Melatih Lidah Bahasa Inggris Lewat Tongue Twister

Coba ucapkan frasa ini secara cepat dan berulang-ulang:

“Satu sate tujuh tusuk. Satu sate tujuh tusuk. Satu sate tujuh tusuk.”

Bagaimana? Apakah lidah berbeli-belit saat mengucapkannya? Frasa di atas termasuk ke dalam pembelit lidah atau tongue twister dalam Bahasa Inggris.

Tongue twister merupakan susunan kata-kata yang memiliki bunyi yang mirip sehingga tidak mudah untuk diucapkan secara cepat dan benar. Setiap bahasa, termasuk Bahasa Inggris, memiliki frasa atau kalimat tongue twister-nya tersendiri.

Dalam pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris, tongue twister bisa membantu untuk melatih pronunciation (pelafalan) kita. Pelafalan adalah hal yang penting ketika berbahasa, karena pelafalan yang kurang jelas akan menyebabkan miskomunikasi. Terlebih lagi dalam Bahasa Inggris banyak kata yang terdengar sama, namun dilafalkan berbeda. Misalnya saja kata “see”, “she”, dan “sea”. Untuk membedakan pelafalan kata-kata yang mirip tersebut dibutuhkan latihan yang rutin. Tongue twister adalah salah satu metode latihan pelafalan yang bisa kita lakukan.

Tongue twister juga masih sering digunakan oleh para aktor, penyiar berita, atau pembicara publik untuk melatih intonasi, artikulasi, dan kejelasan berbicara mereka sebelum tampil. Tongue twister masih dianggap cukup efektif untuk melatih cara kita berbicara. Adapun manfaat dari berlatih menggunakan tongue twister adalah:

Menguatkan dan meregangkan otot-otot lidah dan otot lainnya yang terlibat dalam aktivitas bicara. Kesulitan melafalkan kata-kata juga bisa disebabkan karena kita terlalu malas untuk melatih otot lidah kita. Otot lidah, sama seperti otot tubuh lainnya, membutuhkan “olahraga” yang rutin agar tetap bisa berfungsi secara efisien.
Memberitahu kebiasaan berbicara kita yang kurang benar. Contoh: kita tidak menyadari bahwa kita selalu keliru ketika melafalkan suatu huruf. Dengan sering melakukan tongue twister, kita menjadi tersadar akan kesalahan kita tersebut dan kita bisa memperbaikinya.

Sebagian besar tongue twister dalam Bahasa Inggris adalah kumpulan kata-kata yang tidak masuk akal. Itu karena kata-kata tersebut memang dipilih sedemikian rupa untuk membantu kita melatih pelafalan satu huruf atau kombinasi huruf-huruf tertentu. Untuk itu, banyak tongue twister dalam Bahasa Inggris yang jika diterjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Indonesia akan terdengar aneh dan tidak jelas. Contoh: “Scissors sizzle, thistles sizzle.” (Gunting mendesis, semak berduri)

Meskipun demikian, ada tongue twister Bahasa Inggris yang jika diterjemahkan akan memiliki arti yang masuk akal. Contoh: “She sells seashells on the seashore.” (Dia menjual cangkang kerang di pinggir pantai). Pada intinya, kita tidak perlu risau akan arti dari sebuah tongue twister. Bagaimana pun juga, fungsi utama dari tongue twister adalah untuk melatih pelafalan, bukan untuk melatih dan memahami vocabulary (kosakata).

Tongue Twister Tips

Saat berlatih pelafalan menggunakan tongue twister, ada beberapa tips yang bisa diikuti terutama oleh para pemula yang baru saja memulai menggunakan tongue twister sebagai cara melatih pelafalan Bahasa Inggris. Di bawah ini adalah tipsnya:

Mulailah dengan pelan dan hati-hati. Tongue twister memang harus diucapkan secara cepat. Akan tetapi, agar kita bisa mengucapkannya dengan cepat, kita harus memulainya dengan pelan terlebih dahulu supaya lidah kita terbiasa. Saat sudah terbiasa, kita bisa mempercepat tempo kita dengan berangsur-angsur.
Pastikan kita mengucapkan dengan jelas setiap kata dalam tongue twister. Ingatlah selalu bahwa kita melakukan tongue twister untuk melatih pelafalan kita sehingga keakuratan dan kejelasan (clarity) lebih penting daripada kecepatan.
Ucapkan tongue twister-nya secara berulang-ulang dengan mempertahankan kejelasan setiap kata. Naikan kecepatan kita sedikit demi sedikit. Jika lidah kita tersandung atau salah mengucapkan, berhentilah dan mulailah dari awal.
Berlatihlah dengan orang lain. Tongue twister adalah latihan yang sangat menyenangkan dan banyak frasa tongue twister yang jenaka. Berlatih tongue twister dengan orang lain akan lebih menyenangkan dan membuat proses latihan terasa lebih asyik.
Berlatihlah di depan cermin jika tidak ada orang lain yang bisa diajak untuk berlatih bersama. Kita juga bisa merekam suara kita saat melakukan tongue twister untuk mengetahui pelafalan apa yang harus kita perbaiki dan tingkatkan.
Lakukanlah peregangan otot lidah sebagai latihan tambahan dari tongue twister untuk membuat otot lidah kita lebih fleksibel dan lincah. Salah satu latihan otot lidah yang cukup populer adalah “Mr. Tongue Story”. Latihan “Mr. Tongue Story” ini sangat mudah dilakukan dan tidak membutuhkan waktu yang lama. Kita juga bisa dengan mudah menemukan caranya di internet.

English Tongue Twisters

Ada banyak sekali tongue twister dalam Bahasa Inggris. Apabila bingung ingin mulai berlatih dari mana, disarankan untuk memilih tongue twister berdasarkan pelafalan suara yang sedang kita latih. Berikut ini adalah daftar tongue twister dalam Bahasa Inggris berdasarkan suara (sound) yang ditekankannya:

Sounds B

Betty bought a bit of butter, but she found the butter bitter, so Betty bought a bit of better butter to make the bitter butter better.
How many berries could a bare berry carry, if a bare berry could carry berries?
A big bug bit a big black dog on his big black nose.
Black background, brown background.
Barber baby bubbles and a bumblebee.
A big black bug snoozed on a big black rug.
Big Ben blew big blue bubbles.
Bill had a billboard. Bill also had a board bill. The board bill bored Bill, so Bill sold his billboard and paid his board bill. Then the board bill no longer bored Bill, but though he had no board bill, neither did he have his billboard!
Black bugs blood.
Rubber baby buggy bumpers.
Bigger business isn’t better business, but better business brings bigger rewards.

Sounds D

Two dozen double damask dinner napkins
Do drop in at the Dewdrop Inn.
How much dew could a dewdrop drop if a dewdrop did drop dew?
Down the deep damp dark dank den.

Sounds F

Five flippant Frenchmen fly from France for fashions.
Four furious friends fought for the phone.
Friendly Frank flips fine flapjacks.
Frank feeds fat fish fresh fish food.
Five frantic frogs fled from fifty fierce fishes.
Of all the felt I ever felt, I never felt a piece of felt which felt as fine as that felt, when first I felt that felt that’s felt.
Friendly fleas and fireflies.
A flea and a fly flew up in a flue.

Sounds H

Harry the hungry, hungry hippo is happily eating ham in his house.
Good Heaven! Harry has done his homework at home by himself.
Harry Hunt hunts heavy hairy hares. If Harry Hunt hunts heavy hairy hares, where are the heavy hairy hares Harry Hunt hunts?
How was Harry hastened so hurriedly from the hunt?
In Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire hurricanes hardly ever happen.

Sounds J

Jack the jailbird jacked a jeep.
James just jostled Jean gently.

Sounds K

My cutlery cuts keenly and cleanly.
Chris crashes crimson cars quickly
Captain Kangaroo’s carefully crunching crunchy candy corn.
A cup of proper coffee in a copper coffee cup.
Ken quite likes Kate. Kate doesn’t care for Ken. Ken catches Kate and kisses her quickly. Kate cries, kicks, and screams. Ken cowers in the corner. Ken cures Kate with a quick cup of coffee and a cream cake.
If colored caterpillars could change their colors constantly, could they keep their colored coat colored properly?
Kiss her quick, kiss her quicker, kiss her quickest.

Sounds L

Literally literary
Lucy lingered, looking longingly for her lost lap-dog.
Larry sent the latter a letter later.
Little lady Lily lost her locket. Lucky little Lucy found the lovely locket. Lovely little locket lay in Lucy’s pocket. Lazy little Lucy lost the lovely locket!
Lily ladles little Letty’s lentil soup.

Sounds P

Pearls, please, pretty Penelope, pretty Penelope, pretty Penelope, pearls, please, pretty Penelope, pretty Penelope Pring.
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?
Pirate’s private property.
Please pay promptly.
Picky people pick Peter Pan Peanut Butter. This is the peanut butter picky people pick.

Sounds R

Reading and writing are richly rewarding.
Round the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran.
Real red rock roof.
Robert ran rings around the Roman ruins.
Rory the warrior and Roger the worrier were reared wrongly in a rural brewery.
Robert Rowly rolled a round roll round. A round roll Robert Rowly rolled round. Where’s the round roll Robert Rowly rolled round?

Sounds S

Six thick thistle sticks.
The shrewd shrew sold Sarah seven sliver fish slices.
“Surely Sylvia swims!” shrieked Sammy surprised. “Someone should show Sylvia some strokes so she shall not sink.”
Sister Susie sat on the sea shore sewing shirts for sailors.
Susie’s sister sewed socks for soldiers.
Theophilus Thistler, the thistle sifter, in sifting a sieve of unsifted thistles, thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb.
Moses supposes his toeses are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously, for nobody’s toeses are posies of roses as Moses supposes his toeses to be.
Six sick slick slim sycamore saplings.
Singing Sammy sang songs on sinking sand.
Sam saw slick slimy snakes slowly sliding southward.
Success seeds success.
Six sleazy shysters in sharkskin suits sold sheared sealskins to seven seasick sailors.
See owned a saw and Mr. Soar owned a seesaw. Now See’s saw sawed Soar’s seesaw before Soar saw See, which made Soar sore. Had Soar seen See’s saw before See sawed Soar’s seesaw, See’s saw would not have sawed Soar’s seesaw. So See’s saw sawed Soar’s seesaw. But it was sad to see Soar so sore just because See’s saw sawed Soar’s seesaw!

Sounds T

Two toads, totally tired, trying to trot to Tewkesbury.
Ten tame tadpoles tucked tightly in a thin tall tin.
Two tiny tigers take two taxis to town.
The two-twenty-two train tore through the tunnel.
Tongue Twister tried to train his tongue to twist and turn, and twit and twat to learn the letter T.
We’ll beat a tattoo at twenty to two.

Sounds V

Vera valued the valley violets.
Vincent vowed vengeance very vehemently.
Vivacious Val vacuumed Violet’s very vivid vehicles.

Sounds W

Wayne went to Wales to watch walruses.
Who washed Washington’s white woolen underwear in warm water?
I wish I were what I was when I wished I were what I am.
Why do you cry, Willy? Why, Willy? Why?
While we were walking, we were watching window washers wash Washington’s windows with warm washing water.

Sounds L and R

Red lorry, yellow lorry.
Freshly fried fresh flesh.
I looked right at Larry’s rally and left in a hurry.
Lucky rabbits like to cause a ruckus.
A really leery Larry rolls readily to the road.
Rory’s lawn rake rarely rakes really right.
A loyal warrior will rarely worry why we rule.
On a lazy laser raiser lays a laser ray eraser.
Really leery, rarely Larry.

Sounds U

A Tudor who tooted a flute tried to tutor two tooters to toot. Said the two to their tutor, “is it harder to toot or to tutor two tooters to toot?”
You know New York. You need New York. You know you need unique New York.
Unique New York, Unique York, Unique New York.
If Sue chews shoes, should Sue choose the shoes she chews?

Sounds TW

Three twigs twined tightly.
A twister of twists once twisted a twist. A twist that he twisted was a three-twisted twist. If in twisting a twist one twist should untwist, the untwisted twist would untwist the twist.
Twelve twins twirled twelve twigs.

Sounds BL and BR

Black bug’s blood.
The boot black bought the black boot back.
A box of biscuits, a batch of mixed biscuits.
A big black bug bit a big black bear, made the big black bear bleed blood.
A bloke’s back bike brake block broke.

Sounds B and V

Blue blurry vines blind.
Betty loves the velvet vest best.
Burn base, vicious vase.

Sounds SH

What a shame such a shapely sash should show such shabby stitches.
She sells seashells by the seashore of Seychelles.
Selfish shellfish.
There was a fisherman named Fisher who fished for some fish in a fissure. Till a fish with a grin, pulled the fisherman in. now they’re fishing the fissure for Fisher.
I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won’t wish the wish you wish to wish.

Sounds TH

Is this the thing? Yes, this is the thing.
I thought a thought, but the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought.
Thirty thousand thoughtless boys thought they would make a thundering noise. So the thirty thousand thumbs thumbed on the thirty thousand drums.
Three thin thieves thought a thousand thoughts. Now if three thin thieves thought a thousand thoughts, how many thoughts did each thief think?
They threw three thick things.
Father, mother, sister, brother hand in hand with one another.
The thirty-three thankful thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
Thirty-three thousand feathers on a thrushes throat.

Sounds TH and S

The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.
Six thick thistle stick.
This is the sixth zebra snoozing thoroughly.
Nothing is worth thousands of deaths.
Is this your sister’s sixth thistle, sir?
A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
Elizabeth’s birthday is on the third Thursday of this month.

Sounds W and TCH/ W and TH

If two witches would watch two watches, whish with would watch which watch?
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck a wood?
Whether the weather be fine or whether the weather be not. Whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot. We’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather. Whether we like it or not.

Sounds S and SH

Sam’s shop stocks short spotted socks.
Sally is a sheet slitter, she slits sheets.
I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.
Sally says she shall sew six sheets for her sister Shelly.
The sheriff should shoot slowly
Say this sharply, say this sweetly, say this shortly, say this softly. Say this sixteen times in succession.
The sun shines on the shop signs.
Susan shines shoes and socks, socks and shoes shines Susan. She stopped shining shoes and socks for shoes and socks shock Susan.
Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep. The seven silly sheep Silly Sally shooed shilly-shallied south. These sheep shouldn’t sleep in a shack. Sheep should sleep in a shed.

Demikianlah artikel tentang melatih lidah dalam belajar Bahasa Inggris melalui tongue twister. Semoga artikel ini bisa membantu kita dalam meningkatkan pelfalan Bahasa Inggris kita. Selamat berlatih!