Some Songs to Help You Learn English Faster.
- Santi
- Oct 16, 2016
- 3 min read
Are you studying English and want a fresh way to learn? Listen to some of the following catchy English and American songs and you’ll give your language skills a huge boost while hardly feeling like you’re studying at all. Here are just a few of the benefits of adding music to your English study routine…
You Strengthen Your Vocabulary and Bolster Grammar
Listening to songs in English can massively improve your vocabulary and grammar, because you’ll have a context for the new words and sentences you’re learning; you’re far more likely to remember words if you learn them in a song rather than in a long vocabulary list.
Think about it. When you were a preschooler, would you have memorized the alphabet as quickly as you did if you had only heard it as spoken dictation rather than as a song? Or what about the names of the notes in a scale? If you’re a native English speaker, I bet you can’t even think the words “doe, a deer, a female deer” without automatically humming the next line of the song in your head. This simple song is tattooed in your memory. And there’s no reason why you can’t extend this memory technique to more complex vocabulary and grammar, by listening to songs in a foreign language.
You Get an Ear for the Language
English songs can give your listening comprehension skills a serious upgrade. I don’t know many language learners who enjoy listening to the same spoken conversation again and again, but virtually everyone I know has some favourite songs that they could play over and over all day! After only a couple of repetitions of a good English song, you’ll get an ear for the sounds, and you can’t help but get the song stuck in your head. Follow along with the lyrics while you listen, and you’ll make the connection from the sounds to the words. Your comprehension will skyrocket.
For the list below, I made sure to choose songs that aren’t sung too quickly (contrary to the lightning-fast speed of everyday speech!), so you don’t have to start at a level that’s too difficult too soon. Once you get an ear for these songs, go ahead and move on to faster or more complex songs so you don’t lose momentum in your listening comprehension progress.
You’ll Learn to Appreciate the Art of Other Cultures
When you get to know the music of another culture, you get to know the culture itself. You understand the type of art that the people enjoy, and the lyrics teach you popular colloquial expressions and subtle turns of phrase that are closely linked to the values and heritage of that culture.
Your favourite songs right now are probably in your native language, but I’ve put together a diverse collection of songs from all over the English-speaking world that I’m sure you’ll like at least one of.
If you don’t find the perfect song for you below, check out the links at the end to access hundreds of other songs. Don’t give up! It probably took you a while to find songs that you love in your native language, so listen to a variety of English songs in order to find some that you’ll love just as much.
There’s always room for more variety in your study habits. So if you haven’t listened to any English music during your studies so far, then now’s the time to change up your routine and have some fun in the process.