Hey there again!
Before I begin this topic. I would not be doing you any good, if I did not continue to remind you that for you to speak English very well – just like an American (or native English speaker), you definitely do well to speak English WITH a native English speaker. A Professional English Teacher is the BEST! My program, ‘How To Speak English Just Like An American’ (Click here to get it) will guide you along with me (in video) to speak English just like me (American).
Now, let’s talk about how you can improve your spoken English from singing the English songs you like.
It should be exciting to know that anyone can learn English by listening to songs, and you can practice your pronunciation by singing. To be clear, people have different opinions on this and have asked me a lot about this. But, this is an enjoyable way to learn English, and ‘YES’ you can learn English from songs.
It depends if you are sitting, listening to some songs in English every day, even for many hours. But it would help if you read the lyrics, even though we don’t understand everything they sing in songs. If you don’t read the lyrics, you will not understand half of what a song says. Therefore you won’t learn English if you don’t check the lyrics. You can call this working on your listening skills also. Even native speakers don’t always understand everything sung in songs.
Let’s talk about how we learn by listening to songs!
As you probably already know, the first thing you have to do is read the lyrics. If you like a song and listen to it daily, you do well to read its lyrics. Also, read it while you’re listening to the music. As well, it will help you to memorize the words. More quickly, step number two: if you don’t know the meaning of some words, look them up. And BOOM! You’ve learned some new vocabulary words. Many times, singers use different expressions and phrases in songs, and if you check them, you’ll understand some new terms.
Let’s talk about the song ‘Shallow’ by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. There’s a profound meaning behind this song. Moreover, fully understanding the lyrics can be pretty tricky sometimes. Because it’s poetry, and sometimes authors express their thoughts and feelings using figurative language. Let’s look at this phrase, “I’m off the deep end, which means change your behavior to start doing some risky or uncertain or lose control of yourself.” So, there you go! You can learn new expressions, and in addition, you can learn grammar. Again, always check if you’re not sure. Because now and then, the worst authors can use improper grammar intentionally.
Let’s look at ‘Let it Snow’ by Frank Sinatra. It’s an old song but still trendy these days, especially during the holiday season. And you can hear lines where it seems that he doesn’t care about the cold and the wind that blows when we know that it’s supposed to be something to care for. This can be misleading if you don’t know that. There is even a song called ‘He Don’t Love Me’ by Wynonna Oak that proves that it is okay to use it in poetry, which is different from standard English.
It is even perfectly normal English for some regions and classes in the U.S. You can even hear it in movies. Its usage in speaking in formal writing is considered unschooled. And we definitely don’t want to come out as such now. In the song ‘See You Again’ by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, there is, “It’s been a long day without you, my friend. And I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again.” There is an example of the present perfect tense in these two lines. “It’s been a long day..” at the same time, people use this statement as a phrase to express fatigue. Maybe they were extra busy that day or very frustrated. And then there is this line “…and I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again” is an example of the First Conditional. They show us that we don’t use the future tense with whim which is a common mistake. And, you’ll get to repeat these by singing along since we’re listening to our favorite songs repeatedly. What is that, if not repetition? And please tell me. What is better than repetition to help us remember something better as long as we analyze and research? You learn a lot.
Now, let’s talk enunciation.
Yes. You can practice your enunciation by singing along to songs. For example, let’s take that same “see you again…” line. “How could we not talk about family when family’s all we got”? An excellent line for practicing your pronunciation. Just as that whole couplet is good, the speed and contractions – everything sounds very natural but again, often singers sing some higher or low notes, change the vowel in a word or change the stress and phrases so that they sound more melodic. So be careful with this. And that’s why we can’t always understand some songs.
I hope that I managed to set things straight regarding this topic. And if you found this helpful information, please leave a comment below.
Thank you, and talk with you again soon!
