Why You Should Use Songs To Help You Learn A Language

Music can be a fun way to listen to your new language and it can help you learn.

It is maybe not the most effective method, but it does have its uses. I will go through why you should, or should not be using this technique to help you.

Basically its good every now and again, and it’s certainly helpful, but it shouldn’t be your main focus when learning a language.  

Using Music To Learn A Language Is Not Perfect

I will start with the negatives, and explain why listening to music is not exactly the most perfect way to learn the language.

The Lyrics Can Be Strange

If you look at any song lyrics from any English song, they are usually written in a very different way to how people actually speak in real life and this is the same for most songs around the world.

In general they are a bit more poetic, maybe with more rhyming, but sometimes they can just seem very random. This may be lovely to listen to, but if you are using this as your reference point for how to communicate you are going to end up in trouble.

Learning random words or concepts from songs is fine, but you cannot use them to learn how to speak. The language they use is just not the same as everyday normal speaking. You really need to learn from actual speaking audio, rather than singing.

Song Use A Lot Of Slang

You will also find that songs use a lot more slang, especially if you are listening to things like rap music.

It is great to be exposed to slang and idioms, but they can sometimes be a little confusing, especially for beginners.

This really means you need to be quite advanced in the language to really be listening to a lot of music properly and is again why you should stick with simple audio of people speaking.

Speed/ Pronunciation

How the songs are actually sung may also be counterproductive for you at times, they might be too fast, which can make it difficult to catch what is being said, but reading the lyrics can usually help with this is.

However, the words may also be pronounced in a funny way, well not a funny way, but if you think about how some people sing certain words, it may be dragged out and long and isn’t exactly how you would pronounce that same word while speaking.

If you are not really comfortable with the language yet this can really throw you off. I think this is good for listening practice, but I would be careful about trying to use songs for you guide on how to pronounce certain words.

Songs Still Can Be Useful For Language Learning

Everything I’ve talked about above is negative, but at the same time it’s not really too much to worry about.

I think if you are aware of the downfalls you can watch out for them and avoid them. Also if you are a total beginner you can avoid listening to music for a while until you have heard enough spoken language that you can feel comfortable with it in a song.

You can also actively look for songs that are maybe sung in a slower and clearer way, so you can actually find them beneficial.  

There are so many songs in the world that you should be able to find something that will suit your skill level.        

Songs Are Easy To Remember

Songs are in general a lot easier to remember. Think about how you still know the lyrics to a song from 20 years ago even though you never tried to actually learn it. There is something about the melody of music just makes it easier to remember compared to spoken words.

This is exactly why we teach kids things through songs and rhymes, such as the alphabet. I am sure If I asked you to say the alphabet out loud now, I know a number of you will start singing the ABC song we all learned, which just shows how powerful music and memory can be.

This is the exact same for a different language. If you really want to learn something, doing it through a song will help you. Although I don’t really know why you would want to learn a song from memory, but you could use it to potentially help you learn certain vocabulary words.  

Songs Can Help With Your Pronunciation

I’ve already mentioned pronunciation as a negative, but it can actually help some time, if the song is right.

Usually when we try and sing along to a song, we try and copy what we are hearing. We focus more on the sounds, rather than the actual words.

This is good as it means we start to use less of our own accent and instead try and copy exactly what we are hearing. If we are listening to a song in another language where the pronunciation is pretty good, it can be really helpful to copy these vocal tones of the native speaker.

You are going to get used to producing the sounds properly, which you can then transfer to your speaking practice.

If you are familiar with any of the songs by 90s Brit pop band ‘Oasis’, you will understand what I am talking about here.

They where notorious for dragging out the words in their songs, most famously words like “Sunshiiiiiiine”. If you have ever sung along to any of their songs, you instantly start to drag the words out too and suddenly you are singing in a Manchester accent.

Maybe this is more an example of it being a negative, but you can see how copying the sounds can lead you to producing more native like sounds even if you are still learning.

(You can read more about – How To Improve Pronunciation When Learning A New Language)

Songs Help Your Language Listening Skills

I am sure it’s no surprise to learn that listening to music will help you get better at listening!

Jokes aside, listening to music in a new language is going to actually help you. The songs are all going to be at slightly different speeds with different accents so you will get plenty of diversity from them.

This is going to give your ears an excellent work out and will still give you a lot of the same benefits as listening to spoken audio.

You will still benefit more from spoken audio, It can be a nice change  of pace to listen to some music every now and again

You Can Learn New Words Listening To Music

Songs obviously contain lyrics and this can be a great way to expand your vocabulary in a new language.

You can quickly pick up lots of new words from music. Even the simplest of songs will probably have new words and expressions that you have not heard before.

On a more subtle level you will also be exposed to word patterns and basic grammar principles when listening to songs. They are of course not the exact same as natural speech, since songs are more poetic, but it can still be useful to listen to this style of language.  

Music Will Introduce You To The Culture Of The Language

Music is one of the biggest doorways into a culture of any language and this is why it can be so beneficial to listen to it.

It doesn’t really matter what type of music it is, there will be some element of the culture there to experience and you will notice a lot of differences and similarities compared to your own culture. It can also bring you closer to the culture of country and you can feel more apart of it as you learn.

This can really make the whole process of learning the language feel more human. It’s not just some words that translate into something. It can have a much deeper and richer meaning.

For me this motivates me and inspires me to really keep studying and makes me want to master the language. Music makes the language feel alive to me, much more than it does compared to a textbook. 

Listening To Music In A New Language Is Fun

At the end of the day listening to music is relaxing and fun. If you can spend this pleasurable time also increasing your language skills, this can only be a positive thing.

You can also do this all quite passively too. If you have some music on in the background, you brain is still being exposed to the language as you go about your business. You are still hearing the words and processing them on a subconscious level.

This can really be beneficial in the early stages of a new language. It can take a while for you to be able to identify individual words. At first it may just sound like noise, but the more exposure you have, the more you brain can process the sounds and start to “see” it more clearly.

Having music on in the background is really easy way to get this extra exposure while enjoying yourself at the same timer.

Conclusion

If you haven’t already, you should be adding some music into your language study.

While it is not the most perfect way to learn, it can still have some decent benefits and you can still pick up little things from the songs you hear, while enjoying yourself at the same time.  

(If you want to read about how to actually do this you, you can read more about – How To Use Music To Learn A Language)