How Music Can Help You Learn English
Are you someone who often sings along to the radio or performs a solo concert in your shower? Do you find it easy to memorise song lyrics?
Whatever language you speak at home, you probably have a favourite English song and a favourite artist that sings in English. Whether it’s Ariana Grande or Billie Eilish, Post Malone or Justin Bieber, we’re here to share how music can help you learn English!
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How Music Can Help You Improve English Pronunciation
While it is fun to bop your head mindlessly to your favourite tunes, the next time an English song is playing, try to pay attention to the pronunciation of the words in the song. If you’re singing along, make sure you get your pronunciation right and remember how it sounds so that you can use it in your conversations later. Doing this is also a good way to train your listening skills in English.
Pro-Tip: If you’re not sure which song to start with, music by artists like Taylor Swift or soundtracks from Disney movies are helpful as the pronunciations in the songs are often clearer.
How Music Can Help You Brush Up Your English Grammar Skills
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Think learning grammar is dry and boring? Well, think again! Add some fun to your grammar practice with some music and the opportunity to create your own worksheets!
Print out the lyrics of your favourite English songs and then set yourself the task of highlighting or underlining words from the different parts of speech. For example, you could first highlight all the pronouns (ie: he, she, it, they) in the song and then use a different colour to highlight all the adjectives. Being able to recognise all of this quickly will help increase your English language comprehension and give you more confidence in using the language.
Besides that, you could also play around with the lyrics by changing the tense from past to present or vice versa for practice. This exercise would be particularly helpful for verbs that have an irregular past tense which are words that don’t end with an -ed such as drove, swam or froze. You can also try to identify conjunctions and prepositions in the lyrics and pay attention to how it’s being used in a phrase.
However, do note that some song lyrics might not be grammatically or structurally correct as they’re not fully formed sentences or paragraphs. If you spot this, why not try correcting or adding words to make it right?
How Music Can Help You Expand Your English Vocabulary
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Listening to English songs is a great way to learn more words in the English language. Whenever you come across words that you don’t understand in a song, take the time to find out their meaning. Try guessing what it might mean based on the context and then check the dictionary or simply ask your teacher or a friend to see if you’re right.
The great thing about songs is that they are often made up of words and phrases that we use in everyday life, so it’s easy to understand. On the other hand, songs can also be very figurative and poetic, so you might also learn how to say something in a creative way.
Songs are also a way for you to learn English slangs which you won’t usually find in your textbooks. Words from popular music and pop culture are used in daily conversations and some have also worked themselves into the English dictionary. For example, the word ‘stan’ which is used to describe an extremely or excessively enthusiastic and devoted person came from Eminem's song ‘Stan’.
The bottom line is the more English songs you listen to, the more words in the English language you know. The more English words you know, the better you can express yourself in English. That’s how music can help you learn English.
How Music Can Help You Connect With Other English Speakers
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If you’re looking to speak to other English learners and speakers, music is a great conversation topic to break the ice! People from around the world listen to English songs and will know many of the same popular songs.
When you meet someone new, you could ask them about their favourite English songs and artists. You can also share your music taste with others. Music is sometimes referred to as a universal language because of how it can bring people together.
Besides that, music is also a good way to learn about the culture of countries with native English speakers. Music gives you a glimpse of what life looks like in their part of the world. For example, the song ‘Empire State of Mind’ by Alicia Keys and Jay Z gives you an image of what New York City is like.
How Music Can Help You Make Learning English Fun And Easy
Finally, learning a new language can be challenging but using music makes it a fun and easy way to learn English. Since songs are often very catchy, it’s also easy to memorise words and pronunciations from a song.
Immersing yourself in English language entertainment is also especially beneficial if the people around you do not speak English on a daily basis. Hearing the language often will make you more familiar and confident in using it.