Using spoken phrases to teach and learn syncopation?

Does anyone do this? I’ve always found sight-reading syncopated parts to be challenging, and it doesn’t seem to be taught; people seem to either get it instinctively or they don’t, and I’m not one of the instinctive ones. Counting out beats doesn’t help.

I had one - only one - band director who did this, but it worked well for me. Has anyone else dealt with this problem in this way?