If you searched American tongue twisters or American accent tongue twisters, you want the lines on the page. Not a PDF pitch. Not a video with no text.

A tongue twister only helps if you can see the words, slow them down, and feel what your mouth is doing. Here are American English tongue twisters grouped by sound.

How to practice American accent tongue twisters

Do not start at full speed. That only trains the stumble.

1. Read the line once, slowly. Mark the sound you are training.
2. Say it three times at a walk. Keep every ending.
3. Say it three times a little faster. If a sound falls off, slow down again.
4. Record one take on your phone. Listen for the target sound.

Two minutes on one line beats ten minutes racing through a list. For a daily plan, see 10 helpful tips for mastering English pronunciation.

Tapped T and short vowels

Americans often tap the T between vowels, so better sounds close to “bedder.” Short vowels stay short. If yours stretch into long EE, practice short i vs long ee.

Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter’s bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter.

Feel the tapped T in Betty, Botter, butter, bitter, batter. Keep bit in bitter short.

A big black bug bit a big black bear.

Short I in big and bit. Do not let them become beeg and beet.

S vs SH tongue twisters

S is a hiss with the tongue close to the ridge behind your teeth. SH is wider and a little farther back.

She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells.

Hold she and shells on SH. Hold sells so the S still shows. Slow the first pass until you hear the switch.

Six sleek swans swam swiftly southwards.

Keep the first consonant on every S-blend. Do not drop it to make the line easier.

TH tongue twisters

Tongue on the teeth. Voiced TH vibrates (the, they). Voiceless TH is just air (think, three). If you need the buzz test, see what voiced means.

The thirty-three thieves thought they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.

If TH becomes T or S, start over on thirty and three alone, then put the line back together.

I thought a thought, but the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought.

Same mouth shape every time. Use the repetition as free reps.

R and W

American R is not a tap and not a roll. The tongue bunches back. W is lips, not tongue.

Around the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran.

If R turns into W, you will hear “wagged wocks.”

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

W on wood and would. Keep both short and rounded.

Unique New York. You know you need unique New York.

This is a small line. Do it ten times.

Tongue twisters with audio, or a list you can print

You do not need a separate PDF for this list. Highlight one section, print this page, or read it out loud with the video if one is on the page. The words have to stay in front of you.

Pick one sound you actually miss. Say one line slowly, then at a talking speed. Stop when the target sound is clean, not when the line is fast.

If you want a coach to hear which sound slipped, start here: https://pronunciationpro.com/trial/.