Hi, Steemit community. Does any one of you learn French? If you do, then you might like this selection of funny (and quite challenging) French tongue twisters. See... The French language isn’t just about grammar rules and complicated conjugations. It’s also a language rich with sounds and words you can play with! I made the recordings with my voice.
The most famous French virelangue (this is the French for "tongue-twister") is probably this one:
« Les chaussettes de l’archiduchesse, sont-elles sèches ou archi-sèches ? »
(Are the archduchess’s socks dry or super-dry?)
Play my voice (and try to repeat. Just try!)
Try and repeat this several times in a row… It’s not easy, is it? Another one, pretty well-known...
« Un chasseur sachant chasser sait chasser sans son chien. »
(A hunter who knows how to hunt, knows how to hunt without his dog). Even as a native speaker of French, I must admit that it’s no piece of cake.
Sharpen Your Tongue
Some sounds are particularly challenging for English-speaking learners. You’ll find below a few exercises which target the trickiest sounds of the French language. If you want to get there, you really have to ar-ti-cu-late.
« s » [s] as in « salut » and « ch » [ʃ] as in « chocolat »:
« Un chasseur fit sécher ses chaussettes sur une souche sèche »
« Natacha n’attacha pas son chat Pacha qui s’échappa. Cela fâcha Sacha qui chassa Natacha. »
« u » [y] as in « vu » and « ou » [u] as in « cou »:
« As-tu vu le tutu de Lulu ? »
Play and try to repeat it.
« Juste juge ! Jugez Gilles, jeune et jaloux. »
Play it and try to repeat.
The silent « h » as in « homme »:
« La pie niche haut, l'oie niche bas. Où niche l'hibou ? L'hibou niche ni haut ni bas ! »
Play it and try to repeat.
The liaison :
« Je veux et j’exige d’exquises excuses. »Play it and try to repeat with my voice.
When you’re feeling more confident, you can try and repeat them... as fast as you can!