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tashby

Nov 7, 2009, 3:57 PM

Post #1 of 7 (5640 views)

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Tres tristes tigres....

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Could somebody throw me a link to, or just write, this little tongue-twister in Spanish?

(I did a google search, but apparently there are some bands with that name....or something, and I grew tired of searching.)

Reason being: I'm teaching an English class and during break while I was gone one of the students put it up on the board as an exercise for me. I want to master it by next week. I just need the first long line of it. The band lyric sites confused me.

For what it's worth, she also wrote down Parangaricutirimícuaro.

I nailed it, much to their astonishment.

Okay. More or less nailed it. Sort of.

8-)

tashby

Nov 7, 2009, 4:11 PM

Post #2 of 7 (5635 views)

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Re: [tashby] Tres tristes tigres....

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Never mind. I think I found it. (You get an amazing number of "hits" via google.) Is this the most common first phrase? This looks pretty close to what she wrote:

Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal.

mazbook1

Nov 7, 2009, 4:21 PM

Post #3 of 7 (5633 views)

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Re: [tashby] Tres tristes tigres....

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tashby, change your Google preferences to Spanish and English and search for trabalenguas. That's the Spanish (at least the Mexican) word for tongue twisters. There a LOTS and LOTS!

(This post was edited by mazbook1 on Nov 7, 2009, 4:21 PM)

Peter

Nov 7, 2009, 7:29 PM

Post #4 of 7 (5613 views)

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Re: [tashby] Tres tristes tigres....

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In Reply To

For what it's worth, she also wrote down Parangaricutirimícuaro.

A friend and I were discussing that place the other day. It's a mouthful but not too much trouble to pronounce. A little shorter name but one I almost always stumble with is Erongarícuaro. While passing through that town the other day I noted my Mexican lady counterpart also has some trouble saying it, like the tongue just doesn't want to neutralize before you have to roll it again several times in succession. No wonder many of the locals just call it Eronga.

tashby

Nov 7, 2009, 9:40 PM

Post #5 of 7 (5605 views)

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Re: [Peter] Tres tristes tigres....

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Thanks Mazbook and Peter.....

Quote

A little shorter name but one I almost always stumble with is Erongarícuaro.

Ha!

When I first came back from my 15-minute break (of a 3-hour class) and discovered my tounge-twister tasks written on the board, I immediately went to Erongarícuaro in my head. I've been there a few times in my life, and I know how to pronounce it. Sort of. (I used it as mental practice before tackling "Paranga" verbally.)

The class, and the woman from Chihuahua who wrote it on the board, were impressed enough. Especially after I identified it as Purhépechan......(?) ..... and added the accent mark over the "i".

Then I completely fumbled and tumbled and butchered "Tres tristes tigres...."

It's all about the comedy.

tonyburton

Nov 8, 2009, 7:31 AM

Post #6 of 7 (5588 views)

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Re: [tashby] Tres tristes tigres....

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Not sure if you found it in the end - but here comes the version from the eponymous book by Guillermo Murray, written for kids from one to a hundred:

Tres tigres tristes
en tres trastos
tragaban trigo
en un trigal.
En un trigal,
en tres trastos,
tragaban trigo,
tres tristes tigres.
Tres tristes tigres
tragaban trigo
en un trigal
en tres trastos trozados.

tashby

Nov 8, 2009, 8:59 AM

Post #7 of 7 (5581 views)

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Re: [tonyburton] Tres tristes tigres....

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Thank you, Tony. That's perfect.