Our Spanish coaches also recommend finding something you love about the new language and surrounding yourself with it!
Today we talk about one such universal love – Music, and how it can enrich your language learning experience!
Susanna Zaraysky, author of ‘Language is music’ pointed out in her one her interviews: “How many of us have sang along to Gangnam Style without knowing what it means!”
Now imagine if you could see the transliteration in your language while you sing along!
Of-course grammar and conversational context is a must and important, but language learning can be enhanced if some singing and music based practice is incorporated in your learning schedule.
In one test, carried out by researchers at Edinburgh University’s Reid School of Music, those who learned by singing were able to recall phrases with greater accuracy in the longer term.
Here’s how music can help:
- Pronunciation: Music can help you get a better hang of the new accent and pronunciation peculiarities. While learning with music, you listen first and speak later.
- Vocabulary: Learning the lyrics of a song helps you expand your vocabulary. Music aids memory and recall. Words and phrases that you hear in a song tend to stick around much longer. Songs also introduce you to some streetwise phrases!
- Grammar: Music does not directly teach you grammar but can give you contextual information on usage of words and phrases. For example: ‘Para bailar La Bamba’ translates as ‘In order to dance La Bamba’. Next time when you get confused on whether you use ‘por’ or ‘para’ – this will help! With music, you subconsciously learn the right way to construct sentences.
- Culture: Music is a great window into the new culture! It will also be a great ice-breaker while talking to natives!
- Its fun! Music activates your senses and gets you grooving – picking up some language while you groove is a big bonus!
Here are some tips on using music effectively to pick up a new language:
- Don’t just let the music fade away in the background. Pay attention to the lyrics and phrases – make a list of some of the new words you hear.
- Sing-aloud – Listen first and then sing along. This will help you with your accent and will also expand your vocabulary.
- Try and get the transliteration of the lyrics to help you understand the meaning of the new words and phrases.
So don’t wait – let the music flow! Here are some links to help you find great world music:
- Directory of Radio Stations by Language/Ethnic Group:
www.worldtvradio.com/php/radio_channel_language_lineup.php - Pandora: http://www.pandora.com/
- Grooveshark: http://grooveshark.com/
At CultureAlley, we are fascinated with how music can help in the language learning journey. Here’s a new feature we are experimenting on:
http://culturealley.com/SpanishKaraoke.jsp – Sing-along with the Spanish lyrics, check the English transliteration, and hover to review important grammar tips. Learn Spanish while you groove to the classic ‘La Bamba’!
Many more hits coming up soon!
Get grooving at the Alley!
References:
http://www.lingholic.com/how-to-learn-languages-through-music-an-interview-with-susanna-zaraysky/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-23357833
