Hi Everybody!
Happy Friday!
I was recently discussing lyrics with a student of mine and wanted to share an idea with you...
I've been using songs as listening prompts for practice for a long time. It's a great way to test understanding skills, but over the past few years it's become more difficult to find songs with good lyrics (for learning purposes).
Nevertheless, there are plenty of songs out there (perhaps you've already got some you never really understood the lyrics to) and here are some ways to use them to practice your English and maybe even learn something new.
1. Search for lyrics on-line. When you find them, listen to the song while reading the lyrics carefully. Can you follow them? Are they correct? (Some sites have mistakes!) Do you understand what they say? Do they have any grammatical mistakes? (Many songs nowadays say things like "I is" and "You is" X)
2. Play a game called Lyrics Training, which is a site you can find at http://lyricstraining.com/ that hosts many different types of songs (and not only in English!) and is a game where you have to complete gaps in the lyrics by typing on your keyboard as you hear a song being played via video. There are levels of difficulty for every song, from Beginner to Expert!! :) :) It can be fun!
3. Before searching to find the lyrics to a song you like, try writing down what you hear first and then check to see if you heard (and understood) correctly. You'll be amazed... both at how well you understand songs and at how often you get words completely wrong! Don't count the times when a singer mumbles the words up!! Even native speakers have difficulty there! ;)
Some of my favorite lyrics are by U2 (and many artists from the 1980s and 1990s like Michael Jackson, Madonna, WHAM!, INXS and R.E.M.), but there are many contemporary artists that have great lyrics too.
Which is your favorite?
:)
Happy Friday!
I was recently discussing lyrics with a student of mine and wanted to share an idea with you...
I've been using songs as listening prompts for practice for a long time. It's a great way to test understanding skills, but over the past few years it's become more difficult to find songs with good lyrics (for learning purposes).
Nevertheless, there are plenty of songs out there (perhaps you've already got some you never really understood the lyrics to) and here are some ways to use them to practice your English and maybe even learn something new.
1. Search for lyrics on-line. When you find them, listen to the song while reading the lyrics carefully. Can you follow them? Are they correct? (Some sites have mistakes!) Do you understand what they say? Do they have any grammatical mistakes? (Many songs nowadays say things like "I is" and "You is" X)
2. Play a game called Lyrics Training, which is a site you can find at http://lyricstraining.com/ that hosts many different types of songs (and not only in English!) and is a game where you have to complete gaps in the lyrics by typing on your keyboard as you hear a song being played via video. There are levels of difficulty for every song, from Beginner to Expert!! :) :) It can be fun!
3. Before searching to find the lyrics to a song you like, try writing down what you hear first and then check to see if you heard (and understood) correctly. You'll be amazed... both at how well you understand songs and at how often you get words completely wrong! Don't count the times when a singer mumbles the words up!! Even native speakers have difficulty there! ;)
Some of my favorite lyrics are by U2 (and many artists from the 1980s and 1990s like Michael Jackson, Madonna, WHAM!, INXS and R.E.M.), but there are many contemporary artists that have great lyrics too.
Which is your favorite?
:)
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