Children love to play with words. They enjoy the mixing of
sounds and they appreciate how similar-sounding words can
have totally different meanings. Hebrew is much more powerful
than English and so, it is much easier to `play' with Hebrew
words than with English words.
For example, write down the letters shin, lamed, mem,
hay five times. What sentence does it make? There are
stories based on this sentence, but the outcome is that it
says:
Shelomo shilma Shlomo salma shleima? Why did Shlomo
have to pay for a whole garment?
There was a popular joke circulating before Pesach which can
be summed up in the following sentence: Ish natan chalav
kasher l'Pesach l'kelev kashur l'petach - A man gave
kosher l'Pesach milk to a dog tied to the door.
Some words change their meaning if you say them repeatedly,
as fast as you can, so that the sounds `blur' together. For
example; tiras, corn, eventually becomes stira,
or a slap in the face.
Jokes like these help a child understand how small
differences in spelling and pronunciation can cause big
differences in meaning. This encourages him to be accurate in
his speech, reading and spelling.
Here are some more popular examples: Some of them are also
tongue-twisters which challenge the child's verbal
coordination and help develop auditory discrimination.
Mita la popita? Ishta la popita. This has a Spanish
sound to it, especially when said fast and singsong. When
said slow, it comes out: Mi tala po pita? Ish tala po
pita. Who hung up a pita here? A man hung up a pita
here.
Shofet Shalom shofat shilshom sheShmuel yeshalem shishim
shekel. Judge Shalom gave his verdict two days ago that
Shmuel must pay sixty shekel.
Gad haganan gidel dagan bagan; dagan gadol gadal bagan
shel Gad. Gardener Gad grows wheat in his garden. The
wheat grew very tall in Gad's garden.
Isha na'ala na'ala na'ala, na'ala et hadelet. A
distinguished woman put on her shoe and locked the door.
And one reminiscent of the woodchuck chucking wood. Kama
chol yachol adam le'echol bekol yemos hachol im bekol yom
chol yochol odom le'echol chatzi kilo chol? How much sand
can a man eat every day of the week if on each day of the
week a man can eat half a kilo of sand?
Mi mana mimenu lemalmel milim? Who's stopping him from
mumbling words?
Abba lo ba habayta b'alef b'Av. Abba ba habayta b'beit
b'Av. Abba is not coming home on the first of Av. Abba is
coming home on the second of Av.
Bidyuk bekol daka Gad medagdeg dagim dakim. Precisely
once a minute, Gad tickles skinny fish.
Nachesh eize nachash nashach nachash shenashach nachash
shel nechoshet? Guess which snake bit a snake which bit a
copper snake.
Ata titeita et hata? Ani lo titeiti et hata. Tetatei ata
et hata. Did you sweep the cubicle? I did not sweep the
cubicle. You sweep it.
Try this common tongue twister. Say three times: Srochim
shchorim. Black shoelaces.
[And for the English-home-language readers: She sells
seashells at the seashore.]
