Music is the gift that keeps on giving and it is a great way to learn another language. Not only is it full of great phrases, vocabulary and grammar, it is also emotionally impactful as well as rhythmical making it easy to recall and remember. Listening to music and following the lyrics is a great way of improving your language skills and if you want to do more than just sit back and listen there are some great websites out there that will help you to interact and angage with the music you love. Here at City Language School we recommend you start with these three.
Lyrics Training offer a great way to interact with songs by letting you input the words you hear as you listen to the song. They offer different levels of ability too which means you can cjeck your progress with particualr songs as you improve. This means that you are not only improving your vocabulary skills but your listening skills too.
ESL Hip Hop is run by English Language Teacher Stepehen Mayeux. Stephen says that he has been teaching since 2008, but has been a lover of hip-hop since his undergrad days at Louisiana State University. He beleives that many teachers avoid using hip hop because they think it will teach students bad English. It might teach them the occassional bad word for sure but bad English? Not really.
We will say that this site is probably for learners who are already at a higher level of English and you should probably use it as a way of exploring and adding to your understanding of the langauge and how it is used so differently across cultures.
There are lots of great and really in-depth explanations of slang and colourful language that are worht exploring.
Here\’s another site that asks you to gap fill as you listen. The ESOL Courses site is slightly less fancy looking than the aforementioned Lyricsboard but it is no less useful. The songs and exercises are divided into two categories – easy & harder – and you can type and write as you listen before checking how many you got right at the end of the song.
Don\’t forget, the other great way to learn English through music is by getting involved in a band or musical society and learning by singing the songs yourself. There are also lots of great places that you can go and hear live music in Dublins so please do check them out.
City Language School Dublin
City Language School is right in the heart of Dublin City Centre. Dublin is the proud and vibrant capital of Ireland and with its cosmopolitan and modern feel, it has repeatedly been voted Europe’s friendliest city by Trip Advisor. Dublin boasts strong links with literature, music, dance and storytelling. As you walk through the streets of Temple Bar, you can absorb the musical tradition which spills onto the streets from the many bars and restaurants; truly a city of enormous beauty! Dublin is surrounded by breath-taking natural scenery that will leave you with lifelong memories. It is perfectly located on the eastern coastline of Ireland and is a convenient gateway to the rest of Europe.
We are conveniently located in the heart of Dublin on Dame Street, giving you easy access to the whole city of Dublin as well as bus and tram lines for you to get around.