By Group 4
Jusman A. Sahmal
Yuli la Amulara
Tri Intan Saputri
Rofika B. Sangaji
LEARNING ENGLISH THROUGH SONGS
Learn English in an activity that most people use to do, as we know that English is an International language which can be spoken in every country. The most important thing in learning English is to get as many vocabularies as you can to help you speak and understand what people speak about. To get a lot of vocabularies is not easy; you have to work hard to memorize it every day in any situation. However if you keep doing that one it will be boring, so you’re sued to find the most comfortable way to get more vocabularies.
Songs are a great source of ‘real-life’ language and you can use music to practice lots of different language skills. Most of all, songs are a fun way to learn English, especially in collecting a lot of vocabularies. You can listen to some English songs to enrich your vocabularies, for example you try to jot down the lyrics in the songs then try to memorize it. It will be more fun because you are not only memorizing vocabularies but also memorizing a some which you can sing it every time to entertain yourself or other people.
There are some benefits of learning English through songs, we can start with a simple question “why do we have to use songs as the media of learning English?” it is all because of songs are the easiest way to learn English, beside that there are other benefits of learning English through song, such as:
1. Listening to music helps to improve your pronunciation.
Pronunciation is one of the most difficult aspects to master when it comes to learning a new language. Learning English through songs will definitely help to train your accent. When you learn your English songs, you will tend to repeat the songs again and again. And hence you will enjoy practicing English instinctively.
2. Songs are valuable sources for vocabulary, sentence structures and grammar.
Songs can provide the opportunity for vocabulary practice. They are usually based on a theme or topic that can offer the context for vocabulary learning. The more you listen to the lyrics, the better your English vocabulary becomes. At first, you may not completely understand the lyrics. But comprehension improves over time as you sing and discuss the music with your classmates, family, and friends. Furthermore, many English songs have a simple sentence structure and conversational language that we can easily understand. And therefore, we can learn them by heart quickly.
3. Songs are enjoyable.
Immerse yourself in English songs now! We can surely become bored out of our mind by repeatedly listening to a narration or dialogue as we attempt to understand the meaning of a new word or phrase in context. That’s why we need music to boost our motivation in learning English. Fundamentally, popular songs touch the lives of us and are connected with our various interest and everyday experiences. Music, therefore, has become an important part of our daily life. We listen to music to reduce anxiety, to stay positive, to relax. The rhythm and melody of songs enable us to listen to them over and over again. And English songs are useful for us to acquire English.
4. Music increases memory.
There’s no doubt that listening to your favorite music can instantly put you in a good mood. But scientists are now discovering that music can do more for you than just lift your spirits. Research has shown that listening to music is one of the best ways to stimulate both sides of our brain. It has a positive impact on not only learning English but also general learning. When we listen to music on a regular basis, we are at the same time improving our memory. And,
5. It is also the way to practice a musical instrument"
If you can play a musical instrument, it will be better. You can sing English songs that you like accompanied by a musical instrument that you are good at. As an alternative, you can collaborate with friends who can play an instrument and sing together so that learning activities become more fun and exciting."
After knowing the benefits of learning English through songs, now we also have to know to do. There are seven tips how to learn English through songs and to be success on it, you can start with:
1. Choose your songs wisely.
This might seem obvious but many learners fail at this simple step. Why? They either listen to random songs on the radio or pick whatever hot songs are currently trending on Spotify or YouTube. As simple as these sounds, to effectively learn English through songs, you must choose songs that you like songs that you'll live with and listen to a hundred times! That way, you will want to listen to them and want to learn the words in your target language.
2. Stick to an effective genre.
It is proven that genres like hip-hop have a much higher impact on language learning than pop, for example, as hip-hop songs generally have a rich vocabulary, complex rhyming schemes, and often use slang that is good for everyday communication.
3. Look up lyrics.
If you come across words that are unfamiliar to you or you cannot guess the meaning of certain phrases from context, simply look up the song's lyrics. Sites like Genius do an awesome job at providing correct lyrics to most songs out there, which include annotations and explanations written by the artists themselves. How cool is that?!
4. Make vocabulary searches a habit.
While you're in the process of looking up lyrics, why not make it a habit? If finding the correct lyrics is not enough for you to understand a song, you can always use a dictionary and learn a new word or two. It never hurts to build a habit that not only helps you learn songs that you like but to improve your English fluency, as well.
5. Find the right music resources.
Apart from the obvious choices in YouTube, Pandora, and Spotify, there are plenty of online resources that help you listen to music while learning English. You can have fun while improving your reading, listening, and pronunciation skills all at the same time. Some resources worth checking out are Language Zen, Lyrics Gaps, and Lyrics Training.
6. Talk about music.
Talking about music with friends and family is a cool method of improving both your conversation skills and vocabulary. The thing is: when talking about songs, in general, you will inevitably use some musical slang that is uncommon in everyday speech. You will have to learn English words and phrases like: tune (song), catchy (easy to remember), one-hit wonder (an artist with only one successful song), and more. On the bright side, you can never know too many words, right? And the last,
7. Listen and learn on the go.
The most effective thing you can do is to always remember and be aware that while you are enjoying your favorite music, you are also in the middle of a language exercise. You are learning. This awareness will help you go a long way! In other words, if you're not even focused on learning, how can you expect learning to happen? You must raise your own awareness of today's tips and tricks before you can expect real results and improvements in your English fluency.
So, learning English through songs can help students to improve their English skills and English proficiency. Songs become one of the media that many devotees because songs, especially English songs, mostly carry instruments that are not mellow, are more adaptive, or are easy to keep up with the times, the instruments are very cool, like growing our imagination as if the tips are abroad, cultural acculturation, the soul of the music itself interact more to our lives, and the most important thing is to learn English as well. That’s why, do not be surprised if it turns out learning English through songs is very effective. Moreover there is plenty of scientific evidence that shows how music can help second language learners get grammar and vocabulary and improve spelling. You can also listen to songs anywhere and anytime. Then now we have to realize that learning English through songs is very effective and successful.
REFERENCES
Simple English: Learning English. Retrieved April, 7th 2020, from Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia Web site: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_English
Song: Definition of Song. Retrieved April, 7th 2020, from Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia Web site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song
EC Vancouver Blog (May 13th 2016). Learning English through songs. Retrieved from https://www.ecenglish.com/en/social/blog/vancouver/2016/05/13/learning-english-through-songs
Learning English: Learning English through Songs. Retrieved April 7th 2020, from Cambridge Assessment English Web site: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/parents-and-children/information-for-parents/tips-and-advice/learn-english-through-songs/
Digital fatih.2018.Dampak positive belajar bahasa inggris lewat lagu di http://nationalenglishcentre.com/dampak-positif-belajar-bahasa-inggris-lewat-lagu/ (retrieved April 21st)
