Everybody loves music right? Whether it’s Billie Eilish or The Beatles, we love listening to our favourite artists and they become a big part of our lives. In fact, Scientific research shows that it’s also a great way to improve your English in a fun and natural way! Learn how to improve your English with music here!
Ok, how can you improve your English with music?
English music has lots of examples of useful verbs, nouns, phrases, and grammar. In particular, pop songs often contain great examples of popular phrases and language. This helps you to learn and understand English even as it’s changing with the times. Song lyrics also use slang words and phrases instead of the standard English. This is useful since it is teaching you common informal phrases which are being used by native speakers today.
Repeated language is easier to remember
If you hear a great song or a catchy chorus, chances are you’ll want to listen to it again and again! And admit it or not, this is a fantastic way to listen to examples of new language many times without getting bored. Remember, learning how to pronounce a word is hard unless you actually heard it. Through songs, one may experience hearing local British or American. Some tries to copy this pronunciation in order to sound like native when speaking.
Improve your speaking style
English speakers usually talk with a clear rhythm and beat. However, important words in a sentence are often stressed to help make the meaning of the sentence clearer. Listening to English songs is a fantastic way to hear the rhythm, beat, tone and stress of English. Furthermore, it helps you learn how to speak it in a natural way.
Furthermore, English is ambiguous. It is spoken in many different accents across the globe. Singers make it easier to hear this in action while listeners can discriminate the differences. Singing along with favorite songs helps to reduce accent. It can also help in how to link words together when speaking.
It’s also worth noting that songs have different tempo-some are fast while others are slow. Starting with slow, simple songs and then faster, complex ones after is a good strategy in learning English. This can be a good practice for real conversations.
Learning English through music can be done anywhere be it in the shower, car or just walking around the house. It requires no permanent position as long as the music and the speaker are on, learning can continuously take place.
Sharing culture
As mentioned before, many songs contain a lot of common or popular language, but this is not all. Artists also express values and ideas. You can learn more than language through songs, you can learn about the thoughts and feelings of different cultures and improve your understanding. This can help you to communicate more effectively with people you meet from these cultures.
Furthermore, English songs’ lyrics are full of reference to local music. These are like a window into the culture behind the language. It often showcases the lifestyle and perspectives of American and British –things that you cannot find in textbooks.
Learning through emotion
Songs are full of emotion and this creates powerful feelings in us. When these feelings are attached to new words and phrases, it is much easier to understand their meaning and remember them.
Accessibility
Learning English with music is to listening and analyzing what the lyrics means. Most songs have musical video on Youtube, read the words as you listen to the song. Downloading song texts, printing them and translating new vocabulary is another tip to improve your English. Regardless of location, English music is accessible via Internet.
Consider taking some familiar songs, but also some new tracks each week in order to look at different vocabulary and syntax. See, favorite songs cannot only help a learner to self-study English but it could also help in making learning fun. The most effective thing of all, is to always remember that while you are in the middle of enjoyment of your favorite music, you are also in a language exercise. This awareness will help you move further a long way. Meaning, focus is important. Raise your own awareness of this tricks before you can expect real results and improvements in your English fluency.
Easy to practice
The great thing about listening to music is that you can do it anytime and anywhere! For example, when you’re on the train or bus, driving to work or school, running or working out at the gym or simply sitting at home and relaxing. To sum up, you’re learning all the time!
Improve your English with music: 6 fun ideas
Take a break from reading boring books. Try learning more English through music. Music appeals to one’s emotion. It has the ability to bring back past memories and creates drama, thus, proven effective in language learning. It is said that when a learner is emotionally involved, learning can easily take place. Since music has the ability to stimulate one’s emotion, it is really a bright idea to use this in language learning. In order to make faster progress with English, one should take into account their hobbies and interests. Having an incredible passion for music is a plus, since it could serve as a gateway to improve one’s understanding and fluency. Apparently, music contains more than just words and melodies.
So, how can you improve your English with music effectively? The best ways are to…
…become an active listener. This means using focused effort to listen for new language and understand it.
…choose songs that fit your level. Make sure the speed and vocabulary are not too difficult for you. Pop and Disney songs are a great place to start because they often use more simple language and are clearly produced.
Try some of these ideas and start improving your English with music today!
1. Improve your English with Music Streaming Sites
Check out thousands of music videos using sites like YouTube and Vimeo. You can find great new videos and classic older artists too. Watching the video of a song you like gives it context and can help you to understand the meaning of the song. It also gives you something visual to remember. In addition, lots of the videos also have subtitles to help you with new words if it’s difficult to hear them.
2. Download Streaming Apps
Apps like Spotify and iTunes are a simple and easy way to search for almost any song! These are also great for listening anywhere and at any time. Try creating playlists of some new songs you like and listen actively for new vocabulary.
3. Karaoke
Learning English alone is already fun, what more if there will be a song accompaniment. Studying with music from time to time can help you take a break from boring textbooks and stay motivated. Singing songs you enjoy helps you to practice the speed, rhythm, tone and stress of your speaking. It’s
Great fun with friends!
also really fun with a few friends!
4. Lyrics sites
It can be difficult to understand all the words in a song, so it is a great idea to look up the lyrics on a website. After that, you can even print off the words and keep them with you or you can save the page on your phone to quickly check the lyrics in the future. AZ Lyrics and Lyrics are great sources for thousands of songs. Similarly, if you want to learn more about songs and artists and improve your reading comprehension, try using Genius. This is a website that includes helpful interviews. Furthermore, you can check new stories about artists and songs from time to time.
5. Make a vocabulary list
Take note of new words and create flashcards to master them quickly. Quizlet is a free app that lets you record new words and save them into playlists. Moreover, it saves the meaning of many new words. It also creates games to help you review them. Likewise, using this in connection with new music would greatly improve your vocabulary very quickly!
6. Lyrics games
LyricsTraining is a free app with a great design and is fun with friends. Or, you can also try LyricsGaps, a free website that focuses on spelling new vocabulary. The thing about English songs are its ability to remain in one’s head for days. This makes it easier to remember new words and expressions through repetition. Plus, you’ll also get new things to do when you’re with friends who are also in the process of learning English!
Thank you for reading our post! We hope you got some new ideas on how to improve your English with music. Here at Denwa Sensei, we are always researching great new ways to learn English in more effective and useful ways. Have a look at our other posts for more inspiring ideas! Before long, you’ll be able to write and speak English like a pro!