'Seashells by the Seashore' Tongue Twister

Tongue twisters are fun words games we use to challenge our pronunciation. As an English learner, you can use tongue twisters to help with pronunciation of certain sounds. This tongue twister is perfect for practicing your 's' sounds. Use lots of breath to help you get the hissing 's' sound strong. Remember that 's' is voiceless - pronounced without the voice by pushing air between your teeth and through open and rounded lips.

Seashells by the Seashore

She sells seashells by the seashore.
The shells she sells are surely seashells.
So if she sells shells on the seashore,
I'm sure she sells seashore shells.

Improve Your Pronunciation of 'S'

Seashells by the Seashore helps you practice 's'. The 's' sound is voiceless and sometimes confused with the 'z' sound which is voiced, or the 'sh' sound which is also voiceless. Practice the difference in these sounds with minimal pairs - words that only have a difference between the 's', 'z' and 'sh' sound. 

• sip - ship - zip
• sea - z - she
• sign - shine
• zap - sap

Feel the Difference Between Voiceless and Voiced Sounds

Place your hand on your throat and say 'sea' and you will feel no vibration for the 's' sound. Place your hand on your throat and say 'zebra' and you'll feel no vibration at all for the 'z' - a voiced sound.