25]Now, let's go just slightly faster.

[00:18:41]Can we do that even faster?

[00:18:44]What do you think? Yeah, let's try.

[00:18:53]Can you do that? I'll try at least.

[00:18:57]Okay, good. Oh, by the way, I'm reminding you, don't forget to grab the free PDF with all the tongue twisters, plus bonuses and pronunciation tips following the link in the description.

[00:19:09]And that's all 15 from the warm-up all the way to the final boss, your tongue is getting stronger. But now, I want to challenge you one step further, because there is a difference between repeating after me at the pace I give you and actually following a native speaker in a real time, at their natural speed, with their natural rhythm.

[00:19:31]That's a whole different level. So, I made a video where we do exactly that, together.

[00:19:36]Just you and me shadowing real Russian out loud. If you want to put everything you just trained to the test, click right there and let's keep going. I'll see you there. Пока-пока.