Fumbling over words that rhyme

New Vimeo version of film

 

Thanks to Vimeo, we now have a higher quality version of the film for your collective delectation. Enjoy.

We have had a huge response of new tongue twisters to try from the YouTube community. Brilliant stuff. We'll get round to recording them all soon. With your help that is...

We need your help

The YouTube community has been filling the Fumbling Words video's comments with some brilliant tongue twister suggestions. But we have no idea how to say any of them. That's where *you* come in.

We'd love some people to film themselves giving some of these a go. Post them on YouTube. Tell us where they are and we'll add them to this very site.

Here are some of the tongue twisters for you to try:

SPANISH
El perro de Juan a comido uva de la parra de Guerra, Guerra a pegado con la porra a la perra. Si el perro de Juan no hubiera comido uva de la parra de Guerra,Guerra no hubiera pegado con la porra a la perra.
Thanks to Alejojojo6

POLISH

Z rozentuzjazmowanego tłumu wyindywidualizował się niezidentyfikowany prestidigitator, który wyimaginował sobie samounicestwienie.
Thanks to archibaldus

TURKISH

İt iti itti, bit iti itti, it biti itti. Bit gitti, it gitti. İtti, bitti,
gitti.
Siz bizim Çekoslavakyalılaştırdıklarımızdan mısınız yoksa Çekoslavakyalılaştıramadıklarımızdan mısınız?
Thanks to eskisehirinTURKEY

CZECH
byl jednou jeden řek a ten mi řek abych mu řek kolik je v řecku řeckých řek. a já mu řek že nejsem řek abych mu řek kolik je v řecku řeckých řek.
Thanks to WinnieTheTwinnie

DANISH
jeg plukker frugt med en brugt frugt plukker.
fem flade flødeboller på et fladt flødebollefad.
Thanks to 0oDenniso0

GERMAN
Denke nie gedacht zu haben, denn das Denken, der Gedanke, ist gedankenloses Denken. Denn wenn du denkst, das du denkst, denkst du nur, du denkst, doch denken tust du nie, du gedankenloses Ding.
Thanks to IceDragon919

PORTUGUESE
Atrás de uma jarra rara há uma aranha rara, tanto a jarra rara arranha a aranha rara quanto a aranha rara arranha a jarra rara.
Thanks to yamandudacosta

FILIPINO
nakakapagpabagabag
binabalakubak ka na, babalakubakin ka pa
Kabilugan ng buan, buan ng kabilugan
Thanks to epal4ever

DUTCH

Liesje leerde Lotje lopen langs de Lange Lindelaan
Thanks to lygophile

 

VIETNAMESE
La(.t rau ro^`i luo^.t
Thanks to tommyn79

JAPANESE (in Romanji)

Koshou shoushou, shio shoushou, shouyu shoushou.

Kono Take o Kono Takegaki ni Tatekaketa no wa,
Take o Tatekaketakattakara Tatekaketa no desu.
Thanks to ivorykitten

HUNGARIAN
Nem minden fajta szarka farka tarka, csak a tarka farku fajta szarka farka tarka.
Thanks to punkypunky1

CHINESE
大猫毛长， da mor mor chang
小猫毛短， Sheol mor mor dwell
大猫比小猫毛长， da mor bee sheol mor mor chang
小猫比大猫毛短。 Sheol mor bee da mor mor dwell

amazing translation:
fluff of kitty is short
fluff of big cat is long
the fluff of big cat is longer than the fluff of kitty
the fluff of kitty is shorter thanthe fluff of big cat
Thanks to kinbery

ASAP Podcast

The excitement! Fumbling Words has found fame across the pond. The Associated Press have picked up on our little project and featured it in their latest lifestyle ASAP podcast. The lovely Anna Jane Grossman was the esteemed authoress of the piece and eloquent interviewer.

You can listen to the Podcast here.

I manage to drag the tone down by bringing up Japanese genitalia. Then bring it back up again with a sprinkling of Hugh Grant Englishness by expleting "Blimey". Then spark international hatred by describing Danish as a language made up of stange gutteral noises.

Fact Cow Fumbling

Splendid work by the Myspace Fact Cow who has penned a tongue twister section on the Fact Cow blog.

Do go visit and join their MooSpace Group.

Tongue twisters of the world

At last. The main movie is here. Five and a half minutes of tongue twisters in Italian, French, Romanian, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, Cantonese, Danish, German, Taiwanese, Polish and even a smattering of English.

There are 108 languages spawning 2,735 tongue twisters in the world. We have some way to go to get the complete set. If you want to join in, film yourself and link the movie to this site and you can become part of the Fumbling Words project.

Anglo-Russian Tongue Twister

We have our first contribution to the Fumbling Words project. Coming courtesy of the lovely people at KsanLab in Russia. Marvel at our new friends Gorodilova, Andrey, Roman, Eugenia, Zoff, Sergey and KinMilo as they tackle an English twister.

все совместно теперь

Whether the weather is hot
Whether the weather is not
We'll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.

Joining in the tongue twister fun

We are still impatiently expecting the main video to come out of post-production. If you - like us - can't wait and are gagging to submit yourself twisting your tongue in any language - please, get filming.

We need you to say your name and where you are from on film. Then launch straight into your tongue twister. Any explanation of what it means in English would always be welcome.

Upload it to Google Video, or YouTube, then post a link from the comments of this post.

Sexy Italian Teasers

A final taster of the antipasti of tongue twisters before the piatto principale arrives this weekend. And this course should get the men salivating.

It could only take two stunning Italians girls to make the following phrase sound that sexy:

On the bench the goat lives, under the bench the goat dies.

Instantly convert yourself into a stylish Milanesi by repeating after Alessandra and Francesca:

Sopra la panca la capra campa,
sotto la panca la capra crepa.

German tongue twister taster

"Fischers Fritze fischt frische Fische;
Frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritze."

According to the 1st International Collection of Tongue Twisters, this one translates as:

Fisher's errand boy is fishing fresh fish, fresh fish are fished by Fisher's errand boy.

Unfortunately, there is no translation available for his shirt.

One more teaser to follow...

Tongue twisters are coming

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

Tongue twisters are hard enough to say in your mother tongue. But imagine how dextrous your cakehole would have to be to get your vocal chords around tongue twisters in foreign languages.

So last summer, myself, Jon and Oliver set off for central London brandishing a camera and microphone in search of some tourists.

We simply asked every lost-looking person we found in the West End to recite a tongue twister in their own tongue. I say "simply", but trying to explain the concept to people who struggle to even understand your more benign greetings proved troublesome.

The tongue twisters were incredible. The people hilarious. And the final film... well, we'll let you judge that. But we want more.

According to the 1st International Collection of Tongue Twisters, there are 2,735 twisters in 108 languages. And I'm sure this is just the tip of the iceberg. We want you to film yourself saying your favorite one in your native language. Upload it to Google Videos or YouTube (link to follow), then link to them from this here blog.

The full version to date has just made it into post-production, and will be ready to tie your mouth in knots early in January.

In the meantime - recite after Freddy:

Trentatré Trentini entrarono a Trento, tutti e trentatré, trotterellando