Spanish Tongue Twisters

Title: Erre Con Erre

General Information about Item:

Informant Data:

Joseph Estrada was born in Austin, Texas in 1998. His mother’s family has lived in Texas for many generations, and his father’s family immigrated to America from Cuba after the Cuban Revolution. Growing up, Joseph spent much time with his grandparents in Miami, but rarely spoke Spanish. Although his grandparents pushed for him and his cousins to learn Spanish, it wasn’t until Joseph developed an interest in Latin America literature in high school that he began exclusively speaking Spanish with his grandparents. At Dartmouth, he is studying French Literature and often takes courses on Spanish Literature.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: This is a very common Spanish tongue twister found in Central and Latin American countries, though it is not specifically limited to these countries. In the Spanish language, tongue twisters are often used as fun verbal drills that help young children learn more difficult pronunciation practices – this case deals specifically with the Spanish letter “rr.”
Social Context: Joseph described how this tongue twister was taught to him at a young age by his grandmother. The purpose of this tongue twister was to help interviewee learn to practice rolling his r’s, a very important aspect of the Spanish language. The tongue twister itself does not have very much significance outside of its educational function.

Item:

Spanish transcription: “Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril. Rápido corren los carros, cargados de azúcar del ferrocarril.”
English translation: “An R with an R cigar, an R with an R barrel; rapidly run the cars loaded with sugar off to the railroad.”

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file): Audio

Informant’s Comments:

Collector’s Comments:

Though difficult to say, this tongue twister seems very useful in helping to learn a sound that is crucial in the Spanish language.

Collector’s Name: Karam Sandhu

Tags/Keywords:

Dartmouth Folklore Archive