French tongue twisters are an excellent way to improve your spoken French, and this list of 20 virelangues or tongue twisters will challenge even the most advanced speakers. They are roughly organized in terms of increasing difficulty and can be used to improve your ability to pronounce key words and phrases, as well as to gain fluency and comfort speaking quickly. Here are some common French tongue twisters:
Douze douches douces. (Twelve gentle showers.)
Les Autrichiens sont des autres chiens. (The Austrians are other dogs.)
Seize chaises sèches. (Sixteen dry chairs.)
Va t’en, Satan ta femme t’attend. (Go away, Satan, your wife is waiting for you.)
Son chat chante sa chanson. (His cat sings his song.)
Un grand gradé drague un gradé dégradé. (A high-ranking officer is hitting on a degraded officer.)
Cinq chiens chassent six chats. (Five dogs chase six cats.)
Babette a fait bombance à bord du bateau de Bob. (Babette feasted aboard Bob’s boat.)
Le ver vert va vers le verre vert. (The green worm goes towards the green glass.)
L’assassin sur son sein suçait son sang sans cesse. (The assassin was sucking his blood without stopping on his breast.)
Des blancs pains, des bancs peints, des bains pleins. (White breads, painted benches, full baths.)
Un généreux déjeuner regénérerait des généraux dégénérés. (A generous lunch would regenerate degenerated generals.)
As-tu vu le vert ver allant vers le verre en verre vert ? (Have you seen the green worm going towards the green glass in glass?)
La cavale aux Valaques avala l’eau du lac et l’eau du lac lava la cavale aux Valaques. (The horse of the Wallachians drank the water from the lake, and the water from the lake washed the horse of the Wallachians.)
Si ton tonton tond ton tonton, ton tonton sera tondu. (If your uncle shaves your uncle, your uncle will be shaved.)
Je suis ce que je suis, et si je suis ce que je suis, qu’est-ce que je suis ? (I am what I am, and if I am what I am, what am I?)
Lily lit le livre sur le lit. (Lily reads the book on the bed.)
Les chaussettes de l’archiduchesse, sont-elles sèches ? Archi-sèches. (Are the archduchess’s socks dry? Very dry.)
Même maman m’a mis ma main dans mon manchon. (Even mom put my hand in my muff.)
Est-ce que les chaussettes de l’archiduchesse sont sèches ou archi-sèches? (Are the archduchess’s socks dry or very dry?)
In conclusion, these French tongue twisters can be a fun and challenging way to improve your pronunciation and fluency in the language. They vary in difficulty and origin, but all offer a great opportunity to practice