Learning Languages Through Music

[MyDigitalpoint]

While it's exciting learn languages through music I would not trust in either grammar construction and pronounciation.

I remember myself listening to the old band Creedence Clearwater Revival, have you ever heard how John Fogerty's (lead singer) wording?

Even today with a successful solo career he doesn't pronounce words, he destroy them!  :grin:

But this is only one of the many examples of paying attention to music towards learning, which is not bad at all because help you to understand that a language has different accents based on regions, ghettos, and so on.

Every new word that you can understand in a song that is not in your native language, it's a step beyond in your learning journey

[BWL]

I learned Urdu through the qawwaali music of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It was very esoteric and meditative, not a lot of common everyday vocabulary that you could use while shopping in the markets of Pakistan and North India!

[wannalurnspanish]

I just came across a good Youtube video on someone who insists listening (tv/radio/etc.) is the way to go when learning a foreign language. You then add the grammar aspects later on.

http://youtu.be/eFpzeGoP-Kg

[Miya]

Before I officially started studying Japanese, I listened to a lot of Jpop and watched a lot of Japanese shows and dramas. I didn't even realize it then, but it really gave me an advantage over my peers. I was able to read and understand a lot more of the language than the other people in my class. It helps even more if you follow the lyrics while you're listening.

[Cuppycake]

I like music. Listening to music could be a fun way to learn some of a new language. I don't think I've ever listened to any music that was a different language than English, however.

[limon]

I think it might be useful to expand your vocabulary and understanding of a language you already know, but music lyrics and poetry follow their own rules of structure, grammar, and even pronunciation (to make the rhyme scan) so I don't think it's useful for beginners.

[ashishkashyap25]

Of course it worked for me, I have learned lots of new words and their pronunciation. What can be better way of learning other than music as I am the music lover.

This method not only helps me leaning new words but also with the accent thereof.

[bonniea]

I think music helps with pronunciation. I also think it helps build vocabulary. I enjoy listening to music so it is easier for me to listen to music than say listen to Spanish TV, where everyone is speaking Spanish. Sometimes I think it is easier to remember things through music. It puts the words in a context that is familiar.

[polybus]

Music can be a fun way to learn for me and I feel like I am getting practice even if I am not working too hard at it. I don't feel like it is enough to actually learn the language though. I am always skeptical when I hear people say they learned English by watch tv or movies. They must have done a lot more than just that right?

If you like learning languages through music you should really check out http://www.lyricstraining.com/ if you haven't already seen it.

[zambothegreat]

I've picked up a few words from some foreign songs, but I've picked up more from listening to ASMR videos in Russian. For those who are unaware, here's a wiki page describing what ASMR is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_response

I've only retained a dozen words or so, but it's still pretty cool that I get to learn while relaxing.

[leahcim132]

I think it is smart to learn languages through music. It is even better if it is a music video...you can look at the subtitles. I learned French by listening to songs .

[kitkat0124]

It's helpful for me to learn new words in music. It is easier if the lyrics are catchy. It retains in my mind. You can also listen how words can be pronounced. This is a good way to learn.

[DiesIrae]

Filipinos tend to learn English quite easily although our pronunciations can leave a lot to be desired. Fortunately, songs help me tame my tongue so my pronunciation is a lot better now. I've listened to French, Korean, and Japanese music and all of those sort of train my tongue into the flow of the spoken language.

[justusforus]

Personally I picked up more Spanish from music than I realized.  Once I started the study, some things were second nature and yes I can credit a few favorite songs.

[Dieselfit]

hey Aerial! This is a great thread and you're very right, music does help with learning. Though sometimes it isn't the best for grammar, it does teach a lot about vocabulary and words. For English, I would recommend rappers as they use a lot of words. Like Eminem, but maybe he is a bit too aggressive. And slow singing artists are good too.

[ashwinr1]

I would believe learning though music would be a daunting task, the reason being music besides being an expression of language is also an expression of specific cultures. Hence, I have never believed in learning languages through musical forms!

[Dame6089]

Hmm, it's interesting to me that some of you have had success learning through music. I have had the opposite experience. I am decent in Spanish, but find it incredibly difficult to understand most Spanish songs.

I guess I am just used to the way certain words are pronounced and get confused when they are enunciated differently through music.

[mareebaybay]

I think the idea of learning a new language using music is effective. Learning language through music will help those who have a hard time speaking a new language. I have met some good people who incorporate everything with music.

[DiesIrae]

Funny thing is, before I learned about other languages, I didn't know how the other Asian languages sound like. We would just categorise them as Chinese, which was very lazy. When I grew up a bit, I became interested in other Asian music because of drama series and it really helped me distinguish one from the other while learning a word or two.

[diprod]

I think it's a fun way to learn new words and helps with pronunciation. Although I don't think it's too helpful for sentence structure because a lot of songs are composed of sentence fragments and phrases.

I listened to a lot of J-Pop when I was learning Japanese and I am now able to translate the lyrics as a I listen to them.

I've been trying to listen to K-Pop to get used to the pronunciation of Korean words and I think it's helpful.

Has anyone used music to help them learn languages?

I do find it easy to learn new languages with music. I don't understand them easily but it's a good start if I want to get fluent with it. This is what happened to me and Nihonggo. ;-)

[beneditco]

Hi! I don't think that's a good idea since the voice and the pronunciation are very dostorted. If you want to learn a language with songs you'll have to do it with very slow songs to get more words.

I think it's better to do it through radio podcasts in the language that you want to learn.

[Bonyi]

I personally don' feel comfortable doing this. To me, it seem quite distracting. I will loose concentration if i have to learn a language through music. May be there are people who can do this.

[kniera]

It would help, but you should first learn some words. You can also do that by watching movies in that language with subtitles from your language.

[Francisco23]

Indeed I have; and i can attest to the fact that music does help one to learn a new language. For me, it helped me with learning the accent properly and with also improving on my speed in speaking the language.

[pandandesign]

I think music is for those who enjoy the piece of art and listen to music depend on their moods. For me, I never use music as a learning tool because I usually have to look up the lyric in order to follow the songs. I don't usually start the language learning through music.