Learning English through songs and music is such a popular method. It makes English learning process way more interesting, relaxing, and joyful for the second language learners like us. But do you know how to apply this learning method in the most effective way? If the answer is “No”, then welcome to eJOY English – an application, a learning partner that will help you learn English through songs and music quickly, easily and efficiently.
Reasons to learn English through songs and music
Answering the question “Why should we do it?” may make you more motivated and eager to follow this method.
1 English learning process is much easier
Learning English through songs and music makes your learning process incredibly easier, and by “easier”, I mean:
No stress, just relaxation and joy
Is there anyone on earth who doesn’t feel relaxed while listening to music?
People tend to spend an amount of time allowing their brain to be “lazy” in order to let themselves off steam after a stressful day at work. But with music, you can learn English and still can relax at the same time. Moreover, music can improve your mood as well.
Better memorization
Have you ever noticed that it’s much easier to remember the lyrics of a song than lessons at school? The melody, the rhythm, the tune, etc., all of them just naturally absorb into your head. There are numerous scientific evidences to prove this. And as you remember the lyrics, you will remember the English phrases, grammars, vocabulary, etc..
Learning every time
This needs no explanation. Indeed, you can listen to music wherever you are and whenever you want. And each time you play a song and focus on it, you acquire certain knowledge relating to English.
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2 Multiple English skills are highly improved
Whether you intentionally learn English through songs and music or not, listening to an English song somehow have potential effects on your English skills. And when you decide to follow this learning method carefully, those effects become apparent and significant.
Listening skill
Listening to English speeches and conversations will improve your reflex skill. But listening to English songs will take that skill to the next level. Words in songs will sometimes be pronounced differently due to the melody. This is a difficult challenge for you to identify the words.
Speaking skill
Have you ever thought that singing an English song in the correct way is so cool? The term ‘correct’ here doesn’t relate to the melody, rhythm, etc. It refers to:
- Pronunciation
- Linking sounds
- Word stress, sentence stress
Even though you didn’t reach that ‘correct’ level at your first try, don’t be disappointed. You can still have the benefit of getting familiar with the native way of speaking. And when that ‘familiar sense’ becomes a habit, you will naturally be able to speak like a native.
Vocabulary and Grammar skills
When listening to an English song, you will have the chance to broaden your vocabulary with new words, new phrases. But this won’t be boring because most of those words and phrases are colloquial.
Plus, your grammar would be considerably improved as you can learn a variety of sentence structures and patterns, tenses, words order, etc.
Let’s take ‘The lazy song‘ of Bruno Mars as an example of this.
In this song, Bruno Mars used many colloquial phrases like ‘lay in my bed, pick up my phone, leave a message’, which are really easy to remember.
How to learn English through songs and music with eJOY English?
1 Choose an English song
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How to do it?
Step 1. Download eJOY App which would help you to choose the most suitable song to learn.
Step 2. Choose one of the songs (eJOY has more than 1000 popular English songs and is continually updated with the latest hits).
Note
If you have no idea what the most suitable song to learn is, I have some clues for you:
- That’s your favorite song. You can’t learn anything if you don’t like it, right?
- That song is suitable for your English level. This is why I suggest you learn English through songs with eJOY English. It has a huge source of songs and each song is arranged to a certain English level. For instance, the song “You raise me up” of Westlife is for Intermediate level:
If you don’t know what’s your level, don’t worry, eJOY App will help you to check:
2 Learn from the lyrics
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How to do it?
Step 1. Play the music video on eJOY App and notice on the lyrics
Step 2. Pause the video when you notice any new words or phrases. Tap at the word or hold and drag between words to check the meaning.
Step 3. Add new words/ phrases you want to learn to your Word Bank for later practice and revision.
Note
With the dictionary of eJOY English, you can:
- Check many English definitions of a word (by swiping left).
- Translate to your language.
- Translate by Google Translate by tapping on the “Magnifying glass” icon.
3 Practice & Revision
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How to do it?
The most interesting part about eJOY App is that it allows you to practice and revise effortlessly with these 3 interesting games: Multiple choices, Fill in the blank, Speaking.
Step 1. After adding 3 new words you can go to the Game section and choose a game
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To practice listening skill
- Multiple choices
Listen to sentence and choose the missing word
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- Fill in the blank
Listen and type the word you hear.
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To practice Speaking skill
- Speaking game
1. Listen to the original sentences
2. Repeat what you hear
3. See the assessment
4. Tap ‘Compare‘ to find out your mistakes (if any)
Note
You should keep track of your performance and goal progress on the app to have the motivation to learn harder.
Step 2. Let’s sing along!
This is the most important part of learning English through songs and music. After having acquired appropriate vocabulary and pronunciation techniques and partly practiced them with games, it’s time to do a complete practice/ revision.
More importantly, eJOY app supports you all to practice/ revise what you’ve learned while singing.
- All videos on eJOY app have subtitles. If you forget the lyrics, just look at them.
- You can pause the video whenever you want to check the lyrics part that you don’t remember. Tap on the word or hold and drag among words to look them up in the eJOY Dictionary.
The main purpose of singing along the song is to practice your pronunciation skill and to help you memorize new words better. So it doesn’t matter whether you remember the whole lyrics or not. Just relaxed and feel the beat.
4 Apply what you have learned into real context
Besides practice and revision with eJOY App, using new words you have learned in a real-life context helps you memorize it better.
How to do it?
- Practicing speaking with friends
- Writing about your experiences, and feelings about what you have learned on social networking sites, online forum, etc.
For those who are kind of introverted, write those in your study diary (remember to use English only).
7 best English songs to start learning with
Songs listed below are all popular songs. Each song has its special features that are suitable for certain learning purposes.
1 I want to hold your hand – The Beatles
Why this song?
- Suitable for beginners
- Slow melody
- The lyrics are simple, easy to understand and is repeated. They mostly consist of simple sentences. Eg: I wanna hold your hand. Plus, most of those sentences are of simple tenses. Eg: I’ll tell you something; I hope you’ll understand,…
2 Take me to your heart – Michael Learns To Rock
Why this song?
- Slow melody
- Suitable for those who want to broaden their vocabulary source. Vocabulary in this song may be a bit advanced. But don’t worry because eJOY will be here to help.
- Grammar: emphasizing imperative sentences. Eg: Take me to your heart, take me to your soul, give me your hand and hold me, etc.
3 When you say nothing at all – Ronan Keating
Why this song?
- Slow melody
- Grammar: from the song, you can learn:
- Complex sentences (Eg: It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart.)
- Relative clause (Eg: The smile on your face lets me know that you need me.)
Those grammar issues appear to be a big matter to us whenever we see them in grammar exercises. But when you learn them through a song, it becomes much easier. Just sing these lyrics again and again. You will naturally get used to the way those sentences are structured. And yes, you have acquired those grammars with literally no efforts.
4 You are my sunshine – Johnny Cash (cover)
Why this song?
- Slow melody
- Basic sentences and vocabulary.
- You can learn many colloquial expressions. Eg: the other night; as I lay sleeping, etc.
- Grammar: you will learn Simple Past tense. Eg: I dreamed I held you in my arms; When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken, etc.
5 My Valentine – Paul McCartney
Why this song?
- Slow melody
- Basic vocabulary
- Common expressions. Eg: what if it rained we didn’t care; as day and night could pass me by; love her for life, etc.
6 Butterflies fly away – Miley Cyrus
Why this song?
- Slow melody
- Basic sentences and vocabulary
- Common phrases:
- Depend on
- Turn out the light
- Brush my teeth
- Make a living
- Safe and sound
- Hold on
- …
7 Way back into love – Hugh Grant
Why this song?
- Slow melody
- Grammar: Present Perfect Continuous tense. Eg: I’ve been watching; I’ve been searching, etc.
Hope that you will get the most suitable English song to learn with. Don’t forget to share your experience with me in the comment section below. Cheers!
