- Our students often tell us happily that it took them just a few lessons to learn to understand some words from songs they can hear in the radio. Why do songs make them notice their progress and not movies or books?
- The answer is simple: music is always around. We don’t need to make an effort to listen to a song — compare it to reading books and watching movies in English (if you want to know what to watch in English, go here). All you have to do is turn on a song you like and enjoy!
- How can you make listening to music not just fun but useful, too? Is there a way?
- Of course, there is (otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this article now). However, it’s important to know that songs can’t be used instead of books or teachers. They can only be an additional way of learning.
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Why listening to English songs is useful:
- You train you pronunciation. Repeating after a native speaker you imitate not only the sounds, but also the tone. More than that, you can work on how quickly you speak — a song isn’t going to wait for you, you’ll have to catch up with its tempo. And rap–song can be a great example of this.
- You enrich your vocabulary. Modern songs are full of slang words, popular expressions, idioms and phrasal verbs. They are easy to memorize in context and in a rhymed form. For instance, a pop–song «Pump it» by Black Eyed Peas. There is not point looking up the word pump, it won’t make any sense anyway. Context hints that pump it means «turn it up, make it louder».
- You train your listening comprehension. It happens very often that we mishear what they sing in songs. We hear «I am just a worthless lawyer» instead of «I am just a worthless liar». The same mistakes often happened in speaking too, so you can learn to avoid them listening to songs.
- You can study English anywhere. Nowadays you don’t have to take a recorder with you to listen to your favorite music. All you need is a cell phone. You can study English on the way to work, in a traffic jam, or flying to Australia.
"You don’t need to make an effort to listen to a song — just turn on a song you like and enjoy!"
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What you should know studying English with songs
- Wrong grammar. Grammar rules are often broken for the sake of style, rhythm and rhyme. James Brown’s «I feel good» is a perfect illustration of the point. Of course, it should be «I feel well», but who knows — maybe this song wouldn’t have become such a hit.
- Wrong pronunciation (sometimes). Although we recommend using songs to practice pronunciation, we must warn you — just like grammar, it can be wrong sometimes. Stress mistakes, prolonged sounds (which happens to be James Hetfield’s style). Well, check.
- Now, that you know why listening to songs in English can be useful and what you should be aware of, we’ll tell you how to make the learning process more efficient.
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How to learn English with songs efficiently
- Choose a song you like. You’ll have to listen to it more than once, so it should be something that makes you feel good and increases your motivation (read about tips how to stay motivated here). If the song is played in a moderate tempo, it is better.
- Listen to the song once or twice, not just for fun, but trying to understand the words. Note: not every song is has a plot or a story; don’t concentrate on looking for it. Listen for words and expressions.
- Find the lyrics and listen to the song again, reading the text. This way you’ll know what you understood yourself and what you couldn’t.
- Work with the text. Learn all unfamiliar words and expressions. But don’t rush to use the dictionary; try to guess what they mean first. If you can’t, use a dictionary or ask you English teacher.
- Sing the song. After the text is completely clear, sing the song reading the lyrics. When we say sing we mean sing. This will help you develop you listening and speaking skills.
- Sing without reading the lyrics. You don’t just like the song; you have learnt all the words and expressions. Now they have sunk in, and you’ll never forget them. Sing in English for fun!
- You don’t have to do all the steps at once. Don’t get tired! Regularity is the most important thing. Why don’t you start now? You have our tips, so you have all you need!