Looking for a fun, c
atchy way to learn language? Listen to music! On Monday, October 22nd, the CMWR hosted our quarterly workshop on precisely this idea. Participants were greeted by Lady Gaga belting out “Edge of Glory,” and over the course of the next hour and a half, also listened to Rise Against and Adele as they learned about how to use music as a linguistic and cultural tool.
Both listening and singing along to music in another language are incredibly helpful to the language learning process, so we made sure to give lots of tips on how to find material to listen to, how to listen actively, and how to begin to apply what you’ve learned by listening in singing. We also discussed how music serves as a cultural informant, and participants left with a handout full of tips for listening, online resources, and recommended listening.
What we found was that our participants were way ahead of us! Many of them were familiar with American bands that we hadn’t even heard of, and some of the songs on our recommended listening list had been featured on international versions of “The Voice.” We generated a great list of artists to listen to, and we’re currently working on our second installment of “Recommended Listening.” Hopefully, our participants have begun exploring new artists on their own and are singing along loudly and proudly as they improve their English skills!
For information about our next quarter’s workshop or to RSVP, email us at cmwr@depaul.edu.