Growing up in Indonesia, we had "Kuku kaki kakekku kayak kuku kaki kakakku" (my grandfather's toenails look like my older sibling's toenails). The repetitive k-sounds are brutal.
What's interesting is how tongue twisters reveal what's phonetically tricky in each language. English struggles with s/sh transitions ("she sells seashells"). Indonesian targets the k-cluster combinations.
Curious if there's research on whether practicing tongue twisters in a second language actually helps with accent reduction, or if it's just party tricks.
which is also really great because how often do you find a tongue twister that people brought up in the language can say without problems but foreigners out themselves and then all the native speakers can stand around and laugh and laugh and feel superior? It's really cool.
What's interesting is how tongue twisters reveal what's phonetically tricky in each language. English struggles with s/sh transitions ("she sells seashells"). Indonesian targets the k-cluster combinations.
Curious if there's research on whether practicing tongue twisters in a second language actually helps with accent reduction, or if it's just party tricks.