I remember learning hundreds of new words as I was listening to my favourite bands, reading the CD liner notes to understand the lyrics. Music is an amazing language learning tool. It gets your pronunciation into gear, it motivates you to open your mouth and sing, and of course it's fun so you'll be engaging again and again!
Listen to Lindsay Williams and me in Creative Language Learning Podcast episode 57 to discover:
- Why does pop music matter for language learning?
- What influence does the industry have for which music gets made and which doesn't?
- Why is English such a convenient language for pop music?
- How should you incorporate pop music into your language learning routine...or should you?
- Where can language learners find music in their own target language?
- Who are our favourite artists in other languages?
Links from this Podcast Episode
- How to Use Spotify for Language Learning
- Quora: Why do non-English speaking countries listen primarily to English-sung songs instead of producing modern/pop songs in their own languages?
- Guardian: Behind the music: What it costs European acts to sing in their own languages
In dance music it's generally more important how lyrics sound than what they actually mean. Artists with English as a second language can be less judgmental about what's deemed a cliche.
- 10 Great Songs That Topped US Charts But Weren’t Performed In English
- Foreign language songs that got to Number 1 in the UK
- The Hottest German Lesson in Town: Deutschland 83 and Major Tom (PLUS Free Lyric & Vocab Sheet
- How I Built This, an NPR Podcast
- Honest Reggaeton (not 100% SFW)
The Biggest Pop Genres That Succeed in Other Languages
Latino pop
Notable collaborations include Despacito with Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, Justin Bieber, and Bailando with Enrique Iglesias, Sean Paul et al.
- Alt.Latino Podcast
- Residente by Residente), an album exploring the artist's international heritage
K-Pop
European Music and Eurovision
Check out Stromae, KRO, Prince Pi, Indochine, Robyn (in English).
And I am delighted to sign off with one of the amazing "Moskau" performance by Dschinghis Khan: