Charlie chooses cheap chips; Sherry shops for shiny shoes.
The two halves of this sentence have the same shape. Charlie's half is full of CH words, and Sherry's half is full of SH words, so the sentence works as a test: can you keep the two sounds apart?
👅 Sounds to Practise
- CH /tʃ/, as in Charlie, chooses, cheap, chips. Start with your tongue against the ridge behind your top teeth, then release it with a burst of air. It sounds like a train: ch-ch-ch.
- SH /ʃ/, as in Sherry, shops, shiny, shoes. Pull your tongue a little back, round your lips, and let the air hiss. It sounds like a quiet request: shhhh.
Quick test: say chip and then ship. In chip, the tongue stops and then releases. In ship, the air just flows.
🐢 Start Slow
Say each chunk slowly. Feel the stop in the CH words and the hiss in the SH words.
Charlie chooses cheap chips;
Sherry shops
for shiny shoes.
Now say the two halves: Charlie chooses cheap chips … Sherry shops for shiny shoes.
🚶 Normal Speed
Say the whole sentence at a natural speed, as if you were describing two friends at the shops:
CHAR-lie CHOO-zes CHEAP CHIPS; SHER-ry SHOPS for SHI-ny SHOES.
Keep the CH words crisp and the SH words soft.
🚀 Tongue-Twister Mode
Ready? Say it three times in a row, as fast as you can:
Charlie chooses cheap chips; Sherry shops for shiny shoes.
If the two sounds blend, slow down for one round and make each CH stop before its release.
🤯 Why Is This So Difficult?
CH and SH are close neighbours in your mouth, so they are easy to mix up.
- CH starts with a stop and then a hiss. SH is just a hiss. The tongue is in almost the same place.
- The sentence switches between them in almost every word: cheap chips and shops for shiny shoes.
- Under pressure, your brain drops the stop from CH, and chips becomes ships. Or it adds a stop to SH, and shops becomes chops.
Notice how the sound changes the word. Swap the CH for SH, and you get a completely different meaning.
👀 Words to Notice
These pairs change meaning when you swap CH and SH:
- chip / ship
- chop / shop
- cheap / sheep
- chair / share
- cheer / sheer
Try each pair slowly, then quickly: chip, ship, chip, ship.
🏆 OddLingo Challenge
- Round 1: say it slowly, one chunk at a time, with the CH stop clearly heard.
- Round 2: say the whole sentence once at normal speed.
- Round 3: say it three times fast without stopping.
Bonus round: swap in a pair from Words to Notice. For example: Charlie chooses cheap ships; Sherry shops for shiny chips. Is it silly? Yes. Is it useful? It is a test of your ears.
🔗 Related Practice
- Choosy Chimps: another CH and SH twister, with a different sentence.
- Chip's Jolly Jam Jars: CH against J.
- Six Shy Sheep: S against SH, the next pair to practise after this one.