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  • Hey guys, welcome to our channel; thank you for tuning in.

  • And this video's topic is a very interesting one.

  • Can we learn English by listening to songs?

  • And can we practice our pronunciation by singing along?

  • People have different opinions on this and ask me a lot about this.

  • This is a very pleasant way to learn indeed.

  • And yes, you can learn some English from songs, and no, you can't at the same time.

  • It very much depends.

  • If you're sitting and listening to some songs in English every single day, even for many hours, but you don't read the lyrics

  • because, let's be real, we don't understand everything that they sing in songs for many reasons, and we'll get to them later.

  • If you don't read the lyrics, you don't understand half of what is sung, therefore you don't learn.

  • And if you don't check the lyrics, you can't call this working on your listening skills, either.

  • And even native speakers don't always understand everything.

  • Now that we've gotten this out of the way, let's talk about how we actually can learn by listening to songs.

  • So, as you already probably guessed, the first thing you have to do is read the lyrics.

  • If you like some song and you listen to it a lot, daily maybe, read it's lyrics, and read it while you're listening to the song as well.

  • It'll help you memorize them more easily.

  • Step number two, if you don't know the meaning of some words, look them up.

  • And, bam! You've learned some new vocabulary.

  • And very often, singers use different expressions and phrases in their songs, and if you look them up as well, you'll learn some new expressions.

  • Let's take "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

  • There's a very deep meaning behind this song.

  • Moreover, fully understanding the lyrics can be quite difficult sometimes because it's poetry.

  • And, sometimes, authors, in order to express their thoughts and feelings, use figurative language.

  • But let's take just this phrase, "I'm off the deep end", which means "change your behavior, to start doing something risky or uncertain or lose control of yourself".

  • So, there you go, you've learned a new expression.

  • In addition, you can learn some grammar.

  • But again, always check if you're not sure about something.

  • 'Cause every now and then, in order for the words to rhyme, authors can use improper grammar. Intentionally.

  • Let's take "Let It Snow" by Frank Sinatra.

  • It's an old song, but nonetheless, still very popular these days, especially during the holiday season.

  • And you can hear these lines there:

  • "He don't care about the cold and the winds that blow," when we know that it supposed to be "he doesn't care".

  • But if you don't know that, it can be misleading.

  • There's even a song called "He Don't Love Me" by Winona Oak.

  • It's certainly okay to use it in poetry.

  • And this different-from-standard English is even a perfectly normal English for some regions and classes in the US.

  • And you will even hear it in some movies.

  • But its usage in speaking, moreover, in formal writing, is considered uneducated, and we don't want to come out as such.

  • Now, for example, in this song, which happens to be one of my favorites, "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth.

  • And I honestly choke up every time I listen to it.

  • There are these lines, "It's been a long day without you, my friend, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again."

  • Just in these two lines, we have an example of the present perfect tense, "it's been a long day", and, at the same time, people use this statement as a phrase to express fatigue because they were extra busy that day or to express frustration.

  • And, then this line, "And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again."

  • It's an example of the first conditional; there it just used "when" instead of "if".

  • And it shows us that we don't use the future tense with "when", which is a common mistake.

  • And on top of that, you'll get to repeat these words a lot by singing along since we're listening to our favorite songs over and over again.

  • And what is that if not repetition?

  • And what is better than repetition to help us remember something better?

  • As long as you analyze and do research, you'll learn a lot.

  • Now, it's time to talk about pronunciation.

  • Yes, you can practice your pronunciation by singing along to songs, like, for example, let's take that same "See You Again".

  • There's a line, "How could we not talk about family when family's all that we got?"

  • A very good line for practicing your pronunciationjust as that whole couplet is good.

  • The speed and contractions, everything sounds very natural.

  • But, again, oftentimes, singers, to sing some high or low note, change the vowel in a word or change the stress in words so they sound more melodic.

  • So, be careful with this.

  • And that's why we can't always understand what is being sung.

  • Well, guys, I hope that I managed to set things straight regarding this topic, and if you found this information useful, smash that like button so that I know this.

  • And if you like our channel, make sure to subscribe.

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  • Until the next video.

  • How could we not talk about family when family's all that we got?♪

  • And I'll see you again

Hey guys, welcome to our channel; thank you for tuning in.

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