Helen:    Hello everyone and welcome to Question and Answer of the Week. I'm Helen.
 
Feifei:  大家好我是冯菲菲，在今天的你问我答节目中我们讨论一下澳门朋友 Fei 提出的好建议。
 
Helen:  Fei asked if we could make a programme about tongue twisters, to help with pronunciation practice. 
 
Feifei:  Tongue 舌头，  twister 扭圈，绕起来，这两个词连在一起就是  tongue twister 绕口令。  Fei 建议我们把绕口令作为一个节目的主题来做一期节目。这个  idea 我喜欢。 
 
Helen:  Me too. It’s a great suggestion. We have quite a lot of tongue twisters in English lined up for you in this programme. And everyone can have a go at them.
 
Feifei:   每个语言里都有绕口令，这是一种学习语言的好方式，就像  Fei 说得那样，可以帮助我们锻炼发音。
 
Helen:    Well, let’s get started. I’ll start with a short English tongue twister. 
 
Feifei:    Good luck. 
 
Helen:    I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit. Upon the slitted sheet, I sit. 
 
Feifei:    Well, that’s not bad. Now you’ve got to do it faster. 
 
Helen:    I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit. Upon the slitted sheet, I sit. I slit a sheet, a sheet I slit. Upon the slitted sheet, I sit. 
 
Feifei:    That’s very good. Well done. 接下来让我们听听英语老师 Sarah 对绕口令的看法。 
 
Insert
 
I think they’re good fun. I think they’re always a lot harder than you ever think they're going to be. But generally they’re good fun, especially for learning languages, I think for pronunciation as well. 
 
Helen:  I agree, tongue twisters are good fun. 
 
Feifei:  从字面上看容易，真的说起来就没那么容易了。那么英语绕口令难在哪儿呢？
 
Insert
 
I think it’s the build up of the combination of sounds. So it’s the pronunciation. When you start off on the first one it’s fairly easy, so she sells seashells by the seashore. But it’s actually the cumulative effect of saying the S’s and the H’s and the different sounds. So the second line is harder. 
 
Helen:  The hard thing about tongue twisters is to get the combination of sounds right. 
 
Feifei:  Sarah 认为绕口令把发音相似的单词放在了一起，所以说起来就难了。 比如 s 和h 连着出现在一个句子了，我们的舌头就容易打结。
 
Helen:    Let’s hear Sarah practising one of the popular tongue twisters: she sells seashells by the seashore. You’ll notice that even native speakers can find these sentences very tricky. 
 
Insert
 
She sells seashells by the seashore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells.
 
 
Feifei:  这么多个  s 和  sh, 难怪连 Sarah 都觉得绕口了。那么如果我们想通过绕口令来锻炼英语，有哪些需要注意的呢？
 
Insert
 
I think it’s the actual precision in the difference in pronunciation, I think that’s why it’s very useful. Because sometimes the differences are quite subtle, but it’s very important for the understanding, the comprehension of what they’re saying. So it’s actually being very precise in the pronunciation, and actually thinking about the different sounds that you’re trying to make with your mouth and your tongue, and going over it and practising. Listening, recording yourself is often very useful, and just doing it again and again. 
 
 
Feifei:  就像 Sarah 说的那样，绕口令可以锻炼我们的发音。
 
Helen:  It’s about precision. 
 
Feifei:  准确度 precision. 有的时候不同的声音比较难区别，  the differences are quite subtle. 所以需要有全面的理解，  comprehension 就是理解的意思。
 
Helen:  And one way to improve your tongue twisting skills is to record yourself and listen to yourself. 
 
Feifei:  把自己说绕口令的声音录下来，听哪里出错了，这对发音很有帮助。
 
Helen:  Now let’s listen to more tongue twisters. Here is a great performance from Abdu. 
 
Insert
 
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers?
If Peter Piper Picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
 
Feifei:  That’s a tough one, lots of Ps. Any more? 
 
Helen:  Of course. Here’s one with lots of Bs in it. 
 
Insert
 
Betty Botter bought a bit of butter. 
The butter Betty Botter bought was a bit bitter 
And made her batter bitter. 
But a bit of better butter 
Makes better batter. 
So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter, 
Making Betty Botter's bitter batter better.
 
Feifei:  Betty bought a bit of butter. 这个绕口令全是b 和 t. 
 
Helen:  I have another one here. It’s very simple, just four words, but don’t be fooled. If you have to repeat it several times, it gets a lot harder. Try it: red lorry, yellow lorry. 
 
Feifei:  Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry.
 
Helen:  Well done! Let me have a go with another one. 
 
Insert
 
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck If a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, And chuck as much as a woodchuck would If a woodchuck could chuck wood.
 
Feifei:  We’re having great fun in the studio.
 
Helen:  No wonder tongue twisters are great for parties.  
 
Feifei:  看来我也得好好练几个绕口令，去 party 的时候还可以露一手。
 
Helen:  Me too. Well I hope you’ve enjoyed our programme today and why not try out some of the tongue twisters we’ve shown you today at home. 
 
Feifei:  谢谢大家收听。我们下次节目再见。
 
Helen:  Bye bye. 

In today’s programme, Helen Hu and Feifei Feng bring you some of the most well-known tongue twisters in English.

Tongue twisters are great fun. This is one of the few types of wordplay that exists in every language.

And for language learners, they’re perfect for practising pronunciation and impressing others.

They are also challenging for native speakers too, as you will find out.

Why not have a go at the tongue twisters in our programme. You can find them by downloading the script.

If you have a question about English, email our team at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk. We may answer it in this programme.

Glossary 词汇

tongue twister 绕口令

wordplay 文字游戏

impress 给人留下深刻的印象

native speakers 英语为母语的当地人

tips 提示，贴士

techniques 技巧