Tongue twisterWarm-up
Japanese
赤パジャマ黄パジャマ茶パジャマ (Aka pajama, ki pajama, cha pajama)
Meaning: A rapid-fire drill on colour words; the syllable shift from aka/ki/cha trips the tongue beautifully.
Literally: Red pajamas, yellow pajamas, brown pajamas.
Origin: One of Japan's best-loved warm-up twisters.
More Japanese tongue twisters
- 坊主が屏風に上手に坊主の絵を描いた (Bōzu ga byōbu ni jōzu ni bōzu no e o kaita) A sustained 'b' and long-vowel drill — bōzu/byōbu/jōzu demand precise mouth control.
- 隣の客はよく柿食う客だ (Tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kuu kyaku da) A tricky spiral on ka/ki/ku that accelerates as you try to keep the syllables distinct.
- なまむぎ なまごめ なまたまご (Nama mugi, nama gome, nama tamago) A nimble warm-up for the Japanese 'na / ma / ge' syllables.
- 東京特許許可局 (Tōkyō tokkyo kyokakyoku) A machine-gun of 'kyo' / 'kyoku' sounds.
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Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
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