Spanish Pronto Book Store Welcome to the Spanish Pronto Book Store! Real Spanish children's books! Whether for children learning Spanish, or for Spanish-speaking children, the books selected for the Spanish Pronto Book Store are the best Spanish books for kids that the world has to offer. Our second title is Trabalengüero. More titles can be viewed at the Spanish Pronto Book Store

Trabalengüero ("Tongue-twister anthology")
by Valentín Rincón, Gilda Rincón, and Cuca Serratos;
typographical compositions (illustrations) by Alejandro Magallanes
ISBN 968-5447-34-9, SPBS-2011-000-002
© 2005, 154 pp., Paperback, US$ 29

"Male Chinese whistling monkey who is whistling to your female Chinese monkey: Stop whistling at your female Chinese monkey already, male Chinese whistling monkey." (Whoever thought you would learn how to say that in Spanish?!!)

" 'R' and 'R' together, cigar(r), 'R' and 'R' together, barrel. Rapidly roll the cars—loaded with sugar—of the railroad."

That second one is pronounced more like this:

"Errrrrrre con errrrrrre, cigarrrrrrro, errrrrrre con errrrrrre, barrrrrrril. Rrrrrrrápido corrrrrrren los carrrrrrros cargados de azúcar del ferrrrrrrocarrrrrrril."

There is no long trill on the "r"s in "cargados" or "azúcar," because those "r"s are not at the beginning of a syllable; they are at the end. [E-rre con E-rre ci-GA-rro, E-rre con E-rre ba-RRIL. RÁ-pi-do CO-rren los CA-rros car-GA-dos dea-ZÚ-car del fe-rro-ca-RRIL.]

Cover: "Tongue-twister anthology; Valentín Rincón, Gilda Rincón, Cuca Serratos; typographical compositions by Alejandro Magallanes; Nostra Ediciones."

Trabalengüero is a book of over 150 Spanish tongue twisters (I count 172), about evenly divided between traditional tongue twisters and ones created by the three authors.

This book is great practice, when read aloud, for learning to speak even non-tongue-twister Spanish a little more fluently.

It is also a great book for Spanish teachers who would like to give their students an entertaining and fun break from the textbook. I can easily imagine tongue-twister-offs (think "dance-offs" but with tongue twisters) or other silly competitions or displays of talent (à la Gong Show or El Chacal from Sábado Gigante [the one with the hood and the trumpet]).

"You are very naïve, Eugenio."

"Pepe put a peso on the floor of the well. On the floor of the well, Pepe put a peso."

Try that one fast: "PE-pe PU-soun PE-soen el PI-so del PO-zo. En el PI-so del PO-zo PU-soun PE-so PE-pe."

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