Learning the English Language with Songs

By Hu Wo (Cuckoo’s Song)

There have been diverse ways of learning the Eng­lish language all around the globe, depending on likes and strengths. Among these ways, the most popular way to study English for listening and speak­ing skills is learning the language with songs. Few English learners dislike listening to music, as far as I know. In actual fact, language study with songs tends to make learners feel joy and ease to a certain extent, particularly by easily gaining vocabulary, usage, expressions and pronunciation of the language. On top of that, many language learners like to enjoy listening to music for the simple reason that they are fond of singing songs themselves, and the songs also enable them to have a long-term memory for the lyrics, that is, the language of songs. Hence, five different ways to learn English with songs will herein be suggested.

I. Pick a song we love: We can choose any English song we may enjoy. But that could be pop, hip hop or rock; whatev­er type of song is possible – it does not matter at all. More importantly, if we love the music we have chosen, we will learn the English of the song faster and remember it more than normal. We Are the World by USA for Afri­ca, Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love for You by George Benson and Forever Young by Alphaville, to name but a few, are still famous among youths of today, I believe.

II. Listen carefully: We do not need to worry even if we do not understand everything about the song. Just relax and listen to it closely when­ever we want to enjoy the song. Naturally, lyrics often go fast to fit the rhythm and beat of music, so they can be hard to listen to or even sing. Hence, we cannot catch or follow the voice of a song with our eyes closed some­times. Thus, I would like to recommend songs with slow music to beginner learners of the language in particular.

 

III. Read the lyrics: We can search the lyrics of a song online, namely on Google as we are all aware, or check our music app. On the one hand, when we wish to study the language with songs for our listening skills, we must never look for the lyrics of a song at first or before the whole song is learnt by heart to the degree that we get as many lyrics as we can. This should be done only when we unexpectedly croon the song ourselves. On the oth­er hand, we can read the lyrics while we listen to the song and note down five to ten new words or phrases for writing skills in the lan­guage, where grammar is mostly impossible for study. However, we ought not to try to learn every single new word at any time and in any situation.

 

IV. Note pronunciation: Hardly do we expect to hear authen­tic pronunciation from lis­tening to songs every time. Due to singers’ own or ar­tificially beautiful voices in the songs, we usually make contact with their irregular pronunciation in contrast to standardized language. Not only that, songs use short forms like gimme (give me), wanna (want to OR want a) and gonna (going to) as often as possible. Of course, these match how people really speak in everyday English. As a result, listening this way helps train our ear for real conversations.

 

V. Sing along: We must be or must not be singers now or later, but we can uncon­sciously follow to murmur a song while listening to it. Never ever be shy to do so. Actually, the shyness fre­quently seen in language study is still the biggest learning inhibitor that has to be overcome. We can start singing the chorus – it is usually the easiest part of a song. Afterwards, we need to add a little more each time. Soon, we will be singing the whole song!