German children grow up with Zungenbrecher, literally "tongue breakers". They're recited at school, at birthday parties and on long car journeys, and nearly every adult can still rattle off two or three.
For learners they're more than a game. Each one hammers a sound that's hard for English speakers: z, sch, the soft ch, ü. Say them slowly first, then faster, and press play on each line to hear how they should sound.
The Classics Every German Knows
Fritz the fisherman fishes fresh fish, fresh fish Fritz the fisherman fishes.
Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische, frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz.
Red cabbage stays red cabbage and a wedding dress stays a wedding dress.
Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid.
The Cottbus mail coachman cleans the Cottbus mail coach box.
Der Cottbuser Postkutscher putzt den Cottbuser Postkutschkasten.
Blaukraut or Rotkohl? The same vegetable has different names across Germany: Blaukraut in the south, Rotkohl in the north and Rotkraut in between. Only the southern word makes the tongue twister work.
Fischers Fritz is the one everybody knows. The trick is the switch between f, sch and fr, which turns into mush the moment you speed up.
For the Z Sound
German z is always "ts", as in "cats", even at the start of a word. These two make you say it again and again.
Ten tame goats pulled ten hundredweight of sugar to the zoo.
Zehn zahme Ziegen zogen zehn Zentner Zucker zum Zoo.
Between two plum branches sit two twittering swallows.
Zwischen zwei Zwetschgenzweigen sitzen zwei zwitschernde Schwalben.
Zentner is an old weight, 50 kilos, still heard when people talk about potatoes or garden soil. Zw at the start of zwei, Zweig and zwischen is "tsv", and saying it cleanly takes practice.
For Sch and the Soft Ch
Seven snow shovellers shovel seven shovels of snow.
Sieben Schneeschipper schippen sieben Schippen Schnee.
In the thick spruce thicket, fat finches peck busily.
Im dichten Fichtendickicht picken dicke Finken tüchtig.
The soft ch in dichten, Fichten and tüchtig is the sound after i, e, ä, ö, ü, ei, eu, äu and after l, n, r, as in Milch. It's neither k nor sch: think of a strong whispered "h" in "huge". The finch sentence is a workout for it, with ck and k mixed in to trip you up.
For Ü and the Long Sentences
Brushes with black bristles brush better than brushes with white bristles.
Bürsten mit schwarzen Borsten bürsten besser als Bürsten mit weißen Borsten.
When flies fly behind flies, flies fly after flies.
Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen nach.
When snails lick snails, the snails only notice while licking that snails don't taste good.
Wenn Schnecken an Schnecken schlecken, merken Schnecken erst beim Schlecken, dass Schnecken nicht schmecken.
Ü or o? Bürsten (brushes) and Borsten (bristles) sit side by side, and so do ü and o. Round your lips for ü as if to say "oo", then say "ee" without moving them.
Short Ones for Beginners
Donkeys don't eat nettles, nettles don't eat donkeys.
Esel essen Nesseln nicht, Nesseln essen Esel nicht.
Eight old ants ate pineapple in the evening.
Acht alte Ameisen aßen am Abend Ananas.
These two are popular with small children because they're short and a little absurd. The first one also shows German word order playing with itself: the same words, flipped, and the sentence still works.
Saying It Out Loud
tongue twister
der Zungenbrecher
Say it three times fast.
Sag das dreimal schnell hintereinander.
I'm about to break my tongue.
Ich breche mir gleich die Zunge ab.
Again, slower.
Noch mal, langsamer.
You did it!
Du hast es geschafft!
Practice these words
der Zungenbrecher
How to practise:
- Listen to the audio first and read along.
- Say it slowly, word by word, until every sound is right.
- Speed up only when the slow version is clean.
- Record yourself on your phone and compare.
Five minutes a day for a week can be enough to hear the difference in your everyday German too.