节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-03-14
难易度:Low
关键字:creative, warning, numb, obstacle, fluency
OK. I hope you all had a great break.
Now if Dr. Seuss can make up his own tongue twisters, then why can't you or I?
Here's an idea.
If you're trying to memorize some new information in English, maybe try creating
a tongue twister with that information.
Make it a tool to help you remember stuff.
OK, time to finish our tongue twisting workout down on line 13.
Tongue Twisters.
As Dr. Seuss asks, "now is your tongue numb"?
Tongue twisters appear in nearly every language of the world.
In Spanish, the word for tongue twisters is trabalenguas.
It means an obstacle for the tongue.
Tongue twisters can certainly get your tongue tangled up.
Still, they're great for practicing pronunciation and improving fluency in a
language.
So if a tongue twister twists your tongue, untwist your tongue and try again.
OK. So we were looking at Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss talking about Luke's... Luke
like licking lakes or something.
OK. Now it is a little bit weird for Luke Luck and his duck to like licking
lakes.
But that's not the point.
It's not really about what it means, more about having fun with language.
And it keeps your tongue and mouth moving in weird ways.
That's right. So Dr. Seuss asks, "now is your tongue numb after saying this
tongue twister"?
Now when we say that, he doesn't actually mean "numb," does he?
Well, he could. I mean, the word "numb" means that you can't feel something.
Now if your fingers are numb, then that means you can't feel your fingers.
That's right.
So if you are outside and it is very cold, you can no longer feel your fingers.
They're still there.
They're still attached to your hands, but they're hard to feel.
That's how your tongue gets if you say these words.
Now Ryan, I mentioned earlier that in drama, in acting,
we like to use tongue twisters to warm up our mouths so that they're easy...
it's easy to pronounce words.
That's right.
Now one thing about using tongue twisters is it can make your tongue numb.
So be careful when you use them.
That's true. It might be very difficult and your tongue can get all messed up
and twisted.
And you might not be able to feel your tongue after saying some of these tongue
twisters.
So Ryan, we keep talking about using tongue twisters in English.
But really, tongue twisters appear in nearly every language of the world.
So we are studying English, we're practicing English, which means we're doing
tongue twisters in English.
But all over the world, people use this as a fun way to practice language.
That's true.
In fact, in Spanish, the word for tongue twisters is trabalenguas.
Trabalenguas, that's right.
Now it's kind of weird to teach a Spanish word on an English lesson.
But really, we're teaching it because it means an obstacle for the tongue, which
is exactly what tongue twisters are.
It is an obstacle for your tongue.
Yes. And an "obstacle" is something that stops movement.
You might put an obstacle in... in the road if they are working on the road to
stop cars from moving.
That's right. Now obstacles get in our way, so we cannot keep going somewhere.
Maybe you're out on a run and there's a tree branch in the way, you're going to
have to stop.
It is an obstacle.
Now what makes a tongue twister an obstacle?
Well, it stops you from saying the words correctly.
So in Spanish, they call it an obstacle for your tongue.
That's right. It's kind of fun.
Well, tongue twisters can certainly get your tongue tangled up.
That's kind of a tongue twister itself.
A little bit, "tongue twisters can get your tongue tangled up," yes.
Now if something is tangled, of course you remember it means that it is all
stuck together.
And so this is basically the same as twisting your tongue or getting your tongue
stuck.
But even though they're good for that, they're good for practicing, they're good
for tangling your tongue up,
they're still great for practicing your pronunciation and improving fluency in a
language.
Now one of the things we haven't mentioned is the pattern in which we can use
to... to learn these tongue twisters.
You think different emphasis.
Putting a different strong point on a word in the tongue twister will help you
get that correct.
And that would improve fluency.
Exactly. It will help you to speak a language better.
Now that is what the word "fluency" means.
That means how well or how easily you can speak a language.
Also how quickly you can speak a language.
That's true.
When you're learning a language, sometimes we have to pause and think about it,
which is good.
Take your time, but continue speaking, keep practicing.
But fluency means we've gotten past that pausing point and we're into actually
just speaking the language.
Now I said that using different emphasis can help.
For example, we talked yesterday about red leather and yellow leather.
So when you're saying that one, practice doing "red" leather, "yellow" leather.
Put the emphasis on the colors.
And it will help you get the right word out.
That's right.
Say each color louder than the word leather, and that should help you with your
pronunciation.
And I hope most of you are past just learning English, most of you are on your
way to learning English fluency.
That's right.
You can be a fluent speaker as well.
So if a tongue twister twist your tongue, untwist your tongue and try again.
Exactly. Just keep trying.
Maybe start a little bit slower and then get faster and faster as you get
better.
That's right. Untwist your tongue.
Keep practicing.
Know that it's good to laugh at yourself and it's a fun way to learn a language.
Now we said all languages have them.
Ryan, do you know any foreign... to us, foreign languages to us tongue twisters?
OK.
(Chinese).
What about you?
Oh, no. OK, let's see...
(Chinese).
OK, very nice!
Friends, keep practicing your tongue twisters.
Now let's go check out the Chat Room.
Big black bla... big black blu...
Ken, what are you doing?
Hi, Bryan.
I'm practicing tongue twisters.
And they are definitely twisting my tongue.
What's the tongue twister?
Big black bug blood.
Big black blood blog...
You're right, Ken.
That is a tough one.
Yep. You know, every time I try to say it, the tongue twister twists my words.
I know what you mean, but you should probably say it's twisting your tongue.
"Twisting someone's words" is actually an idiom.
Oh, I didn't realize that.
What does it mean?
It means to use something that a person said to make it sound like they were
saying something different.
Hmm. Can you give me an example?
Sure.
Let's say I point out that my co-worker Gary made a mistake.
If someone else claimed that I meant that Gary should be fired, they would be
twisting my words.
Ah. That's because you don't want Gary to be fired.
You just think he made a mistake, but they're misinterpreting what you said.
Right.
Speaking of "twist" idioms, have you ever heard of "twisting somebody's arm"?
Sure. I did that all the time when I was on the wrestling team in high school.
No. That's the literal meaning, Ken.
I'm talking about "twisting somebody's arm" in the sense of putting a lot of
pressure on somebody to get them to do what you want.
Well, I'm glad I don't have to twist your arm to get you to help me with my
English.
You certainly don't, Ken.
I enjoy helping you.
Thanks.
(Chinese).
(Chinese).
And I guess it's time for us to say goodbye.
I'll see you next time. Bye-bye.
Michelle, thank you so much for those tips.
And why are tongue twisters so difficult to pronounce?
Because they contain words with seemingly similar vowels and consonants.
But upon closer inspection, their pronunciations are slightly different just
enough to trip up your tongue.
Now remember, everyone, tongue twisters can help you improve your English
pronunciation and fluency.
So embrace them.
OK. Tomorrow we'll take a trip to America, not to see a place but to see a
special group of people.
Join us then and always have a great day. Bye-bye.