Once you are really eager to learn something new, it might be useful to start from the very beginning. You know that Sir Paul McCartney wrote about scramble and his love for his girl's limbs in 1965. Almost 2 years have passed before his text became a hit. You wonder what is the title of the song I am talking about? It is about 'Yesterday'. The song which follows us throughout our life. I have no doubt that music helps to master a language. Melody is always great when there is a need to remember something. Some great mathematicians, for example, remembered numerals as a series of tunes. By the way, the Roman integers often indicate that the notes are to be played on a particular string.

Today we will speak about English words at beginner and elementary ESL level. So, here are some hints on how to learn English through songs:

1. 1. Do not choose long songs. The idea is to practice language with melodies which are not hard to reproduce.
2. 2. Try to remember songs with simple lyrics. If you are just a beginner, you’d better start with texts which are not too stuffed with unknown words.
3. 3. Choose only high-quality voice files. It is very important that you hear all the sounds correctly. Otherwise your language practice won’t be effective.
4. 4. Repeat not very fast songs at the very beginning. You know you will never start speaking as fast as a CNN TV-anchor on the fourth day of your studies. Though you can glance at a couple of news releases just to get the temp of a professional speaker or listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers “Californication”. Official music video is available on our learning platform.

Learning hints for children under 12

Choose the songs with many rhythms. It is wonderful if the rhythms repeat. In that case children are able to learn new words easier while listening. Also, they can start singing along.

Our Sing and Learn videos are obviously an ideal way to learn, remember and use new language. Your child might also try singing along to nursery rhymes and watch videos that will help him or her to systematize the learning process. With us they can practice lots of important vocabulary. For example: animals (“After A While, Crocodile” or “The Dinosaur Song by Blippi”), numbers (“Five little Ducks”), colors (“Down In The Deep Blue Sea”), nature (“I Love The Mountains”), traditions (“Halloween songs for Children, Kids and Toddlers with Little Miss Muffet”, vehicles (“Trains for Children”), emotions (“Angry Song”), materials (“Five Little Crayons”).

Learning hints for teenagers

For teens, it is wise to choose good songs for learning. It is a great opportunity to combine their interests and learning process. If your child is interested in a song, it will be easy for him to stimulate and understand it.

Remind your children that different pop singers usually use very informal, everyday language. It’s important for us to understand that English is used differently in different situations. Sure, the English in pop songs probably wouldn’t be right in formal writing. In such cases English listening skills are being actualized.

English learning activities – practicing speaking and pronunciation

Singing various songs is great for learning the rhythm of a whole language. It helps us to learn the schemes according to which words are linked together in a free speech.

Singing along is challenging from time to time. And it is obvious even for native speakers. So, if you can, help your children with several elementary steps: First of all, you should find the song lyrics. It is convenient to do it online. Open a suitable music video with subtitles. Read the track lyrics out loud. You can look up and learn any unknown words in a dictionary. Listen to the singer’s voice and read the lyrics at the same time. Encourage your son or daughter to sing along. When they are able to do it, try singing along without checking with the lyrics. Be sure, the idea is not to get it perfect straight away! Sometimes it is enough to repeat the text regularly. Children can find it hard to speak English as they are quite shy or they lack confidence. In such cases singing along with other people helps. It forms a safe space for children to learn to express themselves aloud. Ask your wife to join in when your child starts singing at home. She does not have to be musical. The idea is to be enthusiastic to sharpen one’s English listening skills!

Improving English pronunciation

As you learn a new language, you face a lot of unusual sounds that your mouth is not used to. Singing helps your lips to form the right shapes and make different sounds. Be careful to pronounce the new sounds loudly and clearly.

English learning activities – practicing reading, writing and listening skills It is true that any chance to hear English is finally helpful. It may be putting on background music during dinners or at playtimes. Listen to voices from the UK when you are traveling. If you want to improve your English, you and your child should listen to the tune carefully. Leave some time to understand the idea of the song lyrics.

Learning languages tip

Writing activity

Songs can make our imagination stronger. Listening usually stimulates creative writing. First listen to a melody. After 10 or 20 seconds, pause the music. Ask your children to draw something (whatever comes into their heads). Play another 10 or 20 seconds, pause and draw again. Keep doing this until the song finishes. Your child should have several drawings. Ask a child to write a short text with his or her pictures.

Reading activities

It is useful to print out some song lyrics. You can cut it up into separate verses. Ask your children to guess the correct order. Make a quiz. Then listen to the song again to check if it’s right.

Encourage teenagers to think about the meaning and emotions of a song. What are they ready to put in the music video for this very song? You could make a film together on the mobile. Afterwards you may watch the official music video and compare the ideas.

Listening activities

Play fun games to help your children practice listening skills. Pick out 10 words from a track. Then choose 2 or 3 extra words that are not the song. Write the words down in a random order and read the list with your child. Play the song and toddlers will tick the words they hear.

Ask your child to listen to a song again and invent an action for each verse. Then it will be cool to ask them to train the dance with you. Have you ever heard that actions can help teenagers not only to understand but altogether to remember new words? Researches demonstrate that dancing improves memory, concentration and understanding at all ages. I think the fact will encourage the whole family to join in. Of course, in order to write like Sir Paul, one will have to try hard. But never say never. Sometimes you just start and, in a while, you see new horizons which are opened in front of you.