This guide to language learning through music will give you some tips on how to get the most out of your listening. Head to the bottom of the page to discover our language-specific guides, as well as playlists of songs on Spotify perfect to complete your learning!
start piano
It’s a safe bet that great lyrical flights will prevent you from concentrating on the text at first. Start by listening to easy-to-understand songs , with an accessible vocabulary. To do this, we have created super easy-to-access playlists for beginners. They make it easier to understand part of the lyrics and to deduce the rest thanks to the context.
Lyrics are your friends
Just as it’s very useful to use subtitles when watching a foreign show or movie, displaying the lyrics of the song you’re listening to is a real bonus when you’re learning the language . In general, you will find the lyrics by simply searching the name of the song or the artist on the Internet. Scrolling through them while you listen to the music is especially useful for people who learn visually. This checks that you know how to write the words you hear.
Give voice
Karaoke nights are your passion? Make it an asset to learn languages! Immerse yourself in the song, read the lyrics carefully, and get started! Look up from the screen… that’s it, you’re singing without reading the lyrics!
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland conducted a study that found that singing helps language learning. Sixty adults participated in this study. They had to listen to sentences pronounced in Hungarian for 15 minutes, then repeat them, with and without background music. The participants who used the song thus obtained results much higher than the others.
Watch the clips
If you’re looking for a song that you like, and especially if it’s a musically complicated piece, see if there is a clip or video. The clip can help you anchor certain words and phrases by creating contextual elements and visual associations . Not to mention the usefulness of watching the singers move their lips as they say these words. Most clips can be found on YouTube or Vimeo. Start your search there!
Guides and playlists by language
On Babbel Magazine, there are a large number of recommendations to help you find the songs or playlists to listen to depending on the language you are learning. Choose the language, level of difficulty and pace you need!