English in Music

I’m hooked on English and I’ve told you that time after time. And to my students who don’t feel like doing anything, well, you’d better shape up. As you can see there’s loads of English to be learned when we listen to music and take a look at the lyrics. It’s never been easier to learn English and have fun as you get down to the beat. So let’s get down, to business. We’ll learn English from music on this week’s episode of FYI!

Transcript

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[Music] I'm hooked on English and I've told you that time after time and to my students who don't feel like doing anything well you better as you can see there's loads of English to be learned when we listen to music and take a look at the lyrics it's never been easier to learn English and have fun as you get down get down down to the beat so let's get down let's get down business we'll learn English from music on this week's episode of FYI welcome to for your info English you got it you got it[Applause][Music][Applause][Music] hello hello hello and welcome to another exciting edition of FYI today we've got a music based show dedicated to all my music lovers out there those of you who just can't get enough you just can't get enough you just can't seem to get enough and look at that we've already learned from seven songs what seven songs Well yeah if you count the intro there were six songs in the intro and that's going to be a little trivia question can you name all six songs in the intro we'll take a look at the answer to that in the Bon bonus part of today's show just remember every week There's a bonus episode available as well as a bonus episode you can get PDF documents with all the vocabulary so you can review and keep enriching your English and if you're in our higher levels our super duper students and our Interstellar students well then you can get a weekly group class and even a private class with me every month where we can gauge your progress and work on what you need to work on and the community is growing every day there are almost 200 of us now so I'd like to send a shout out to all my patrons especially my super duper students Louis Marta Javier Baco and Roberto and don't forget about my Interstellar students Carman Lena Issa Paco David Jose Maria patri and Edgard if you'd like to find out more you can go to patreon.com Alberto Alonso and join our curious Community one of the coolest things about the community is you'll find people with similar interests to your own and so many of you have become friends and I think that is magical Just Like Music music is magical it can take us to another place like a Time machine it can remind us of another time it can make us cry laugh or raise our fists in protest and we can use it as a learning tool we can learn languages from music because there are so many similarities and we're going to take a look at a lot of fun stuff today let's start off with our intro you'll recognize the songs as I said I'll tell you the exact names in the bonus part we'll also look at some incorrect grammar in songs in the bonus part plus the most misheard lyrics ever tons of fun in the bonus episode don't miss it folks I started the intro by saying I'm hooked on English I'm hooked on English now there we can not only learn how to Sayan to be hooked on drugs to be hooked on something else but also I want you to to focus on the pronunciation I'm hooked on he doesn't say two separate words I'm hooked on a feeling they're linked so don't just pay attention to the vocabulary words and the structure but also the pronunciation how we put our words together so are you hooked on English did you pronounce it like me great job and then I've told you this time after time Time After Time if you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting time after time you're going to be singing along with me a lot in this episode at least I hope you are I tried to choose some of the most well-known songs out there songs that have little Min English lessons lying within then I said in the intro and to my students who don't feel like doing anything and there we get the structure I don't feel like doing anything the mistake people often make there is I don't feel like do or I don't feel to do no I get it but in English it's the Geren don't take my word for it just listen to this song today I don't feel like doing anything which is the translation of I think it's a sentence we have all uttered at one time or another but from there we can get the structure I don't feel like working I don't feel like explaining it again and we can use the positive I feel like going shopping I feel like taking a vacation make your own list of things you feel like doing and don't feel like doing but the most important part is to say them aloud we're talking about music here right well music and language is made to be heard turn it up Bab baby crank it you say and then we heard one from Greece where she says you better shape up you'd better and from there we get a phrasal verb Shape Up and youd better which is I think mastal it's when you're giving somebody a strong warning but just be careful the way it's supposed to be is you had better contracted you'd better the way we really say it we owe the D you better shape up but technically it's you better shape up but nobody sings it like that it reminds me of another song by The Who you better you better you better you betas the who love to play with puns and as we'll see some groups some styles of music are better for learning but we'll get to that then I said as you can see there's loads of English loads is another way of saying a lot loads of English to be learned while we listen to music and take a look at the lyrics which is something that has never been easier now you've got all the lyrics of every song at your fingertips in the palm of your hand so that's why I said it's never been easier to learn English and have fun as you get down get down get down get down oh and this is where music and movies mix this is from a very famous soundtrack so whether it's music or movies don't underestimate the power of Pop Culture that's where we learn sure I learn stuff from my parents and I learn stuff in school but I also learn from watching cartoons watching movies sitcoms so really you're learning it like a native does and if you don't know something look it up you can even speak it into your phone whatever you're assistant's name is say hey blah I won't say her name to not make you Apple users go crazy here define this word look up the lyrics to this song and remember lyrics or words we don't say the letters and then we wrapped up the intro saying let's get down let's get down to business and that means B Alo let's get going so did you recognize those songs we'll figure out if if you got them right in the bonus episode but I want to focus more on the power of music well we all know the power of music but I mean the power of music as a learning tool what is one of the most important things when we're learning a language repetition what do songs do in the chorus they repeat things sometimes 50,000 times that song is a perfect example let's get down let's get down to business and then he says it like 10 more times let let's get down so you've got a couple chances to get it and don't just listen to it say it sing along and you know the word sing along from another song because I'm happy sing along if you feel like a room without a roof well I don't know if he says sing along or clap along but it means do it with me and it's not just the repetition but language itself is musical have you ever heard an Irish person speak oh lovely doely it's beautiful it's lyrical so I always think of different languages different accents as different genres of music and they have their own Cadence their own Rhythm their own intricacies but language like music in the end is a collection of sounds put together I remember for those of you who remember the analog days I used to know if I dialed my phone number correctly just by the sound I knew the sound that it would make and as many of you know one of my first teachers ever one of my first Spanish teachers was the one and only Raphael no I don't mean the painter Raphael I mean Raphael the Spanish singer and these were in the days before Google and I remember I used to love his songs and I wanted to sing them so out of mere curiosity I would transcribe them and I remember taking the cassette and pressing stop and Rewind and trying to write it down and I remember writing pages and Pages just so I could sing the lyrics again now it's not that difficult the good news is I got to tell Raphael that story a good friend of mine Roberto Leal took us to the the Raphael concert and we went backstage and everybody was saying hey Raphael great show and really what an amazing performer but he wasn't really phased you know he was like thanks okay whatever and finally it was my turn to say hello and wow I was so nervous I I didn't even know what to say and I don't normally get Star Struck but here I was standing in front of my first Spanish teacher okay okay I'm just quoting Raphael songs now but I knew I had 10 seconds not even 5 Seconds to get his attention and I said rapael thanks for teaching me Spanish obviously and he looked at me like go ahead now you got my attention and I said well when I was a little kid growing up in the states I used to listen to your albums and I used to write down the songs so I could sing them and I learned so many different things from your music and it made me quite a little romantic child as well anyway to make a long story short Raphael was blown away he was quite impressed and I don't think he had ever heard a comment quite like that one but there I realized the power of music I wanted to learn to sing it so I needed to learn the[Music][Music] words can you imagine a seven-year-old Alberto singing it at the top of my lungs and the whole time I was just learning Spanish little did I know I would end up living in Spain so again don't un underestimate music not just as an amazing force that changes our lives but as a learning tool you've got grammar in there you've got vocabulary pronunciation every emotion ever expressed is in music not to mention all these little ghas and wanas and all those things that we say some sounds you'll hear in music a lot wna I want to gonna I'm going to I gota got a whole lot of love oh look at that one that led Ze one I got a mucho and then a whole lot L is a lot of got a whole lot of love whole lot of love what a great song If you haven't heard the song you got to listen to it you have to got to have to have toos have to I have to go there I don't say have to I say ha to and what about would you would you I can't think of any song right now but you've heard it before and what about don't you don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me don't you don't you don't you is don't you and what about Kinder Al it's kind of but we say Kinder do any songs come to mind it's a kind of magic it's a kind of magic but nobody says kind of we say Kinder so have let's review these half I have to go is have to I want to go I want to go I'm going to go Bo I've got to go I don't have a lot of time a lot of a lot of would you mind if we met next week would you because I'm kind of busy kind of all of these words that we use frequently are just waiting to be discovered in the music some recommendations you can take a look at the lyrics on your phone or you can bring them up on the screen at your house and you can turn it into an activity especially if you're getting together with friends or if you're with your family and you can do karaoke night you don't even need a karaoke machine or even a microphone a brush will do nicely you can even grab a celery stick whatever a carrot whatever you've got on hand then you choose the song and then you go to YouTube and you put in We Will Rock You lyrics and get ready to have fun to have fun and obviously to learn some English cuz now you're not just hearing the music passively and you're not just listening to it you're recreating it and I think that's the final step we're missing and there's something about singing where we lose our inhibitions for some reason when I'm singing I don't care what people think about me anymore it can also help us in that area as well those of us who are a little bit reluctant to speak I always tell my students if you can sing in front of the class well you can sure as hell speak in front of the class too what I'm saying is it takes more guts to sing so if you practice singing when it comes time to speak it might be even easier plus they say 20 minutes of singing a day can put you in a great mood I think think it even increases your level of Serotonin or all that stuff translation it's good for you sing your heart out sing like nobody's listening and dance like nobody's watching sure if you dance then you're burning some extra calories too so you're working on your English you're getting a workout and you're feeling alive because singing is one of those things that makes us feel alive so start your own karaoke bar have it be a family thing every Wednesday we do karaoke or with your friends you know every two weeks we'll have a karaoke night at my house we make some dinner we sing some songs and really you're reviewing your English but at the same time you're spending time with your friends and you're enjoying one of the greatest things ever music and here's another thing don't start with Eminem be realistic the same thing I tell my students when they're going to watch a movie in english start with something simple I wouldn't start with War and Peace or something like that that's why friends is so popular it's pretty easy to follow but The Sopranos on the other hand that's a lot harder to follow or the wire or peaky blinders so these are just some shows that are for higher level students the same thing with music start with Beetle songs ballads in general any slow song is going to be easier to understand than an Eminem song yo yo his palms are sweaty knees weak arms are heavy there's vomit on his sweater already mom spaghetti he's nervous but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop bombs but he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down the whole crowd grows so loud that opens his mouth but the words won't come out whoa that was even tough for me so keep it simple don't go over your level or you're just going to be looking up words a lot or scratching your head a lot and I'm going to give you some recommendations now again my criteria was quite simple is it a popular song and can we learn some English from it also don't underestimate the power of imitation if you're going to sing a song get into it play the role make sure you hit all those nuances the yes and all that stuff and if at first you're a little bit nervous lipsync it and then sing it and you say a playback we say to lip sync it comes from the word synchronize so I'm going to give you some song recommendations now ones that I've looked at and I've used many times in my classes and in this part we're going to look at some idiomatic expressions some structures some vocabulary a little bit of everything but most importantly we're going to have fun all right I'll start by asking you guys students you should know this one how do you say BTO in English it's a very common thing to say any Red Hot Chili Peppers fans in the house by the the way I tried to say I'd be there by the way and you can learn a lot from the Chili Peppers even though their music isn't always easy to understand but that's what the lyrics are for too another one that's a phrasal verb from the Red Hot Chili Peppers Give It Away Give It Away give it away now give it away give it away give it away now to give away is to don't give away the answer this next one is chalk full of phrasal verbs but the title is not in the song it's one of those songs a lot of people call the song I get knocked down but I get up again cuz you're never going to keep me down I get knocked down and this is a great one to get knocked down but I get up again and the song is called tub thumping the group is chumba WBA but it's a great song song not just because of the phrasal verbs but the message too I get knocked down but I get up again cuz you're never going to keep me down it's an Anthem for not giving up and it's catchy all right here's another one for you how do you say this is all the fairy tales begin with this one you want me to give you a clue total eclipse of the heart once upon a time I was falling in love now I'm only falling apart really good vocabulary so once upon a time I was falling in love and now I'm falling apart that's three vocabulary words in one song and it's a great song a total eclipse of the heart all right another one how do you say you can tell you know how to dance does anyone know where I got that one from well you can't tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman man no time to talk staying alive staying alive feel the city breaking and everybody shaking and we're staying alive staying alive I bet you didn't know that part feel the city breaking and everybody shaking and we're staying alive whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother you'll be staying alive ha ha ha ha okay that part's easy but my point is how many times have you heard that song probably hundreds did you ever stop and say can I learn some English from it and sure you can tell you can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's Mano no time to talk music's loud women warm I've been kicked around since I was born really great song and if you look at the lyrics songs gain a new meaning as well and we use that all the time you can tell you studied you can tell that you're losing weight are you on a diet if we want to put it in the past tense you could tell Sena and that's one of those songs that even I think Americans sometimes are like what do they say there right whether you're a brother I think even most Americans don't know that one well we're going to demystify one in the bonus part that I think most Americans unless you're a big fan will not know and I'm talking about Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit we're going to demystify the chorus of this classic song speaking of classic songs We Are the Champions if you've noticed Queen has several songs on the list they use amazing vocabulary Freddy Mercury's very easy to understand and the songs rock molan just like we will rock you we will rock you we're going to entertain you we're going to shock you and in We Are the Champions which is usually played together with we will rock you he says I've taken my bows to take a bow and he also says in that song I've paid my dues time after time to pay your dues is to do what's necessary to make it to put in the hard work it requires so we can learn a lot from Queen we already talked about the gunana what about the song well I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 I'm going to be the man who walks alone with you so in there we get I would and we get I'm going to be so we get two different structures that we can practice and they repeat them like crazy it's The Proclaimers and the song is 500 miles going to be I'm going to be the man who goes along with you and I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more just to be the man who'd walk a thousand miles to fall down at you so you'll hear Ghana in a lot of songs and then if you want to practice some common mistakes what about people are you one of those people that says people is well then you need to listen to The Doors people are strange when you're a stranger faces look ugly when you're alone or maybe you're a depes mode fan people are people so what can it be and we can even learn from Katie Perry how do you say RIT look at the title of her song Roar and the first two lines of the song have two idiomatic expressions I used to bite B my tongue and hold my breath to bite your tongue you say the same thing in Spanish and to hold your breath is to be very patient the expression comes from don't hold your breath I think the translation would be esent so you've got Katie Perry she's pretty easy to understand also don't forget about the kuners the kuners are those singers such as Frank Sinatra Dean Martin their songs are usually pretty easy to follow along with too we already mentioned the Beatles I mean obviously you've got to like the song but I'm just telling you some really popular groups that are easier to understand than others don't get me wrong I think you should listen to all kinds of music and there's another one no interpretes I've got to say we're going to wrap up this episode because all this singing is taking its toll on me do you know that one basar fakuda You Don't Know It This Love has taken its toe on me she said goodbye too many times before so I hope you don't mind I hope you don't mind I hope you don't mind hey that's an Elton John song but we're going to take a quick break over here my Amigos but I hope you are getting hooked on learning English with music I hope you're getting addicted to it which is from another song might as well face it you're addicted to love might as well face itak ad you're addicted to love well however you want to say it I hope you're hooked on English I hope you're addicted to English and I hope you'll join us in the bonus episode of this week's[Applause] FYI[Music]