There are hundreds of EFL ESL word games and tongue twister games for English language students to take advantage of for learning English. One of the more fun and interesting tongue twisters that I use in Engish classes in Korea, Thailand, and Latin America is the one hen, two ducks tongue twister. The one hen, two ducks tongue twister requires not only good short term memory but the ability to use English accent and pronunciation involving words that are not commonly taught or used in everyday English.

The one hen, two ducks tongue twister starts out easily enough but as you progress through the ten sets of words and phrases each becomes increasing difficult. The idea here is that one person reads through the phrases one by one in ascending order 1 through 10. After each phrase is spoken the listener must repeat each phrase in the order it was originally given beginning with the first phrase and ending with that last spoken by the speaker. The ten word phrases are below:

1. One hen.
2. Two ducks.
3. Three squawking geese.
4. Four limeric oysters.
5. Five corpulant porpoises
6. Six pairs of Don Alverzo's tweezers.
7. Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array.
8. Eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Eygpt.
9. Nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity towards procrastination and sloth.
10. Ten lyrical, spherical, diabolical denizens of the deep who hall stall around the corner of the quo of the quay of the quivery, all at the same time.

Now, the idea here is that the listener must repeat all of the previous phrases as each new phrase is spoken by the speaker, so the entire list above would be spoken in the order like that given below:

one hen

one hen, two ducks

one hen, two ducks, three squaking geese

one hen, two ducks, three squawking geese, four limeric oysters

one hen, two ducks, three squawking geese, four limeric oysters, five corpulant porpoises

one hen, two ducks, three squawking geese, four limeric oysters, five corpulant porpoises, six pairs of Don Alverzo's tweezers

one hen, two ducks, three squawking geese, four limeric oysters, five corpulant porpoises, six pairs of Don Alverzo's tweezers, seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array

one hen, two ducks, three squawking geese, four limeric oysters, five corpulant porpoises, six pairs of Don Alverzo's tweezers, seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array, eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Eygpt

one hen, two ducks, three squawking geese, four limeric oysters, five corpulant porpoises, six pairs of Don Alverzo's tweezers, seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array, eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Eygpt, nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity towards procrastination and sloth

one hen, two ducks, three squawking geese, four limeric oysters, five corpulant porpoises, six pairs of Don Alverzo's tweezers, seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array, eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Eygpt, nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity towards procrastination and sloth, ten lyrical, spherical, diabolical denizens of the deep who hall stall around the corner of the quo of the quay of the quivery, all at the same time.

Reportedly, the above listening-oral test was given to would be radio announcers during the 1940's era.

I have also heard that anyone being able to recite all ten phrases the first time, without previous knowledge of the test, and without any errors, is said to have an intelligence level of genius. I do not know if that is true. I have not yet been able to verify the genius claim by any source. But, it is still a fun exercise none the less.

This is a fun exercise to try with your friends, and teachers with their students.