Tongue Twisters (2/2): Tricky Russian Sentences and Speed Tests

Of course, Russian has its own version of “she sells seashells by the seashore”. In fact, the Russian language boasts a rich collection of these tongue twisters – often long, rhythmic sentences in which sounds repeat and build on each other. While individual words can already be a challenge (see part 1), these tricky sentences raise the bar even higher. Following and understanding them is hard enough; pronouncing them fluently and without mistakes is even harder.

This is the second part of a two-part series; part 1 contains long Russian words.

Russian tongue twisters as practice

In Russian, a tongue twister is called скороговорка (plural: скороговорки). They are not just used for fun, but also as a form of practice: to sharpen pronunciation, develop speaking speed, and become familiar with challenging sound combinations. Thanks to their rhythm and often rhyming or alliterative nature, they are ideally suited and also fun to practice. There is every opportunity to do so with the examples videos below.

Examples of Russian tongue twisters

The first five from Top 5 Russian Tongue Twisters (Russian with Katya, 2020, 5 mins).

RussianPod101 also has a top 5. Three of them are the same (sometimes in a slightly different order), plus:

If you want to learn how to pronounce these sentences, follow along with Daria Mikhay. She starts at a helpful, slower pace before demonstrating how fast Russian can really be spoken. Matching that speed will take time.

Two of her three Russian Tongue Twisters are new from the ones we saw before.

For Ехал Грека, also see Russian Language Online (2020, 2 mins), listen to Arie, and this kid.

Shla Sasha

Шла Саша, and so on, is also used in a rap song (Spotify, YouTube) with explicit lyrics. ‘Russia dances to US music, and now it’s okay that “Sasha was walking along the highway and sucking.” Now it’s pop.’ By Мутант Ъхвлам. A much lighter take can be found in Несчастный Случай.

Explanation in Sasha was walking along a highway. Russian tongue twister (Marina Kopylova, 2016, 3 mins).

Karl and Klara

Karl and Klara, with their clarinet and corals, have become a speech test in themselves—or a speech competition, where it’s more about firing off words than speaking them.

The short version can be heard in this audio file.

The full version: Карл у Клары украл кораллы, а Клара у Карла украла кларнет. Если бы Карл у Клары не украл кораллы, то Клара у Карла не украла б кларнет (Lingolive).

• Карл у Клары украл кораллы, а Клара у Карла украла кларнет (Apprendre le russe, 2015, 1.5 min)
• Карл у клары украл кораллы. усовершенствованная версия (Алёна Подвязкина, 2015, 0.5 min)

Reciting Karl and Klara takes 14 seconds in the woods and 7 minutes under the influence. Karl and Klara also feature in this Dirty Electro House (2016).

Longer, Faster, More Russian tongue twisters

It’s not just about developing speaking skills with the скороговорка. If you can follow this, you’re well on your way: 8 нескучных скороговорок для развития дикции (Комсомольская Правда, 2017, 1 m) = 8 not-boring tongue twisters for developing diction.

The Самая длинная в мире скороговорка (Мир Белогорья, 2019, 2 mins) is the longest tongue twister in the world, and quite a listening challenge too.

Also, check out this Лигурия, performed a bit more calmly. On the other hand, Diana Gulyan speaks like a machine gun. For something different, check out the tongue twisters in chorus.

There’s even a Russian Tongue Twister Song and a tongue twister that’s also a palindrome (think “Madam, I’m Adam”): А роза упала на лапу Азора.

Do the Twist with Rap

Rap is also a tongue twister. After all, rap stands for rapid.

• Top 65 Russian fastest rappers (Димоон, 2019, 36 mins), from the same channel Top 10 fastest Russian rappers (2018, 11 mins)
• The Fastest Russian Rap/Hip-Hop Mix (Best Hip-Hop/Rap Russian, 2014, 47 mins)
• Fast rapper from Russia (Tim James, 2013, 3 mins)

More tongue twisters

• 16 Tricky Russian Tongue-twisters (Irene Ignatenko, 2020, 9 mins)
• Foreigners read Russian tongue twisters (Russian with Dasha, 2019, 16 mins)
• Американка говорит русские скороговорки (Bridget Barbara, 2018, 6 mins), from the same channel Русские скороговорки – My attempt at Russian tongue twisters (Bridget Barbara, 2017, 8 mins)
• Скороговорки. Искусство речи (VideoForMe, 2017, 2 mins)
• Foreign Students Pronounce Russian Tongue Twisters (Liden & Denz, 2017, 3 mins)
• Russian Tongue-Twisters (Zahar Panda, 2017, 4 mins)
• Russian Tongue-Twister | Russian Pronunciation (Elena Jung, 2017, 5 mins)
• Тренинг для оратора. Скороговорки (Александрa Воробьевa, 2017, 3 mins)
• 5 Simple Russian Tongue Twisters (Be Fluent in Russian, 2016, 8 mins)
• Russian Tongue Twisters | Топ 10 скороговорок на русском языке (Mary Z, formerly Easy Russian, 2015, 3 mins)
• Russian Tongue Twisters 1 (LanguageWorks, 2015, 1 min)
• A Russian tongue twister (Natalya, a Russian teacher, 2015, 1 min)

Check out 10 Russian Tongue Twisters for Perfect Pronunciation and Super Speaking Skills (FluentU). There’s a full list of Скороговорки on Wikiquote.

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Last updated April 03, 2026