<p>Hi all. I haven't been on CC in a good long while... been doing much more interesting things actually... XD Thank God for finishing high school. ^_^</p>
<p>But I was thinking about this: what are your thoughts on using (foreign-language) music as a language learning tool? Or listening to music in foreign languages in general? What experiences have you had? </p>
<p>My mother is a Spanish teacher at my former high school and she uses lots of music (Juanes, Shakira, Mana...) in her classroom, either as part of the lesson plan--for instance, listening to the song and filling in blanks on a print-out of the lyrics--or just as background noise during group work. My French teacher used some recorded music (I can't remember any artists) but--as she was a musician herself in a former life--also led the class in sing-alongs. When I studied Italian last autumn, there was a weekly Friday afternoon sing-along session at the language school. (The teachers didn't encourage us to invest in Italian [pop] music, however; none of them had a very high opinion of it. XP)</p>
<p>Most recently, I've had a different but related experience: I began listening to a German band (Tokio Hotel--check them out on YouTube or something, they're not well-known yet Stateside, but they're pretty darned amazing [esp. for under-21s ^_^]) and that lit a fire under me to learn German, as most of their music is in that language. I'm now self-studying it and hope to take actual classes once I start university next September. (I'm really excited. XD)</p>
<p>Anybody else have a story, an opinion, an idea to contribute?</p>
<p>Truthfully, I've learned more about German by singing Schubert Lieder then by sitting in class.</p>
<p>If you want another really good German band, look up Madsen. You'll have "Du schreibst Geschichte" stuck in your head for days.</p>
<p>I stumbled on the music video of La Camisa Negra about three years ago, and it made me want to learn Spanish so so badly. I self-studied for a bit, had to stop last year, but I'm planning to pick it up again this year and I'm defo going to take Spanish in college.</p>
<p>I think music is pretty good for improving pronounciation, and listening comprehension. Not as good as practicing with native speakers, but still helpful.</p>
<p>In my experiences, it's definitely helpful. I don't know how helpful it is in comparision to simply practicing/speaking, but it's definitely more fun as well, and while I wouldn't recommend it as the primary source of intruction, I definitely recommend it in general.</p>
<p>Tokio Hotel.. hmm.. here in Germany and Austria they are.. a typical band for little preteeny girls.. :-)
But there are many great Austrian and German singers (although most of us listen to English songs).</p>
<p>German singers are
Silbermond
Juli
Herbert Grönemeyer (very deep, very individual, still one of the most successful singers here)
Xavier Naidoo (often compared to Grönemeyer)
Rammstein (umm.. not my taste)
Roger Cicero ("Die Liste" - brilliant jazzy pop-singer, nice music, and, in my opinion, easy to understand)
Revolverheld ("Freunde bleiben" - love it :-)
Ich & Ich "Stark"</p>
<p>Mhmm.. as Austrian singers are never mentioned.
Christina Stürmer (one of the most popular) - "Mama ana habak" (Don't let that title stop you from trying it), "Mitten unterm Jahr"
Valerie - "Regen"
DJ Ötzi (umm..) "Ein Stern"
Die neuen Österreicher - "Kinder"</p>
<p>.. umm</p>
<p>Well, I enjoy listening to English music. I sometimes pick up a word I don't understand (or, which happens more often and is far more important- a phrase)..</p>
<p>I don't believe that it is a 'magic way' to learn, but, for example, 'appreciate' is a word I could have never pronounciated without Weezer-Perfect Situation. I did never listen to that song because of that - but I suddenly realised that I knew how to say it.. :-)</p>