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Tongue twisters or Ràokǒulìng (绕口令) in Mandarin Chinese, are a sequence of words and sounds, that can even form a poem, and it doesn’t even have to make any sense at all (see later), that are alliterative and when pronounced quickly are very difficult to say and will get your tongue tied in a rate of knots. They have existed for centuries and in different languages as a vocal exercise that will tickle your funny bones and improve your pronunciation. But actually is there a more suitable language for tongue twisters than Chinese? They are a match made in linguistics heaven.

Why?

Because Mandarin Chinese pronunciation consists of three components which you can see in written pinyin - initials, finals and the dreaded tones, and all these can be practiced in many different tongue twisters. They can also be used to pick up new vocabulary and new characters. That’s why they are great and fun for learning and improving your Mandarin.

*Tips: At first you should focus on your articulation and pronunciation, once that is right then you can start saying these tongue twisters aloud as quickly as possible and have a laugh. Find some videos on YouTube and imitate those sounds. Also you need to get some regular practice of these tongue twisters as just saying them a few times won’t have any lasting affect. Long term practice and you will start to reap the rewards of these fantastically twisty tongue twisters.

Ok, without further ado, here are 15 fun short and long Chinese tongue twisters for you, in pinyin, Chinese characters, and then translated to English. Once your Mandarin has improved or it has already reached a decent level then you can try these tongue twisters through only looking at the characters. Have a good time!

800 Soldiers

Bābǎibiāobīnɡbēnběipō,

pàobīnɡbìnɡpáiběibiɑnpǎo.

Pàobīnɡpàbǎbiāobīnɡpènɡ,

biāobīnɡpàpènɡpàobīnɡpào.

八百标兵奔北坡，

炮兵并排北边跑。

炮兵怕把标兵碰，

标兵怕碰炮兵炮。

Eight hundred spearmen rush towards north hill slope
Artillery soldiers abreast in rows run towards the north
Artillery soldiers afraid to bump into the spearmen
Whereas the spearmen are afraid to bump into the artillery’s bomb.

…

Mama rides a horse

Māma qí mǎ,
mǎ màn,
māma mà mǎ.

妈妈骑马，

马慢，

妈妈骂马。

Mum is riding a horse,

The horse is slow,

Mum scolds the horse

…

Four is Four, Ten is Ten

sì shì sì,

shí shì shí,

shí sì shì shí sì,

sì shí shì sì shí

四是四，

十是十，

十四是十四，

四十是四十

4 is 4

10 is 10

14 is 14

40 is 40

…

Eat Grapes

Chī pútao bù tǔpútao pí,

bù chī pútao dào tǔpútao pí

吃葡萄不吐葡萄皮,

不吃葡萄倒吐葡萄皮。

Eat grape but do not spit out grape skin,

do not eat grape but spit out grape skin.

…

Is the Teacher 44 years old?

Lǎoshī shì bú shì sì shí sì de?

老师是或不是四十四的？

The teacher is or is not 44?

…

If you Know, Say you Know

zhīdào jiù shuō zhīdào,

bù zhīdào jiù shuō bù zhīdào,

bú yào zhīdào shuō bù zhīdào,

yě bú yào bù zhīdào shuō zhīdào,

nǐzhīdào bù zhīdào?

知道就说知道,

不知道就说不知道,

不要知道说不知道,

也不要不知道说知道,

你知道不知道？

If you know say you know,

if you don’t know say you don’t know,

don’t say you know when you don’t know,

and don’t not know and say you know, do you know?

…

Ten Stone Lions

shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī.
shīshì shíshí shì shì shì shī.
shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.
shì shí, shì Shī Shì shì shì.
shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐshì, shǐshì shí shī shìshì.
shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì.
shíshì shī, Shì shǐshì shì shíshì.
shíshì shì, Shì shǐshì shí shì shí shī.
shí shí, shǐshí shì shí shī, shí shí shí shī shī.
shì shì shì shì.

石室诗士施氏，嗜狮，誓食十狮。
施氏时时适市视狮。
十时，适十狮适市。
是时，适施氏适市。
氏视是十狮，恃矢势，使是十狮逝世。
氏拾是十狮尸，适石室。
石室湿，氏使侍拭石室。
石室拭，氏始试食是十狮。
食时，始识是十狮尸，实十石狮尸。
试释是事。

In a stone den, a poet called Shi Shi, who was a lion addict, and had resolved to eat ten lions.
He often went to the market to look for lions.
At ten o’clock, ten lions had just arrived at the market.
At that time, Shi had just arrived at the market.
He saw those ten lions, and using his trusty arrows, caused the ten lions to die.
He brought the corpses of the ten lions to the stone den.
The stone den was damp. He asked his servants to wipe it.
After the stone den was wiped, he tried to eat those ten lions.
When he ate, he realized that these ten lions were in fact ten stone lion corpses.
Try to explain this matter.

…

Pan and Bottle

zhuō shàng yǒu gè pén,
pén lǐyǒu gè píng,
pèng pèng pèng,
shì píng pèng pén,
hái shì pén pèng píng.

桌上有个盆，

盆里有个瓶，

砰砰砰，

是瓶碰盆，

还是盆碰瓶。

Pan and Bottle.

A pan on the table,

there's a bottle in the pan, bang, bang, bang.

Is it the bottle hitting the pan

or the pan hitting the bottle?

…

Red Phoenix, Pink Phoenix…

hóng fènghuáng，

huáng fènghuáng .

fěn hóng fènghuáng huā fènghuáng.

红凤凰.

黄凤凰.

粉红凤凰花凤凰

Red phoenix,
pink phoenix,
pink-red phoenix

…

The Monk and the Mute (A terrific name for a new avant-garde film)

dǎnánbiān lái le gè yǎbɑ, yāo lǐbié le gè lǎbɑ；
dǎběibiān lái le gè lǎmɑ, shǒu lǐtí le gè tǎmɑ.
tí zhe tǎmɑde lǎmɑyào ná tǎmɑhuàn bié zhe lǎbɑde yǎbɑde lǎbɑ；
bié zhe lǎbɑde yǎbɑbù yuàn ná lǎbɑhuàn tí zhe tǎmɑde lǎmɑde tǎmɑ.
bù zhī shì bié zhe lǎbɑde yǎbɑdǎle tí zhe tǎmɑde lǎmɑyī lǎbɑ；
hái shì tí zhe tǎmɑde lǎmɑdǎle bié zhe lǎbɑde yǎbɑyī tǎmɑ.
lǎmɑhuí jiā dùn tǎmɑ,yǎbɑdīdidādachuī lǎbɑ.

打南边来了个哑巴，腰里别了个喇叭；
打北边来了个喇嘛，手里提了个獭犸。
提着獭犸的喇嘛要拿獭犸换别着喇叭的哑巴的喇叭；
别着喇叭的哑巴不愿拿喇叭换提着獭犸的喇嘛的獭犸。
不知是别着喇叭的哑巴打了提着獭犸的喇嘛一喇叭；
还是提着獭犸的喇嘛打了别着喇叭的哑巴一獭犸。
喇嘛回家炖獭犸，哑巴嘀嘀哒哒吹喇叭。

From the north comes a mute, carrying a trumpet at his waist.
From the south comes a monk, holding a fish in his hand.
The monk who is holding a fish wants to trade his fish for a trumpet with the mute who is carrying a trumpet.
The mute who is carrying a trumpet doesn’t want to trade his trumpet with the monk who is holding the fish.
Not only the mute who is carrying a trumpet hits the monk who is holding a fish with his trumpet, the monk who is carrying a fish uses his fish to hit the mute who is carrying a trumpet.
The monk goes home and stews his fish.
The mute plays his trumpet.

…

Pear and Mud

Shù shàng yǒu lí
dì shàng yǒu ní
Fēng guā lí
lí luò dì
lí gǔn ní
ní zhān lí.

树上有梨
地上有泥
风刮梨
梨落地
梨滚泥
泥沾梨。

Pear and mud
atop the tree, there is a pear
atop the ground, there is mud,
the wind knocks off the pear,
the pear falls to the ground,
the pears rolls on the mud,
the mud sticks to the pear.

…

Bamboo Pole

biǎndàn cháng, bǎndèng kuān,
biǎndàn bǎng zài le bǎndèng shàng,
bǎndèng bú ràng biǎndàn bǎng zài bǎndèng shàng,
biǎndàn fēi yào bǎng zài bǎndèng shàng.

扁担长，板凳宽，
扁担要绑在板凳上，
板凳不让扁担绑在板凳上，
扁担非要绑在板凳上。

A bamboo pole is long, and a bench is wide.
The bamboo pole was bound to the bench.
The bench did not allow the pole to be bound to it,
but the pole insisted on being bound to the bench.

…

Butterfly Flies

hēi húdié fēi,
hūi húdié fēi,
hēi húdié fēi wán,
hūi húdié fēi.

黑蝴蝶飞，
灰蝴蝶飞，
黑蝴蝶飞完，
灰蝴蝶飞。

The black butterfly flies,
the gray butterfly flies,
after the black butterfly flies,
the gray butterfly flies.

…

Big Rabbit and Big Belly

dà tùzi，dà dùzi，

dà dùzi de dà tùzi，

yào yǎo dà tùzi de dà dùzi.

大兔子, 大肚子，

大肚子的大兔子.

要咬大兔子的大肚子。

Big rabbit, big belly,

big rabbit with big belly,

will bite big rabbit’s big belly.

…

Bird Island

Niǎodǎo shì dǎo,
Niǎodǎo yóu niǎo.
niǎodǎo de niǎo duō de shǔbù qīng le.
yào xiǎng dào Niáodǎo,
yīdìng yào ài niǎo.
nǐbú ài xiáoniǎo
jiù bié dào Niáodǎo.

鸟岛是岛，
鸟岛有鸟。
鸟岛的鸟多得数不清了。
要想到鸟岛，
一定要爱鸟。
你不爱小鸟
就别到鸟岛。

Bird Island is an island;
Bird Island has birds.
The birds on Bird Island are countless.
If you wish to go to Bird Island,
you must love birds.
If you don’t love small birds,
don’t go to Bird Island.

…

How is your tongue after that?

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