Practicing tongue twisters is one way to train your pronunciation and tones. The speed is not that important while you read it. You should pay more attention to each word. Make sure you have perfect pronunciation and tone before you go to the next sentence. After several times of practice, your muscle will remember how it works. And then when you read Chinese, it will become much easier.
shi / si
四是四,十是十,
四十不是十四,十四不是四十,
十四是十四,四十是四十。
Sì shì sì, shí shì shí,
sìshí búshì shísì, shísì búshì sìshí,
shísì shì shísì, sìshí shì sìshí.
Four is four, ten is ten.
forty is not fourteen, fourteen is not forty.
fourteen is fourteen, forty is forty.
cui / cu
山前有個催粗腿,
山後有個催腿粗,
倆人山前來比腿,
不知是催粗腿比催腿粗的腿粗,
還是催腿粗比催粗腿的腿粗。
Shān qián yǒu ge cuī cū tuǐ,
shān hòu yǒu ge cuī tuǐ cū,
liǎng rén shān qián lái bǐ tuǐ,
bùzhī shì cuī cū tuǐ bǐ cuī tuǐ cū de tuǐ cū,
háishì cuī tuǐ cū bǐ cuī cū tuǐ de tuǐ cū.
There is a Cui thick legs lives in front of the mountain,
There is a thick legs Cui lives behind the mountain,
The two came to the mountain to compare their legs,
I don’t know if the Cui thick legs is thicker than the thick legs Cui,
Or the thick legs Cui is thicker than the Cui thick legs.
an / ang / chi / ci
天珊上山採桑葚
邊採邊唱採桑歌
音聲入山引高僧
僧說此乃採茶歌
Tiān shān shàngshān cǎi sāngshèn
biān cǎi biān chàng cǎi sāng gē
yīn shēng rùshān yǐn gāosēng
sēng shuō cǐ nǎi cǎi chá gē
Tianshan goes up the mountain to pick mulberries
Sing the mulberries songs while picking mulberries
Voice passes into the mountain and get a monk’s attention
The monk said this is the song of picking tea
qi / ji
蔣家羊,楊家牆,
蔣家羊撞倒了楊家牆,
楊家牆壓死了蔣家羊,
楊家要蔣家賠牆,
蔣家要楊家賠羊。
Jiǎngjiā yáng, yángjiā qiáng,
jiǎngjiā yáng zhuàng dǎo le yángjiā qiáng,
yángjiā qiáng yā sǐle jiǎngjiā yáng,
yángjiā yào jiǎng jiā péi qiáng,
jiǎng jiā yào yángjiā péi yáng.
Jiang family’s sheep, Yang family’s wall,
The Jiang family’s sheep knocked down the Yang family’s wall,
The Yang family’s wall crushed the Jiang family’s sheep,
The Yang family asked the Jiang family to pay for the wall,
The Jiang family wants the Yang family to compensate the sheep.
yu / ju / lv /xu
僧侶舉起橘色的魚與綠色的玉
把橘色的魚贈予穿雨衣的旅人
把綠色的玉給予穿雪衣的律師
可是旅人需要綠色的玉不是橘色的魚
律師需要橘色的魚不是綠色的玉
Sēnglǚ jǔqǐ júsède yú yǔ lǜsède yù
bǎ júsède yú zèngyǔ chuān yǔyī de lǚrén
bǎ lǜsède yù jǐyǔ chuān xuěyī de lǜshī
kěshì lǚrén xūyào lǜsède yù búshì júsède yú
lǜshī xūyào júsède yú úshì lǜsède yù
The monk holds up the orange fish and the green jade
Give the orange fish to the traveler in the raincoat
Give green jade to the lawyer in snowccoat
But travelers need green jade, not orange fish
Lawyers need orange fish not green jade