Tongue Twisters

If you wish to talk,

You must learn to speak clearly,

Speak clearly, so that everyone understands you.

The wind rustles in the pine trees,

As our hedgehog is rushing home.

On his way he meets a wolf,

The wolf clanks its teeth at him.

Were you howling in the night, wolfs?

By the woods, were you howling?

Was it us, you ask?

Yes, it was us. We washed our paws in the river.

Old man Danila divided up a melon:

This piece is for Dima, this piece is for Dinya.

Old man Dodon played his flute,

And accidentally hit Dima with it.

On a window sill, a cat

Is catching a tiny fly with its paw.

A mouse is washing its nose with soap.

It’s washing its back and its tail,

It’s washing so hard that that it’s turning white.

The mouse is so glad that it eats up the soap.

The skinny, infirm Koshchey,

Is dragging a crate full of vegetables.

Looking for the bits for a meal,

He’s walking around a bream.

Don’t skimp on pike’s tails,

We need more for a thick broth.

A poplar tree is plodding down the road,

The poplar tree is treading to Sevastopol.

Beside him treads Seva,

The poplar tree on the right, Seva on the left.

Where’s Seva and the poplar tree?

They’re by near Sevastopol now.

Three magpies jabbered on a hill.

They jabbered and jabbered.

Sparrows argued with a magpie.

Snow is white, and so is chalk,

And white sugar is also white.

Unlike a squirrel,

It’s never white.

Two puppies, cheek to cheek,

Are plucking bristles off a brush in the corner.

Don’t look for us, Misha,

We’re plucking sorrel for the soup.

Vanya once rode atop a stove,

While gobbling down some pie.

A mouse sat in the corner,

And ate a piece of bagel.

The cleaner held the door for two days,

While the wooden house was trembling.

The wind was banging at the door,

And the street cleaner thought it was an animal.

A stern passerby picked plantain

That grew along the side of the road.

Pick the more expensive plantain,

Stern passerby.

If you wish to talk,

You must learn to speak clearly,

Speak clearly, so that everyone understands you.

We’ll be talking,

And we’ll speak clearly,

So clearly that everyone will understand us.

Clearly and correctly, correctly and clearly,

We’ll be speaking clearly,

We’ll be speaking correctly.

Correctly, incorrectly,

Incorrectly, yet clearly,

So that anyone can understand.

If you wish to talk,

You must learn to speak clearly,

Clearly and correctly, so that everyone understands you.