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Korean tongue twisters 잘 말하기 어려운 문장

How it works: Traditional Korean tongue twisters (잰말놀이). Native speakers stumble on them too. Tap Listen, then tap the microphone and say the sentence. You will see which syllables a Korean speech recognizer heard.

Study list

“Said as” is the standard pronunciation (표준 발음법) where it differs from the spelling. Romanization follows the official Revised Romanization.

#KoreanSaid asRomanizationEnglish
1간장 공장 공장장은 강 공장장이다as writtenganjang gongjang gongjangjangeun gang gongjangjangidaThe factory manager of the soy sauce factory is Manager Kang.
The classic. Keep ㄱ and ㅇ clear.
2된장 공장 공장장은 장 공장장이다as writtendoenjang gongjang gongjangjangeun jang gongjangjangidaThe factory manager of the soybean paste factory is Manager Jang.
The second half of the classic.
3경찰청 철창살은 외철창살이냐 쌍철창살이냐[경찰청 철창사른 외철창사리냐 쌍철창사리냐]gyeongchalcheong cheolchangsareun oecheolchangsarinya ssangcheolchangsarinyaAre the police station’s iron bars single or double?
ㅊ, ㅉ and ㄹ all in one breath.
4내가 그린 기린 그림은 잘 그린 기린 그림이다[내가 그린 기린 그리믄 잘 그린 기린 그리미다]naega geurin girin geurimeun jal geurin girin geurimidaThe giraffe picture I drew is a well-drawn giraffe picture.
ㄱ, ㄴ and ㄹ over and over.
5저기 계신 저 분이 박 법학박사이시다[저기 계신 저 부니 박 버팍빡싸이시다]jeogi gyesin jeo buni bak beopakbaksaisidaThat person over there is Dr. Park, doctor of law.
박 and 법 — tensing and ㅂ everywhere.

Sounds to watch in this set

Korean is not always said the way it is written. These sound changes happen in the sentences above.

  • Linking 연음 — A final consonant (받침) moves to the next syllable when that syllable starts with the silent ㅇ. In this set: 경찰청 철창살은 외철창살이냐 쌍철창살이냐 [경찰청 철창사른 외철창사리냐 쌍철창사리냐], 내가 그린 기린 그림은 잘 그린 기린 그림이다 [내가 그린 기린 그리믄 잘 그린 기린 그리미다], 저기 계신 저 분이 박 법학박사이시다 [저기 계신 저 부니 박 버팍빡싸이시다]. More →
  • Aspiration 격음화 — ㅎ next to ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ or ㅈ merges with it into ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ or ㅊ. In this set: 저기 계신 저 분이 박 법학박사이시다 [저기 계신 저 부니 박 버팍빡싸이시다]. More →
  • Tensing 경음화 — After ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ sounds, the next ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ ㅅ ㅈ become ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ. It also happens after verb stems ending in ㄴ or ㅁ and after the future ending -ㄹ. In this set: 저기 계신 저 분이 박 법학박사이시다 [저기 계신 저 부니 박 버팍빡싸이시다]. More →

About the score

The score is the share of syllables the speech recognizer heard as written. Recognizers guess whole words, so they forgive some mistakes and sometimes miss a word that was said well — treat a high score as “Koreans would understand you”, not as a pronunciation test. Questions about the microphone and privacy →

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