Which Foreign Music Do You Prefer Listening to?

[Kev Brown]

I know that there's great music all over the world. As a language learner which music do you listen to in order to improve your general understanding of a language. I listen to a lot of Bossa Nova and Brazilian Jazz. The songs are simple in a melodic way and the lyrics are often sung in a way that makes them easy to understand.

How about you?

[reverserewind]

 

[maryannballeras]

I like listening to Japanese music. Music-wise, I think Japanese people put a little bit of Jazz in their songs regardless if it's rock, alternative, etc. Since I'm a big Jazz fan, that's one big positive point for me. They also have very catchy phrases in their songs. When it comes to the language, as I've mentioned in another thread, I really love the Japanese syllables. They're easy to learn and it's like music to my ears. It's very rhythmic in my opinion and very expressive as well. 

[Kev Brown]

18 hours ago, maryannballeras said:

They also have very catchy phrases in their songs

I think this is key. It helps you make massive jumps in understanding as you are able to learn whole groups of a language quickly. It also helps you with accents and getting familiar with contractions. Generally, a great way to improve your listening.

[VinayaSpeaks]

I listen to English and Hindi music, mostly from Bollywood movies. Both of these languages are foreign to me. I love The Doors, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Amy Winehouse and Adele.

[Miya]

I'm also a fan of Japanese music. It's really the whole reason I got into Japanese. Listening to Jpop has helped my listening so much. 

I also like Cantonese songs, but that's because I can (more or less) understand most of it. 

[nkislitsin]

I like songs about Christmas and Happy New Year. I collected a lyrics of popular songs in https://words-keeper.com and listen/sing them  , memorize words and improve my listening

[ailsaurus]

I like listening to English songs the most! 8D hahaha

Asian songs I like are Japanese and Korean songs!  I don't know much about Chinese songs even though I am learning the language, I only know TFBoys haha! I probably need to start listening to Chinese songs~ European songs I listen to are German and French songs!

And of course, I also listen to Indonesian music :3

[darkchild]

I do not listen to music for language learning, rather for meditation and relaxation.

I love reggae and jazz, I always find a sort of connection to Jamaicans 

[wolfette]

I like to listen to music in a lot of different languages. I'm listening to music on Spotify right now as I'm typing this and I'm listening to Miss Decibel by Medina. It's a really catchy song that's sung in Swedish. While I really don't know a lot of Swedish at all, I love the song! I think if the song is catchy or has a good beat and tune to it then it can definitely help us to learn more words in different languages. 

 

[lushlala]

I generally like music out of the US, UK and Australia the most, and some South African music can be HOT too. Australian and British artists are seriously exploding all over the music scene at the moment. But my music tastes are very eclectic and as long as the sound's good, I'll listen to it. In the past, I've also enjoyed some French music, although I don't know what genre that would be. The type of French music I heard and loved bordered on very funky jazz. But I'd also like to explore some K-pop. I've heard it can be very good. 

[SoManyLanguages]

I absolutely love listening to people sing in Russian. I don't know why, but the way it sounds is just so pretty. In fact, I plan on learning Russian later because of how beautiful it sounds. I also listen to a lot of German music, like Tokio Hotel and Die Arzte (Sorry, I can't type the umlaut a), and I hear Rammstein is pretty good. I mostly lean towards rock and punk. I love it when I'm listening to German music and I start realizing I understand sorta what's being said!

[sidney]

I have liked Rammstein, a German band, because of their beat, so ever since I discovered their music, I developed an interest in their language. But apart from German, I would also listen to Spanish/Spanglish music like those songs of Enrique Iglesias, since apart from them being nice, like "Bailamos", I get to learn some Spanish words too.

[Lingua Franca]

i do like listening to music from all over the world, I can't really in truthfulness point at just one country and say that I like the music from that country. I have been quit pleasantly surprised by the music i have heard. When listening to music from other countries I'm not too concerned with whether I understand what they are saying or not. I prefer to just listen to the melody.

[lushlala]

On 25 June 2016 at 5:46 AM, sidney said:

I have liked Rammstein, a German band, because of their beat, so ever since I discovered their music, I developed an interest in their language. But apart from German, I would also listen to Spanish/Spanglish music like those songs of Enrique Iglesias, since apart from them being nice, like "Bailamos", I get to learn some Spanish words too.

OMG @sidney, how could I forget Spanish music?! Yes, oh yes; it sounds so smooth and romantic too.Often when I hear Spanish music, I either want to dance or jump on the next plane out to some hot holiday destination LOL It has that upbeat, holiday vibe that I like. I think Spanish actually sounds so melodic and very poetic when translated into music. This is interesting to me because usually when I'm thinking of languages to learn, Spanish is never at the top of the list.  However, I just love hearing music sung in Spanish. It's like when I hear an English song sung in Spanish, for some reason, to me it always sounds more polished, more refined and more romantic. I love hearing the Spanish speak, and OMG I love hearing the American Spanish accent too. So I don't know if I'm just basically intimidated by the language and probably hold it in such high regard, I don't believe I'd do it much justice in trying to learn it or what LOL

[sidney]

1 hour ago, lushlala said:

OMG @sidney, how could I forget Spanish music?! Yes, oh yes; it sounds so smooth and romantic too.Often when I hear Spanish music, I either want to dance or jump on the next plane out to some hot holiday destination LOL It has that upbeat, holiday vibe that I like. I think Spanish actually sounds so melodic and very poetic when translated into music. This is interesting to me because usually when I'm thinking of languages to learn, Spanish is never at the top of the list.  However, I just love hearing music sung in Spanish. It's like when I hear an English song sung in Spanish, for some reason, to me it always sounds more polished, more refined and more romantic. I love hearing the Spanish speak, and OMG I love hearing the American Spanish accent too. So I don't know if I'm just basically intimidated by the language and probably hold it in such high regard, I don't believe I'd do it much justice in trying to learn it or what LOL

If you like the Spanish language in general, then why don't you try listening to some Latin artists that sing English or Spanglish songs like Ricky Martin or Enrique Iglesias? I'm pretty sure you will find their songs nice and catchy.

[rz3300]

One of the best parts about growing up in this more globalized world is that there is a wealth of different entertainment sources out there, and music is certainly one area with a whole lot of diversity.  Like other users have mentioned, some of the Asian music scenes are pretty influential over here and are beginning to catch on, so those are definitely more prevalent than they used to be.  I also still like the music of more traditional countries of origin such as Italian and French.  My family is Polish, so we do get our fair share of Polish music, but I have to admit that it is not the greatest.

[ae.swanson]

I have been listening to Japanese music since I was in elementary school and love it. In the last 5 years or so I have gotten into Korean Pop. I agree that having catchy phrases in the songs really helps with learning the language. My husband was recently stationed in South Korea, so he would send me songs to listen to through YouTube. I also on occasion listen to German music, particularly rock. I have always had a love for the way the German language sounds when it is sung.

[kimseokjin]

I would say only 5% of the music I listen to is in English, even though it's my native tongue. Since 2009, I've been only listening to K-pop. I honestly think rap sounds ten-folds better in Korean because the nature of the language makes rhymes so much easier. I also have a few Chinese songs on my iPod and some Japanese singles performed by more Korean groups. 

My editor once came up with a theory that the reason why so many people listen to songs they can't understand is precisely because they can't understand and they don't want to. What do you guys think of this?

[Rooks57]

I prefer to listen to Korean music because I think it sounds really pretty when they sing ballads.  Ann's Even If It's Only A Memory and 4Men's Baby Baby are some of my favorite songs.  Though I like the k-pop bands like Big Bang, 2NE1, Girls' Generation, Navi, B2ST, DBSK/TVXQ, 2PM, and EXO.    It's really fun to listen to.  I also like to listen to Japanese rock but I can't seem to listen to j-pop, it's just to sweet.  I have songs in Greek and a couple of other languagnes but mostly they are in English, Korean, or Japanese.

[fcuco]

I like Italian love songs, specially old ones from the 70s and 80s. Italian is a beautiful language even when people are simply speaking, it is very musical, so it goes pretty well with a voice singing it. I often translate the lyrics out of curiosity not as an exercise to learn or practice the language, just because that I know that I am going to find the actual translated lyrics to be nice and poetic.

Side note, one of the main reasons that got me into learning languages was the fact that I used to listen to music in other languages and it occurred to me that I had to at least understand or know the themes and ideas of the songs that I was listening... maybe I was supporting and artist that was singing stuff that went against my believes or values, that's a stretch but you get my point.

[LiamEvans210]

English, Japanese, Korean in that order are the only three i listen to enough to say i listen to those languages. Japanses Airport sms i do have a few Chinese r&b/Portuguese rap/assorted other languages in my random playlists, but nowhere near as much as those first three, free android ringtones

[Ericbarker306]

i don't really have a preference but i mostly listen to english, japanese and korean

[PavelM]

 

I recommend listening to music that has a slower tempo, so you can focus more on the lyrics and gradually pick up on the nuances of the language. You may also want to try listening to international songs that have been translated into your target language. That way, even if you don't understand the original version of a song, you'll still be able to hear the words in your target language. Mobile app development solutions involve the design, development, and implementation of mobile applications. These solutions typically include creating tailored apps for specific platforms (such as iOS or Android) as well as integrating third-party services and technologies into existing applications. Mobile app development solutions can provide organizations with custom solutions that have the ability to serve their desired purpose, whether it is to reach a wider audience, improve customer service, or increase sales. Additionally, mobile app development solutions can help reduce development costs while ensuring increased scalability and flexibility in terms of managing and updating apps.

[CalvinGordon]

I would say, Traditional Folk songs in South East Asia are great, they are great influence to what the modern music is in their countries. just like the current pop songs of Indonesia while I am playing my favourite games in bc game indonesia.