Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Hi.

  • I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.

  • How can you learn English with music?

  • Let's talk about it.

  • Before we talk about this topic, let's see can we learn English with music?

  • Is it possible?

  • I often get emails from people asking me is this a good way to learn English?

  • Is it normal, a daily conversation, common vocabulary?

  • I want to answer this question first.

  • Can you learn English with music?

  • And the answer is a big yes.

  • Yes, you can definitely learn English with music, but you might not be learning daily

  • conversational English.

  • You'll certainly be learning English, but it might not be the kind of English that we

  • often use in conversation, because songs are poetry.

  • They use words to fit the rhythm of the song.

  • They use words to fit a certain style of music, so the words aren't exactly like daily conversation,

  • but you're going to learn a lot, and there's something in our human brains that links music

  • and this tune and melody with memory.

  • It's a great way to remember things.

  • So certainly, you can learn English with music, but how can you do it?

  • What's a good method?

  • Well, the first step is to find music in English that you like.

  • There probably are already a couple bands or a couple popular songs that you like, so

  • I recommend listening to them a lot.

  • For me, when I want to learn the words of a French song, I usually listen to it a couple

  • times and then I go online and I try to find the lyrics of the song.

  • The lyrics are the words of the song.

  • And because I've already heard the song a couple times, I read the lyrics.

  • Sometimes, if I really love the song, I'll print the lyrics and try to sing the lyrics

  • with the song.

  • Who cares if you have a terrible singing voice?

  • Maybe you have an amazing singing voice.

  • The purpose is to train your speaking as well as your listening skills.

  • So when you use the lyrics, it's kind of like subtitles, or like a transcript.

  • You can really hear each word.

  • And after you practice with the lyrics a couple times, you can probably sing the song without

  • them.

  • And then when you're driving, or taking a walk, or singing in the shower, you can really

  • use English like a native speaker because you have memorized those same sentences, the

  • same lines that a native speaker is using.

  • If you want to learn something that's specifically conversational English but you don't want

  • to go back to elementary school and practice really basic songs about the weather, or about

  • colors, well, a good way to do that is to use musical theater.

  • If you have ever seen Phantom of the Opera, or Les Miserables, or this kind of sound of

  • music, a style of singing and talking at the same time, they often have conversations while

  • they're singing.

  • And maybe the style of music is not your favorite style of music, but if you want to learn conversational

  • English with a tune, this is a good way to do it.

  • If you've never used musical theater before to learn English, or if that's just not your

  • style, I want to give you one song recommendation just to introduce you to this kind of fun,

  • conversational way to use music.

  • This song is called My New Philosophy, and it's from the musical You're a Good Man Charlie

  • Brown.

  • Maybe you know Charlie Brown, or Snoopy, he's a famous comic character, cartoon character,

  • and there is a musical, a whole play, a theater based on those characters.

  • In this song, two characters have a conversation while they're singing, so in your mind you're

  • using that musical memory plus conversation together.

  • And even though this isn't the only way to learn conversation with music, it's just one

  • recommendation.

  • I will post the link to this video in the description below this so that you can check

  • it out and see if you can catch each word.

  • If you enjoy it, try to read the lyrics.

  • Try to sing along and imitate that fun, crazy conversation that they're having.

  • And now I have a question for you.

  • What kind of music do you like in English?

  • Give us some recommendations.

  • If you have a link to another YouTube video that's from this band, or from your favorite

  • song, let us know.

  • Let's share together and learn with each other's musical interests.

  • Thanks so much for learning with me, and I'll see you the next time.

  • Bye.

  • The next step is to download my free ebook, 5 Steps to Becoming a Confident English Speaker.

  • I want to help you master English and speak fluently.

  • Feel free to subscribe so that you don't miss new English lessons.

  • Thanks so much for learning with me.

  • Bye.

Hi.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it