“통장” Korean Tongue Twister
육통 통장 적금 통장은 황색 적금 통장이고 팔통 통장 적금 통장은 녹색 적금 통장이다.
Translation: The savings bank book of bank no. 6 is a yellow savings bank book, and the savings bank book of bank no. 8 is a green savings bank book.
Why Is It Hard?
The word 통장 (bank book/passbook) appears six times in two sentences, and 적금 통장 (savings bank book) appears four times. The numbers 육통 (six-bank) and 팔통 (eight-bank) differ by only the initial vowel, while both are immediately followed by the identical 통장 적금 통장 sequence. The brain loses track of which number it is on and which 통장 in the sequence it is producing, causing the two clauses to collapse into one indistinguishable string.
History
통장 belongs to a Korean tongue twister tradition built around banking and financial vocabulary — a genre that emerged as South Korea’s banking sector expanded rapidly in the 1970s and 80s. Bank books (통장) were a fixture of everyday Korean life before digital banking, and the specific detail of colour-coded bank books (yellow vs green) reflects the real-world practice of Korean banks issuing different-coloured passbooks for different account types. This grounding in daily life made the tongue twister easy to visualise and remember.
Tips for Saying It
- 육통 vs 팔통: the difference is 육 (yuk/six) vs 팔 (pal/eight) — say the numbers alone several times to lock in the distinction.
- The colour words 황색 (yellow) and 녹색 (green) are your landmarks — they mark the end of each clause and confirm you are on the right track.
- Tap once for 육통 and twice for 팔통 as you say them — the physical count prevents number confusion at speed.
More Korean Tongue Twisters / 더 많은 쟰말놀이
Discover more tongue twisters from around the world:
- Korean Tongue Twisters — the complete 쟰말놀이 collection
- Hard Tongue Twisters — the most challenging twisters in any language
- Tongue Twisters for Kids — fun for all ages