These tongue exercises should be done everyday
What's the story
Speech and pronunciation can be improved with regular practice of tongue exercises.
They improve tongue flexibility and strength, both of which are important for clear articulation.
By spending a few minutes daily performing these exercises, you will see a marked improvement in your speech clarity and pronunciation in due course.
Here are five easy tongue exercises to get you better speech.
Stretching
Tongue stretching exercise
The tongue stretching exercise is simple.
Extend your tongue as far as possible towards the nose, and then towards the chin.
This will help increase the flexibility of your tongue muscles, which is important for producing different sounds accurately.
10 repetitions of the exercise, daily, can help you get better control over your tongue.
Lateral movement
Side-to-side tongue movement
For this exercise, move your tongue from one corner of your mouth to another while keeping your mouth closed.
This lateral movement strengthens the muscles on either side of your tongue, helping you pronounce words that require side-to-side motion, clearly.
Practicing this movement ten times on each side daily can improve muscle coordination.
Circular motion
Tongue circles exercise
Performing circular motions with your tongue inside a closed mouth helps improve overall agility and control.
Move your tongue in a circular pattern along the inner walls of your cheeks clockwise and then counterclockwise.
Doing this exercise ten times in each direction daily enhances muscle dexterity necessary for fluent speech.
Tip control
Tip-of-the-tongue exercise
This particular exercise strengthens the tip of your tongue by tapping it against various parts inside your mouth, behind upper teeth or roof of mouth, repeatedly.
It helps in articulation, especially for sounds that require precise tip placement- like 't' or 'd'.
Practicing this tapping motion 20 times daily improves your precision.
Rolling technique
Rolling R's practice
Practicing rolling "r" sounds is a matter of vibrating the tongue with the tip touching the roof near the front teeth- at first without the voice.
Gradually add the voice, leading into words containing rolled r's like carro (Spanish).
This trick improves enunciation when practiced for a few minutes daily, boosting your confidence in speaking clearly.
Patience is the key to mastering this skill for effective speech.