Truly rural
Truly rural
Truly rural
Why Is It Hard?
English has two liquid consonants, r and l, that are often confused or substituted for each other in speech. Truly ends in a liquid l sound while rural begins and ends with r sounds, with another l in the middle. Saying them back-to-back at speed causes the liquids to blur into each other. The full tongue twister challenge is to say truly rural, truly rural, truly rural three times fast.
History
Truly rural is a classic minimal English tongue twister in the tradition of unique New York. It has been used in speech therapy and actor training for decades as a test of liquid consonant control. Many speakers who can handle longer twisters easily find themselves stumbling on these two simple words. It is a favourite in British accent training programmes.
Tips for Saying It
- Practise the l in truly: your tongue tip touches just behind the top teeth.
- For the r in rural: do not touch anything — the r is rhotic, made in the throat.
- The key is the transition: l-r-r at the boundary of truly/rural.
More English Tongue Twisters
- Red Lorry Yellow Lorry — the classic R and L twister
- Unique New York — another minimal twister
- Hard Tongue Twisters — more challenges
Find hundreds more on alltonguetwisters.com.