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TOP 5 Tips. How to Practice English with Music

by Elle

“I hate music!” is never a normal expression from anyone of different ages or from different countries. Almost everyone I know and have met loves music. Since I was a child I would sing together to songs like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” or “The Wheels on the Bus.”

 

I Love Music

I remember that I would always get up and dance to the ABC song from Sesame Street. I have learned to memorize the English alphabet from that old, familiar and exhaustive song. So it goes without saying that if you are a new learner of the English Language, you must have already known that music is a good medium to learn new vocabulary, better pronunciation and of course, enhance your listening skill. If you haven’t done it yet, here are some simple and effective tips on how to practice English with music:

1. Find the right places on the web to start listening to music.

On our widely digital world, there are so many websites that you can acquire music or music videos from. I have listed some that I usually go to each time:

  • Spotify
  • Youtube
  • iTunes

 

2. Pick the music that you love to listen to.

There are different types of genres of music. You will need to listen to the type of music that is not purely instrumental in nature. For example, ballads and love songs, pop songs, country songs, hip-hop or rock songs are just some of the music types that have words in them.

I want to share with you some music videos for each type of music genre that I listen to sometimes. I will give you some old ones and some current to choose from.

  • Ballads and Love Songs

I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU)

When We Were Young by Adele (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDWKuo3gXMQ)

Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_ub7Etch2U)

  • Pop Music

I Know You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoKguSdy4Y)

How Long by Charlie Puth (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwfoyVa980U)

  • Country Music

Somethin’ Bad by Miranda Lambert feat. Carrie Underwood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4Yzj-m_SBk)

Home by Phillip Phillips (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoRkntoHkIE)

  • Rock Music

Shape of You by Ed Sheeran (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGwWNGJdvx8&list=PLTC7VQ12-9raqhLCx1S1E_ic35t94dj28)

Yesterday by The Beatles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXTJBr9tt8Q&list=PL9-cZf_sidpnrpRDlmAiLJaFtzHpD7aFY)

  • Hip-hop and R&B (Rhythm and Blues)

Halo by Beyonce  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnVUHWCynig)

Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjhCEhWiKXk&pbjreload=10)

 

3. Go to a reliable lyrics website in order to get the words or lyrics for the song that you picked.

The one I constantly use is www.Metrolyrics.com. This one is quite reliable, but you can just type “lyrics” “title of the song” on to your search engine and it will give you a whole list of other websites that you can get lyrics from for a specific song.

4. Listen to the song and maybe at least more than once while reading the lyrics.

This is a good listening exercise for you as well. Play the music and while you are listening, read the words sung by the artist. Maybe you will need to listen to it many times more.

5. Sing together with the music. Practice all you want. Enjoy!

You will need to belt it out loud and follow the artists exactly. In this way, you can learn the proper stress of some difficult English words. Also, they said that singing could relieve someone of stress. So sing away!

I hope you find my personal tips a good instruction on how to use music to practice English. I also would like to share with you that here in Paradise English we love music. We sometimes have our students join our occasional singing group during our programs. One of our talented teachers, Steve made a song for our little campers in last year’s summer camp. Since our theme was about the environment, he made a song and also a video about water and conservation. This was taught and practiced during the camp season for children to sing to. They presented their song on graduation day for their parents and all to see. It is one of the memorable times in camp. I hope you like “The Water Song” written and sung by Steve Alcoran. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZCa8tExzA0).

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