all. For example, here’s one that is hard enough to
discourage even the most eager student: The sixth sick
sheik's sixth sheep’s sick.- Don’t emphasize speed too soon. We’ve probably all
practiced tongue twisters in our own language, trying to
say them several times very quickly, but it’s much harder
to do that in a new language. Don’t rush until students
are ready. - Don’t jump too quickly from explanation and very
controlled practice directly to a di#cult tongue twister.
Do some practice with simple, ordinary sentences !rst.
(After all, you wouldn’t give somebody one tennis lesson
and then send them to play at Wimbledon, would you?
They need lots of easier practice !rst!) - Here are some examples of tongue twisters that are
simple and reasonably easy to understand:
We took a cheap ship trip.
Funny Frank fell fifty feet.
Orange jello, lemon jello
The three trees
Betty loves the velvet vest best.
Meeting students’ real-life needs
With adult or young-adult students who need to use English
in their everyday lives, especially in an ESL (rather than EFL)
context, taking a few minutes to answer questions that
students bring in can be a good way to begin a pronunciation
lesson. Ask students to write down and bring to class the
words or phrases that they’ve had trouble pronouncing or
understanding in their daily activities, such as street names
(Harvard Boulevard vs. Harbor Boulevard), cities (Irvine,
Las Vegas, La Jolla), words they need in their jobs or studies
(cash register, availability, anesthesiologist) or even
beverages at Starbucks (vanilla spice latte). These can be
used as the basis for practice with common words and sound
combinations. Students might also appreciate help in
practicing the pronunciation of their own address, phone
number, or other basic information. This practice gives
students a sense that they have a say in what they do in class,
and it often !ts their needs better than using only what’s in
the textbook. Getting the speci!c help they need can
empower them and make a real di"erence in their lives.Auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning
People learn in many ways: by hearing, by seeing, and by
touching and manipulating objects. Everyone can use all of
these skills, although most people are stronger in some types
of learning than in others. In planning pronunciation
teaching, we should try to include all three learning
modalities:81