rocking my ESL lessons

February 8, 2006 8:10 AM

What songs can you recommend that lend themselves to teaching English?

I teach the odd class in English as a foreign language, and I'm looking for songs I can use in my lessons. California Dreaming and the likes have been done to death, so I'm trying to come up with some slightly more up-to-date songs that my adult students would be interested in.

Ideally, the songs should have clear vocals and a grammatical structure. It's also best if they're upbeat (I'm not sure I could face watching my students eyes glaze over as we rewind Nick Cave for the third time).

Also if they happen to correspond with my tastes (Beck, Nina Simone, Lambchop, Belle and Sebastian, Sufjan Stevens and all that), so much the better...

posted by creeky to writing & language (18 comments total)

Anything from Sesame Street?
posted by JJ86 at 8:19 AM on February 8, 2006

Conjunction junction what's your function....hooking up words and phrases and clauses.

Ollie Ollie Ollie get your adverbs here....


You see where I'm going with this, right?

(forgive me if I got the pronoun wrong in the adverb one..it's been a while)
posted by spicynuts at 8:25 AM on February 8, 2006

Oh..and to match your tastes, I believe there was a Schoolhouse Rock covers album released in the mid 90s that featured some of the better indie bands of the time.
posted by spicynuts at 8:26 AM on February 8, 2006

I suppose I'm not so clear on the criteria here... I'd recommend The Decemberists for some good vocabulary, I guess. Maybe some Magnetic Fields? The Lucksmiths?
posted by ludwig_van at 8:29 AM on February 8, 2006

I used to use Abba's "Take a chance on me" to teach the conditional. Everyone knows it's cheesy, and you only have to listen to it a few times. It all depends on what level your students are at.

Beatle's songs and Green Day are also surprisingly easy to adapt to lessons.
posted by katiecat at 8:30 AM on February 8, 2006

I took a class in this when I got my TESL cert. I didn't get along with the teacher, however, because she only used current pop songs (and the idea of crap as realia didn't sit well with me -- I figured this was an opportunity to expose students to music they wouldn't hear otherwise, better music). But she claimed it's a powerful tool, using material the students actually hear on the radio -- so maybe, ask them? The hard part, according to her, is finding lyrics for songs currently in the charts. For my project I created a lesson around Robert Johnson and early Bob Dylan songs, in contrast to the Eminem & etc this teacher was using.
posted by Rash at 8:43 AM on February 8, 2006

Bob Dylan's Man Gave Name to All the Animals

Woody Guthrie's Grassy Grass Grass (Grow, Grow, Grow) or really anything on his album Songs to Grow on For Mother and Child

Maybe that's too folksie for what you're looking for though.
posted by mto at 8:48 AM on February 8, 2006

Second on The Magnetic Fields: I know a couple of Bulgarian kids who actually imrpoved their English by listening to the clever wordplay and hummable melodies.
posted by Sara Anne at 9:22 AM on February 8, 2006

Anything by They Might Be Giants?
posted by Marit at 10:11 AM on February 8, 2006

The first album by Athlete, Vehicles and Animals, consists of lots of upbeat songs, with the lyrics of most consisting of coherent sentences etc. The band is from South London, so I imagine the English accent could amuse and/or confuse. I can email a track or two if you'd like.
posted by Lotto at 10:46 AM on February 8, 2006

The Beach Boys were the standard in the ESL course that I taught for the last two summers, R&B artists like Boyz II Men were also pretty popular, and country songs are usually sung fairly clearly and tell a story that can help with comprehension. For my audience of mostly first-generation East Asian Christian immigrants, hymns also seemed to work well, since they already know what the words mean in their first language, and because the tune and words are very distinct for each song.

Most of the newer artists never really caught on like those given above, but for newer songs, Kings of Convenience, The Magnetic Fields, and Death Cab for Cutie were all used at one time or another, as were female solo artists like Vienna Teng, Tori Amos, and Fiona Apple. I'm also pretty sure songs by the Shins and Bob Dylan were used in the more advanced class.

The adult students also particularly enjoyed songs by Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, John Denver, and Elvis, but that's probably more because they are artists they have heard before. Nonetheless, if they enjoy the material, they'll learn it better. There's nothing quite like singing "Wouldn't It Be Nice" at the top of your lungs with a group of people that were barely able to eke out the first verse when the class started.
posted by antiform at 10:47 AM on February 8, 2006

Sufjan Stevens: "Decatur, or a Round of Applause for your Stepmother" on Illinois. Slow and clear enough to understand the words, obscure enough to spark discussion on what the hell he's singing about.

..."Stephen A Douglas was a great debater, Abraham Lincoln was the great e-mancipator..." Love it.
posted by ubi at 10:55 AM on February 8, 2006

Doe, a deer, a female dear
Ray, a drop of golden sun...
posted by grateful at 11:09 AM on February 8, 2006

I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General... for teaching where not to place adjectives.
posted by kc0dxh at 11:17 AM on February 8, 2006

When I taught ESL in Spain they went crazy for any Beatles songs.
Just recently my daughter told me that some German students in her school can barely speak English but know the entire lyrics of "Don't Worry - Be Happy" I love the idea of German students with Jamaican accents.
posted by Wilder at 11:58 AM on February 8, 2006

Um, Wilder, not to spoil your great fantasy, but Bobby McFerrin is from New York and grew up in LA.

I second the Beatles. Also, in Costa Rica, I had students that couldn't speak any English, but could flawlessly sing Elvis tunes.
posted by Pollomacho at 12:54 PM on February 8, 2006

FWIW, there is a series of books that have been incredibly popular on the TEFL circuit for what's going on 15 years--Jazz Chants. I know it's not precisely what you're asking for, but the materials should be readily available and may give you some ideas for how to transit to "real" songs.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 2:22 PM on February 8, 2006

My students used to love Frank Sinatra, because he e-nun-ci-ates ver-y clear-ly.
posted by hydrophonic at 8:22 AM on February 9, 2006