Get Tongue Tied || 13 Of Our Favourite Russian Tongue Twisters
Russian Tongue Twisters || Level Up Your Russian
Fancy levelling up your Russian skills with some of the very best Russian Tongue Twisters?
You’re in the right place!
For those of you who don’t know, tongue twisters are phrases or sentences that are difficult to say quickly and correctly, often involving repeated sounds or words.
In Russian, there are many tongue twisters that can help you improve your pronunciation and fluency while having fun at the same time.
Here are some of the most popular Russian tongue twisters for foreign Russian learners as written by native Russian speakers.
Russian Tongue Twisters || Черный чёрному чёрно купил
Russian Tongue Twisters || Шла Саша по шоссе…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Стоит мишка на углу…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Тридцать три корабля…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Карл у Клары украл…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Под лукоморьем…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Красный крест на крыше…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Свистят шины, шипят шины…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Во поле берёза стояла…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Голубчик Голубчик голубого…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Шёл Шурик по шоссе…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Звонит звонок, звонок звонит…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Пять бочек с вином
Russian Tongue Twisters || FAQs
Russian Tongue Twisters || Черный чёрному чёрно купил
Черный чёрному чёрно купил
chernyy chyornomu cherno kupil
This tongue twister translates to “black bought black from black.”
It’s challenging because of the repeated sounds of “ch” and “k.”
TOP TIP || First we recommend you get familiar with each word, one at a time.
Say them slowly and then start to build up your pace. It’s not easy but you’ll get there 💪
Russian Tongue Twisters || Шла Саша по шоссе…
Шла Саша по шоссе и сосала сушку
shla sasha po shosse i sosala sushku
This tongue twister translates to “Sasha was walking on the highway and sucking on a dry biscuit.”
It’s challenging because of the repeated sounds of “sh” and “s.”
Russian Tongue Twisters || Стоит мишка на углу…
Стоит мишка на углу, на углу мишка стоит
stoit mishka na uglu, na uglu mishka stoit
This tongue twister translates to “the little bear is standing on the corner, on the corner the little bear is standing.”
You’ll notice this Russian tongue twister reads almost exactly the same from back to front, making it a little awkward when attempting at first.
This is one of the easier Russian tongue twisters on the list though, in our opinion.
Try it yourself…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Тридцать три корабля…
Тридцать три корабля лавировали лавировали да не вылавировали
tridtsat’ tri korablya lavirovali lavirovali da ne vylavirovali
OK this one is a head spinner!
This tongue twister translates to “thirty-three ships tacked and tacked but didn’t get tacked.”
It’s challenging because of the repeated sounds of “l” and “v”, but despite this, it’s just damn hard from start to finish!
Can you do it?
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Loanwords (or words borrowed from other languages) can be found in virtually every language spoken around the world. Today we learn 23 loanwords in Russian.
Russian Tongue Twisters || Карл у Клары украл…
Карл у Клары украл кораллы, а Клара у Карла украла кларнет
karla u klary ukral korally, a klara u karla ukrala klarne
This tongue twister translates to “Carl stole corals from Clara, and Clara stole a clarinet from Carl.”
Another tough one with a lot of “k” and “l” sounds to handle together.
Have you got what it takes?
Russian Tongue Twisters || Под лукоморьем…
Под лукоморьем, зеленым-зеленным, лежит дуб здоровенный, под дубом златая цепь
pod lukomoreem, zelenym-zelenym, lezhit dub zdoroven’nyy, pod dubom zlataya tsep’
This tongue twister is a popular Russian fairy tale phrase that translates to “Under the green, green sea there lies an enormous oak tree, and beneath the oak tree a golden chain.”
There are a whole host of challenging sounds to overcome to master this one!
Even us natives find it tough 😅
Russian Tongue Twisters || Красный крест на крыше…
Красный крест на крыше скрестили красиво
krasnyy krest na kryshe skrestili krasivo
This tongue twister translates to “They beautifully crossed the red cross on the roof.”
This is another Russian tongue twister that includes a mixture of “kr” and “st” sounds, making it super tricky for non natives!
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Russian Tongue Twisters || Свистят шины, шипят шины…
Свистят шины, шипят шины, шофёр шину свистнул и шиной шипит
svistyat shiny, shipyat shiny, shofyor shinu svistnul i shinoy shipit
This Russian tongue twister translates to “The tires whistle, the tires hiss, the driver whistled at the tire, and the tire hisses.”
As you can see from above, there are a multitude of “s” sounds to tackle in this tongue twister.
The word tongue twister never felt so relevant 😂
Russian Tongue Twisters || Во поле берёза стояла…
Во поле берёза стояла, на той берёзе белка сидела, сидела смотрела, что-то жуёт
vo pole bereza stoyala, na toy bereze belka sidela, sidela smotrela, chto-to zhuyot
Did you try it? How did you get on? Tell us in the comments below if you found this easy or hard!
In this particular example, our Russian tongue twister translates to “There stood a birch tree in the field, a squirrel sat on that birch tree, sat and watched, eating something.”
Four more still to come yet, starting with…
Russian Tongue Twisters || Голубчик Голубчик голубого…
Голубчик Голубчик голубого голубя голубил
golubchik golubchik golubogo golubya golubil
This tongue twister translates to “The boy blue-dyed a blue pigeon.”
This is the first Russian tongue twister we’ve come across that has a multitude of g sounds.
Couple this with lots of “o” and “u” vowels, and you’ve got a genuinely difficult tongue twister to attack!
Russian Tongue Twisters || Шёл Шурик по шоссе…
Шёл Шурик по шоссе и смотрит на сушильную шёлковую шёрстку
shyol shurik po shosse i smotrit na sushil’nuyu shelyokovuyu shyorstku
This tongue twister translates to “Shurik was walking along the highway and looking at the drying silk wool.”
Shurik is a male name in Russia and means “defender of men“.
Russian Tongue Twisters || Звонит звонок, звонок звонит…
Звонит звонок, звонок звонит, звонок звенит звонко
zvonit zvonok, zvonok zvonit, zvonok zvenit zvonko
This tongue twister translates to “The bell is ringing, the bell is ringing, the bell is ringing loudly.”
You’ll notice every word starts off with the Зв sound.
Despite this, it is probably one of the easier Russian tongue twisters on this list.
Russian Tongue Twisters || Пять бочек с вином
Пять бочек с вином стояли на полу, пять бочек с вином стояли на полу, пять бочек с вином стояли на полу
pyat’ bochek s vinom stoyali na polu, pyat’ bochek s vinom stoyali na polu, pyat’ bochek s vinom stoyali na polu
This tongue twister translates to “Five barrels of wine were standing on the floor, five barrels of wine were standing on the floor, five barrels of wine were standing on the floor.” It’s challenging
The tricky part is the fact that this tongue twister focuses on repetition, whereby the sentence Пять бочек с вином стояли на полу is spoken three times!
As if one wasn’t hard enough right?!
Practicing these Russian tongue twisters is an alternative but really enjoyable way to improve your pronunciation in Russian.
Not only will you improve your pronunciation skills, but you’ll also build your confidence in speaking the language.
To get the most out of practicing tongue twisters, try to say them as quickly and accurately as possible.
Start with slower speeds and work your way up to faster ones as you become more comfortable with the sounds and pronunciation.
Another tip is to break down the tongue twister into smaller parts and practice those parts individually before attempting the entire sentence.
This will help you focus on specific sounds and build up to more complex phrases.
If you enjoy learning tongue twisters in other languages why not check these out:
- Our favourite tongue twisters in Chinese
- 15 of the most well known Japanese tongue twisters
Russian Tongue Twisters || FAQs
What is an easy Russian tongue twister for a foreigner to master?
This Russian tongue twister is quite easy for foreigners to master
Звонит звонок, звонок звонит, звонок звенит звонко
This tongue twister translates to “The bell is ringing, the bell is ringing, the bell is ringing loudly.”
You’ll notice every word starts off with the Зв sound.
Despite this, it is probably one of the easier Russian tongue twisters on this list.
What is an advanced level Russian tongue twister?
Тридцать три корабля лавировали лавировали да не вылавировали.
This is typically very hard for foreigners to master because of the repeated sounds of “l” and “v”.
This tongue twister translates to “thirty-three ships tacked and tacked but didn’t get tacked.”
Can you do it?
Are there tongue twisters in Russian?
Oh yes, there are lots for you to practice.
We’ve listed our favourites in this article.
What is a tongue twister?
Tongue twisters are phrases or sentences that are difficult to say quickly and correctly, often involving repeated sounds or words.
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