how i learn languages with MUSIC 🎵🎶 tips, resources, process

[@josietimberlake1905]

I used to use music all the time to study French. I haven't done it in a while but watching this video made me realize how much I miss it! Thanks for the inspiration. I'm excited to find some new music in my target languages!

[@elyssedavega]

aww that’s so nice 💕 i’m glad i could be of help!

[@Raisinsecc]

Im french ! I can give you good French song if you want >:)

[@brunalima9508]

@@Raisinsecc I'm not her but please, I would be grateful

[@Raisinsecc]

@@brunalima9508 no problem :)))) angèle : ta reine shay : cocorico marie myriam : l'oiseau et l'enfant lous and the yakuza : dilemme pomme : anxiété ( autoharp session ) pomme : bad guy

[@AfroLinguo]

Me too. I once used music to learn chinese and it was a very nice experience. I enjoyed it so much. I need to do it again.

[@ccllvn]

I LOVE this video because a russian song inspired me to learn the cyrillic alphabet. It "На заре" and I instantly loved that song, but understood nothing and since I didn't know the letters I could never find it! So I added a russian keyboard app on my phone and learned the alphabet to find this song (and many more) on Spotify. Then I wanted to know what the song meant, then I wanted to verify that the lyrics translation is decent etc. long story short I am literally learning russian over this one song. If I hadn't clicked this song, I wouldn't even have cared but now I'm like ok, might as well do the whole language. And there's soooo many russian youtubers, I feel like youtube has doubled in size ever since I started to understand some of what they're saying.

[@elyssedavega]

Dude that’s so awesome what the heck, it’s cool when music draws you into a language because I feel like it sets up such a special bond with the lang. Props to you!

[@HaiyanMa]

Я тоже!! Я очень хотела петь с моим любимым певцом (он из Казахстана) в концерте… поэтому я начала изучать русский язык ☺️☺️☺️ It was a song called “love of tired swans”. Then I discovered that there are so many things I didn’t know regarding Russian culture and art since I started learning the language 😻

[@koko-rm7ew]

i also started learning russian because of music, it’s such an awesome language!

[@petergriffin931]

Your channel is one of the most sincere in yt if we're talking about the language learning resources, you just keep it cool and authentic and that's something brilliant in this platform!!

[@elyssedavega]

omg PETER GRIFFIN thank you???? Truly an honor.. in all seriousness that means so much to me, thanks for supporting my channel 😭 💕

[@sanmuller3678]

It's been a while since I use music to study languages, but I was still able to get really good tips from this vid! Formidable video, comme d'habitude Elysse

[@elyssedavega]

Merci pour l’avoir vue!! I hope it works out for you, i’d love to hear follow-up.

[@CouchPolyglot]

it is interesting how you use songs for language learning, I am a big fan of using songs too, but what I do is basically get obsessed with certain singers or songs and just listen to them very often until I know them by heart (almost always I will need to read the lyrics a couple of times). Then I sing along (if I am alone, since I am a terrible singer!!) and this helps to improve vocab, grammar and pronounciation. It is just awesome, as it does not feel like I am learning, but I am :)

[@elyssedavega]

i'm also a fan of listening to songs on repeat till i hate them hahahahah

[@dimwitsadvocate6264]

Couchpoly, I just started learning my first song. I have to read the lyrics A LOT and it's taking a long time to get even parts of it. But I'm keeping at it, as I notice I have the tune in my head all day. And when I have it properly memorized, I think it will be very valuable.

[@CouchPolyglot]

@@dimwitsadvocate6264 rooting for you!! Music has helped me a lot to learn languages :) It can help to look up "easier songs" (slower, easier vocabulary) at the beginning too!

[@dimwitsadvocate6264]

@@CouchPolyglot It's funny that I saw your comment as I came to KZbin to look up "good songs to learn Spanish with". The song I'm doing now is very good for learning Spanish and I'm having fun using AI to learn more about the meaning of certain phrases. Much fun! Thank you for rooting for me and your kindness!

[@CouchPolyglot]

@@dimwitsadvocate6264 awesome! Mucha suerte y disfruta del proceso :)

[@tiny_tuba9756]

When I was learning French in school, my teacher had a project where we had to translate and study the song “Papaoutai”. Mannn I loved that project. We would get into groups and go through it and write words we knew and try to decipher meaning… it felt like I was really learning something. And I got so happy when I could listen to it and understand what was being said. Hopefully I can do this for Japanese once I’m a littttlee better!

[@rashidah9307]

Thank you for these tips on how to really get the most out of a song!! I'm at a low intermediate level in Levantine Arabic and I've just recently discovered how much I like Arabic dance music (not the slow ballads that my Arab friends always suggest to me). So I've started working with my tutor on songs, but I realized that I still wasn't retaining as much as I wanted. Your steps will help me to study more effectively and absorb more. I really appreciate this! 😊

[@elyssedavega]

Awesome!! i’m glad it helped- you should also check LyricsTraining to see if they have your favorite songs and you can practice them there

[@rashidah9307]

@@elyssedavega unfortunately, they don't have Arabic, which is too bad. . . (

[@fileto7]

8:15 Ever since I've started learning German in 2018, I do that all the time when speaking English. Shpanish, Shpecially, Shmoke, usw. lol

[@elyssedavega]

It’s contagious EEEE especially when talking fast

[@AfroLinguo]

😂😂😂😂 Ich verstehe was du meinst. This is really funny!!

[@hugoepcastro]

Learning languages with music is great! I get another personality when I sing in Italian 😅 Thanks for this helpful video

[@elyssedavega]

HAHA that’s awesome, Italian is such an emotive language. Fitting. No problem, thanks for watching!

[@AfroLinguo]

I get different personalities even when I speak in the same language lol!! I am like a personality cameleon. I change so often based on who I am talking to.

[@hugoepcastro]

@@AfroLinguo Yeah, same here hahaha it's such a good feeling

[@MacAndCheeseMasterOfficial]

@@hugoepcastro 😱 I started learning Italian recently about 23 days or so ago on Duolingo and have been trying to find more ways to progress better. Since you posted this 5 months ago, I just wanted to check up on how your Italian has been going? I hope you've stuck with it! 😄

[@hugoepcastro]

@@MacAndCheeseMasterOfficial Nice to see another person who learns Italian! Thanks for your question, I've stuck with the Italian language maybe just because I like it so much 😂 I think that as you progress in your studies you'll feel more of the joy of understanding what before was just a lot of noise, to continue learning Italian I try to do at least a bit of listening and reading every day, there are days that I consume lots of content and others that I only spend some minutes in contact with the language, I think that is the key to learn a language in several years. Can I recommend you some youtubers, podcasters about the Italian language?

[@Daleymop]

Usually I listen to music to get comfortable with the sounds of the language and the pronunciation therein. After I've gotten comfortable, I begin to recognise the basic words, basic phrases, and take note of words I don't know and look them up in a dictionary. By the end, the goal is to be comfortable with the entire song, being able to both speak/song it and completely understand it. Also thanks for the recommendation of Lingolia, I'm learning German at the moment, and am also always searching for good Esperanto materials to recommend to learners. Kutime mi aŭskultas muzikon por komfortigi min pri la prononcado kaj sonoj de lingvo. Post mi komfortas, mi ekkomprenas bazajn vortoj, bazajn frazojn, mi poste rimarkas vortojn, kiujn mi ne scias, do mi serĉas ilin en vortaro. Je la fino, la celo estas esti komforta pri la tuta kanto kaj nature kompreni ĉion. Ankaŭ, dankon pro la sciigo pri Lingolia, mi lernas la Germanan, kaj ankaŭ ĉiam serĉas bonajn retejojn por Esperanto lernantoj.

[@krishnanclips]

I watched a dozen videos on using music to learn languages. Your video was the best. No one -- yup, no one -- explained all the ways to milk the songs. You've now given me new ideas to incorporate in my music sessions. Thanks a million. Would you be willing to share your French playlist? Will help many, including me, to not reinvent the wheel.

[@elyssedavega]

:”) thank you!! I’m glad I went enough in depth, I really try to do that. Good luck with it!

[@pinay_and_languages]

Learning through songs lies on my top-tier method list! Thank you for all of your insights!

[@elyssedavega]

Yay!!! I hope it proves fruitful :)

[@jasmineva3128]

I really like Vanessa Paradis' songs for studying French. My favourite song of hers at the moment is "La Seine."

[@melissamartinez276]

Yayy i was just thinking on studying with a song! I'll try this method

[@elyssedavega]

awesome!! let me know how it goes :D

[@melissamartinez276]

@@elyssedavega i will :D ♥

[@miguelvaz5573]

I totally agree with you. Learning a language through songs is not only useful, but fun! I recommend Rammstein (yes, metal!) for German. I learnt a lot from their simple but double sense lyrics songs like "Ich will", "Du hast", "Wiener Blut" etc.

[@elyssedavega]

wiener blut 😹

[@Ty-iz9wd]

I'm using Rammstein as my reference! Love them so much!

[@powellg]

Another super awesome video! Love seeing these and rewatching old ones too, for motivation. Keep it up! Can't wait for the next one 🤩

[@elyssedavega]

Aw thank you George! i actually just made a new advice/tips playlist if you specifically want to watch those videos. :-)

[@ascia158]

I agree i used to do this with hindi songs but i wasn't really intentionally using it i just wanted to know the lyrics and i feel like i understandes so many words out of this method.

[@elyssedavega]

It can help in a lot of ways!!

[@igooa1076]

I have actually used the song "Ai-je perdu le nord" by clio to améliorer my french, haha :)

[@elyssedavega]

oOoOo i’ll check this out! i’m compiling some recommendations from everyone talking about their experiences in the comments :D

[@Joe1729]

I've been listening to loads of Idan Raichel songs to try and improve my Hebrew. My reason for listening to him over other singers is just cos his songs are really beautiful. The trouble is though, his lyrics are *extremely* poetic, to the extent that they're maybe not actually so great for learning actual spoken Hebrew. Still worth it though!

[@elyssedavega]

Listening practice is listening practice then!

[@iriscstd]

I was just thinking about studying with music and you posted this video! Thanks Elysseeeee

[@elyssedavega]

the stars aligned ✨ glad to be of help Iris, good luck 😊

[@iriscstd]

@@elyssedavega 🥰

[@hcm9999]

1. I am studying Swedish right now and use Google Translate heavily. I have no problem with Google Translate. Usually I translate the entire song lyrics with Google Translate, then check the translation adding notes when I don't agree with the translation. 2. I usually write on a computer instead of using paper and pen. It is much faster to type on a keyboard than writing on paper. It is also much easier to edit on a computer. 3. I have been translating songs for more than a year now. But now I am shifting to normal texts because songs have a very limited vocabulary.

[@islamandsociety1598]

Thank you for your tips, I've never really incorporated much music into my language study as I ended up using songs that I guess as you say were too poetic and not so applicable to conversation but you've inspired me to try again!

[@רונהלוי-ה1ז]

Thanks for the tips, that's about what I do too but I didn't know the sites and it's always good to know more language resources, My tip is to vary in music styles, rock, pop, oriental because I noticed that each style has a different vocabulary and obviously I also have my musical preference, but I try to find nice things in other styles as well

[@ahmadel-bobou276]

Nice video, Elysse! I love this idea.

[@elyssedavega]

Thank you Ahmad!! I really do swear by it :-)

[@roystwarren3905]

Im going to try this method for sure! I've been studying Catalan and i love the album Energia Fosca by El Petit de Cal Eril. I haven't been very intentional before when using music as a study tool so im excited to try your ways with this amazing album

[@elyssedavega]

awesome! i don’t speak catalan but i’ll give it a listen.

[@Momonosekai]

I found your channel today and I basically binge watched like all of your videos lmao... As a polyglot myself I really enjoy watching your videos and it's really interesting how similar our studying procces is haha I speak German, Moroccan Arabic, Standard Arabic, English, French, Korean and I'm currently leaning Japanese, Hebrew, Turkish and Spanish When I learned Korean Kpop was really my biggest help to get to broaden my vocab and singing the songs while reading the lyrics really improved my pronounciation and also ACTUALLY writing the lyriccs improved my handwriting... I do the same with Japanese and Hebrew atm and its helping me alot again✌ I reqlly respect u and u really inspire me to keep working hard and study smarter Thank you for that🙈❤ And keep it up✌

[@elyssedavega]

This is so sweet! thanks for tuning in, i'm honored! and with Korean, it must be so nice to have KPOP because literally everyone loves it and it seems generally pretty easy to understand haha. Good luck!

[@lannguyen-pu1db]

Lady Madonna. GREAT for learning everyday words for beginner learner of the English language.

[@reyyan2614]

I sent this video to all of my Turkish learner friends maybe this can change their idea about using Turkish songs for language learning!!

[@elyssedavega]

I hope it works out for them!

[@Raisinsecc]

At 7:24 in French we didn’t prononce the « s » at « ne plus » we prononce it « ne plu.. » We only prononce the « s » at « plus » for saying « more » So « plus » with the pronounced « s » means ´more´ And « plus » with the unpronounced « s » means ´not anymore´ :)) yeah that’s confusing

[@elyssedavega]

thanks for the tip!

[@princeoforange5325]

It's cool to see your creative process.

[@RubyDuran]

Love this! Thanks for sharing 💜

[@juliabrito4214]

I've had started to use Imagine by John Lennon to practice my speaking so I focus all my energy to listen to his accent and then I try to reproduce it and it's helping me to improve my listening and speaking skills!

[@elyssedavega]

so cool! his accent is quite confusing when it's spoken, I hope it's not so bad when listening to a song hahaha

[@abcdef-jc3yf]

Your handwriting is beautiful! And you're left handed?? Even more amazing!

[@ariannarivera5683]

wow!! i didn't know about the context on balance ton quoi! i watched the mv but i didn't connect it

[@elyssedavega]

my curious ass just wants to be in on everything

[@breakfastcerealclub]

i'm in love with your channel - we don't really study any of the same languages but your videos are so inspiring! i have loved using music to help me learn italian and japanese over the years! if anyone has any recommendations for music in swedish that they love, please let me know hehe :)

[@elyssedavega]

Swedish, Italian, Japanese-- what an interesting combination! Hahaha. thanks so much for watching

[@sopsel]

Thank you so much for making this video, it motivated me to study languages through songs again and you mentioned some things that i haven't thought of before and your tips sound really helpful! I also really like Reverso Context always use it for Spanish and Italian

[@alfredoeleazarorozcoquesad2988]

You have such a style! Thanks Ellyse 💚

[@atticusfinch3536]

I usually just sing along to the song while reading the lyrics . I'll try your method even though I'm really lazy and often struggle with sitting down to actively study something. 😅 Thanks for the video and keep up the good work! 🤗

[@elyssedavega]

come onnn get your hands dirty 😹 you’ll know the song backwards and forwards!

[@AfroLinguo]

If you struggle with sitting down to actively study something, try standing up to passively learn it. 😅

[@canaldaandreasantana5849]

I liked very much this video. I don't do exactly the same, but very similar for learning Arabic. I use google translator because we don't have good options on Arabic... I also have two paperback dictionaries and I ask some Arabic friends to correct the mistakes . 😊❤ And my language learning has Christian reasons, so I use the Bible a lot in the translations.❤

[@moongloomable]

Good info thank you!

[@akrbm425]

i wish someone told me the highlighting thing sooner! very good video

[@elyssedavega]

sometimes it’s a struggle, when i can’t find my highlighters i’ll just circle and underline :D thanks for watching!

[@sweetsauerkraut]

Lovely! I’ve been listening to Måneskin and Pupo to study italiam, and for german I love AnnenMayKentereit and Nena songs, they usually give me a lot of vocab. But because I now live in Austria I’ve been studying Hubert von Goisern to see if I can identify some dialect patterns 😅

[@itzelarredondo4569]

MILLE was a super popular song this summer and it's super fun to sing along. Fun vocab, too :)

[@bailagringacovers]

If you want Italian music recommendations, let me know. Italian music is 50% of all of what I listen to haha

[@bailagringacovers]

@@itzelarredondo4569 i h8ed that song at first but eventually i began to love it XD

[@sweetsauerkraut]

@@bailagringacovers I DO! Do you have any playlists on spotify?

[@saratarekpo]

Great video!

[@elyssedavega]

thank you for watching it!

[@gigil7278]

This was so helpful! thank you!

[@xx_furby_lover_xx5812]

Great video, I'm latina but still learning Spanish. After learning Spanish I hope to learn German.

[@bailagringacovers]

Music & auditory means are my favourite ways to learn languages in general. Textbooks & notebooks are actually counterproductive for me.

[@bailagringacovers]

Btw, I pretty much live on lyricstranslate, and yeah reverso is my fav dictionary haha

[@elyssedavega]

Textbooks certainly have their place though! some languages grammar are so tough lolol it would take forever to get it just from absorption alive

[@elyssedavega]

alone

[@LenKa5358]

Nice video Elysse! I can finally complement my language learning routine. I really like to study German so I use songs from AnnenMayKantereit, i think their lyrics are quite simple and easy to understand, it's easier for me since I'm beginner at it. Thank you so much for your tips 🍀

[@elyssedavega]

Yasss I love Hinter klugen Satzen by them. That’s true, I wonder if there are more “advanced” artists we could try 🤔

[@ginny5254]

@@elyssedavega Vielleicht Faber? Er hat ziemlich viele ziemlich nice Songs wie zum Beispiel 'Vivaldi' und 'generation YouPorn'. Die Texte sind sehr sozial kritisch, aber die Lieder machen trotzdem gute Laune.

[@Mundocordaalegria]

amo seu canal

[@elyssedavega]

obg!!!

[@tomasmartin185]

I would recommend the whole infinito particular album by marissa monte 😌

[@TechPsychotherapy]

Thanks a lot

[@marissapayne6947]

Anyone have recommendations for good study songs in Turkish? I mostly listen to Duman and Mor ve Ötesi and although their music is amazing it's usually pretty repetitive and I don't know how great they'd be as a study material

[@alberthenrique3175]

Obrigado :D

[@giuliadauria8705]

Some recommendations on German songs?

[@elyssedavega]

look up elysse.davega on spotify, i have a whole German playlist!

[@3bks]

i watched 10 min until realize the captions were in portuguese

[@elyssedavega]

omfg what

[@patrafaccount8632]

Hey, aren't you an italki tutor? I swear i have seen your profile!

[@therandomname69420]

Any recommendations for German?

[@ninja2maridemotica7]

I want to study music language its like fun. moto diser

[@vb2409]

Hello I like to learn songs as well hi my family is from Guatemala

[@odellowe7340]

How long do you normally take to learn a song, like 2 or 3 weeks with each song?

[@MarleneBohr]

I learned German through Rammstein songs, but judging by the reactions of people I talk to, it probably wasn't the best choice😂

[@raymondmiller5098]

I finally figured out why you're so damned smart, Elysse. You're left-handed!! (This also explains why I'm not nearly as bright as you. Oh well...)

[@joselinodoumolin6950]

Have you seen arrival the 2016 movie? … well in this video you look a lot like the protagonist of that movie (mostly in the characterization)/I just found your channel today and I might start to do some Worldpackers kinda of trip very soon so in any case thank you for everything💙

[@jjijjilan5453]

How did lrean french ? Talk about that !j'aimerais bien sovoir tous les etapes ^D

[@EsterFameli]

I'm currently learning German and I've tried to use music as a learning resource a few times. But the thing is, german music sucks HAHAHAHAHAHAH. I've come across a few kinda good artists (like Cro), but I still haven't found anything reaaaaaaally good. I would love to get some good recommendations hahaha. Side note: English is not my first language, feel free to correct me ;)

[@Lea-nb2rp]

German music is horrible😭 Falco was Austrian and his songs are both German and English, but he doesn't have a strong accent, so i would recommend his songs:)

[@ccllvn]

I am german and I would suggest these songs: - "Oft Gefragt" by AnnenMayKantereit - "Ich bin unterwegs" by Phil Collins - "Sommer ist für alle da" by Ronny Trettmann Look one of them up, maybe it doesn't suck! The Phil Collins song is really interesting, I remember hearing it years ago and being surprised it's Phil Collins. His german pronunciation is 99% on point. I recommend AnnenMayKantereit because their lead singer speaks nearly accent-free high german. If you listen to Seiler und Speer or Hubert von Goisern for example, you'll notice a strong bavarian accent, some words that are mostly used used in Austria etc. it's good music but kind of a mess when it comes to raw language accuracy. The last one is great because there are very few german reggae songs and it's well made, the german lyrics actually sound natural and fit with the song. If you tell me what genres you like, I could suggest more. Viel Spaß!

[@belenvalenzuela2281]

GUYS PLEASE LISTEN TO “JEREMIAS” i swear it’s the best german band

[@nexialistmen2159]

Try searching German covers of your favorite songs

[@tugberkeyi1059]

Major tom by Peter Schiling. #ThankMeLater

[@leahfriedman6072]

Good idea eyless this how I learned French

[@angrybees8122]

I love Eyless's channel =D

[@elyssedavega]

😹

[@leahfriedman6072]

@@elyssedavega 😊

[@leahfriedman3381]

Hi are making more videos let me know

[@MicahFranco]

me trying to learn ASL: 👁👄👁

[@AfroLinguo]

Its crazy that you said that we shouldn't use google translate, cuz Google translate is my favorite translation app lol

[@SenseiBerial]

unfortunately learning through music just doesn't work for me :? I either listen to instrumental stuff, like jazz or minimalism, or shit like black or death metal where you can't really understand a word they're screaming, and the lyrics themselves are so vague and high-register that I barely get them even if I understand the language bad luck I guess

[@elyssedavega]

Not making fun, but this comment gave me a laugh 😹 i suppose if most of the music you listen to doesn’t have words or are hard to sing, music isn’t the best method for you … hmm.. poetry maybe? hahaha

[@v1tris]

Is it very difficult to speak Portuguese?

[@lachesarborisov9531]

I don't want to call the Germans bad singers, but I never dug German music and it's defo never helped me with learning it. I actually kind of envy people learning Romance languages or even Slavic languages (I happen to be a native of one, so I may be biased), cause there's so much great music in those languages. German pop music is especially generic, moreso than even American pop, German rap is cool, but I can't understand them even if I wanted to, the rest is meh. PS: I have gone through Rammstein's whole catalogue, I don't recommend it for anyone beyond beginners, but the songs are cool ^_^

[@AfroLinguo]

Listen to "99 Luftballoons" and "wenn ich könig von Deutschland wäre". I love those

[@elleryprescott]

Writing it out!? 😵‍💫 Doesn’t seem like a great use of time to me. Also, I for some reason am not interested in translating a song I like in the songs I’m learning. Isn’t the enjoyment of it that it’s not in English? I don’t quite get the inclination to translate it. 🤷🏼‍♂️ I just look up the words I don’t know and enjoy the song.

[@tristan4386]

do you play video games btw, Elysa ?

[@elyssedavega]

not so much! some online games and old vintage ones hahaha

[@tugberkeyi1059]

Word! but not the vocab

[@SamA-xu9gy]

Learning a language through songs is a very bad way. Songs block part of the brain and distract the person who is learning the language