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How to Learn Languages Through Music

Updated: 18. Nov, 2022

Listening to music is a terrific way to unwind, kill time, or enjoy other tasks. But did you know that listening to music is an efficient method of learning a new language?

Yes, you can learn languages quite well by listening to music in the language you are learning. Learning with music can enhance your accent, aid memorization, and expand vocabulary. Essentially, song lyrics are a fantastic way to learn new words and phrases while having fun.

Playing songs in the language you are studying will help you acquire vocabulary and improve your pronunciation and grammar. Singing along may also aid in greater internalization and retention of new terminology.

Unlike movies, songs do not take up much of your time. Since most songs are just a few minutes long, adding more words to your day is not difficult. All you need to do is connect your headphone, crank up the volume, and you are good to go!

In this post, we will talk about how to learn new languages with music. 

Steps to Learn Languages Through Music

1. Choose Songs that Make You Happy

Firstly, select tunes you love listening to. This will keep you motivated and intrigued. Many language learners just download or listen to whatever is currently popular in their chosen language on the radio, which may not be suitable. 

Furthermore, it is best to only listen to songs if they are slow enough to make the lyrics easy to understand. So, you have to find the genre of music you enjoy. This way learning with music will be pleasurable.

2. Read the Lyrics

Reading the lyrics to a song in the language you want to learn can aid you as you listen and learn. Therefore, you can get the song’s lyrics online. Then, listen to the song and try to memorize the lyrics. Soon enough, you will know the lyrics even without looking at them as the song plays. 

3. Get the Translation in your language and Original Language Lyrics of the Song

Listeners of all skill levels should get the song’s original language lyrics. However, a translation in your language is vital. You understand the song and the words in the new language better when you can compare the original lyrics with the translation. So, you can use music apps that allow you to view lyrics in multiple languages. 

4. Memorize by Breaking the Songs Down into “Chunks.”

When you are trying to learn a new language, you can try dividing the songs into different parts. Listen to the whole music once or twice and then break it down into parts. After doing this, attempt to sing along. Then, you will notice that memorizing the song will be easier.

You need to learn the song by heart, line by line. So, you can stop the song at parts you like and sing it to yourself. Furthermore, you can learn and focus on three lines or a verse for a while. The song’s chorus is another great place to start. It is most memorable since it is sung repeatedly throughout the song.

You can pause and replay as many times as you need to master a particular segment. Do not skip over the previous part and go on to the next one without giving it any thought.

Instead, you should restart the song and listen to the parts you have previously learned up to the new section. That way, you will remember the words better and feel better about the song’s tempo and rhythm as you go through the verses.

5. Try to Sing or Hum Along

Singing without looking at the words is a great way to practice pronunciation without distracting yourself from the music. Most people who want to sing do so by learning the words of a song and then singing along with it, mimicking the singer’s voice and tone. When you learn a language via music, you can make your accent less noticeable by mimicking the speakers. 

For this stage, perfect pronunciation is more important than knowing the meaning of the words you are singing. You can take further steps by attempting to write the lyrics just by listening. However, if you are a beginner, this can be hard. So, it is fine if you skip this activity.

6. Jot Down Phrases and Words You Use Often

Listening to music in your target language is a great way to pick up new words, but writing them down helps speed up the process of assimilating their meanings. Aside from improving vocabulary, this method also facilitates the natural acquisition of grammar. Additionally, it can assist you in knowing how to use them in proper conversations.

Why Should You Learn Languages Through Music?

1. Learn and Improve Pronunciation

Songs are fantastic resources for nailing your pronunciation skills early since singers’ pronunciation is often very clear. Listening to a song you enjoy many times, while paying rapt attention, can help you train your ears to the sounds of the language.

2. Learn the Melodies of the Language

The melodic quality of language is most apparent in lyrical tongues like Italian and Portuguese. Songwriters with skill use this to expose the lyrical melody hidden inside their songs.

3. Music is Sticky

It is easy to remember songs and melodies. This is why singing songs with new vocabulary is so common in language lessons. Most music lovers will listen to their favorite songs again until they know every word. When new words and phrases are repeated this way and set to catchy music, they quickly get ingrained in the listener’s memory. 

Thus, there is no need to consult a grammar manual. Songs with catchy melodies have a way of making even the most foreign words seem manageable.

4. Makes Language-Learning Fun

As soon as you hear a song, you will start singing along with it in your head if the song appeals to you. This makes language learning at your own pace and schedule easier and enjoyable.

5. You Study More Grammatical Structures

Compared to regular speech, the language used in songs is more likely to be poetic and to have a greater variety of expressions in terms of grammar. Therefore, studying a language via music exposes one to more grammar structures.

6. Portability and Mobility of Music

You can enjoy music anywhere, unlike books and movies. Create a playlist of your favorite songs in your target language and keep it on your phone so you can listen to them on the go. Now, you just have to focus on the song by paying close attention to the words, the speaker’s pronunciation, and their tempo.

Conclusion

Music is an excellent resource for anyone to learn a new language. When we listen to music in foreign languages, we give our brains signals that help us make sense of these new languages’ lexical and grammatical puzzle pieces.

We examined the steps that will let you maximize this tool fully. These steps include choosing the music you love, reading the lyrics, translating the lyrics to English, etc.  So, you can get on a language-learning journey with music today.

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