Hi guys, after a few days coping with winter's inevitable health hazards I'm finally getting started on this post. The topic has been going round my head for weeks, and it's such a great one - let's look into some ways to involve music in language learning. This topic is so big and important, I'll break it up into two parts:
In Part 1, we'll have a look at many great reasons why putting music into the language learning is a real booster.
Remembering - it's a song
from http://www.orbwallpaper.com
You know how catchy a good song or jingle can be. I can still recite 85% of the lyrics of anything that was a hit when I was a teenager. Embarrassing? Who do you think I am? Melodies and rhythm serve as excellent memory aids, and can help you rattle down whole sections of language when you haven't got the slightest idea what they even mean. My favourite example: Dragostea din Tei. You might remember this as the Numa Numa song?
Gangnam Style = Korea's real!
Pop from your target language's country in particular has the excellent benefit of inviting you into their culture. When you've only ever read about the Brandenburg Gate in a textbook, it can be wonderful to see it made real by an artist dancing around it in their video. Or it's not just pop music, since of course the music of Brazilian carnival and Oktoberfest couldn't fail to get you in the mood for getting the dictionary out!
Motivating Music
What's more, music has got the feel good factor! When you're losing motivation or hitting a dip along the way, it's good to take your learning adventure easy. Break it up with a familiar song perhaps, and suddenly you'll realise "oh, I know that verb form!" Or get into composing and make a jingle out of your revision.
Here's a great example from ProfaT on Youtube:
In Part 2, I'll be scouring the web for some of the coolest resources I can find for German and French language learners - and perhaps touch on some of the other languages out there. Do you use music in your revision? Recommend your favourite pages in the comments!