Language Learning and Song

Our world is full of beauty. Beauty can be seen and beauty can be heard. Think of the sounds of Chinese, Russian, French, Dutch, Hindi, German, Zulu, Swiss, and Hebrew. To the untrained ear, these sounds can seem like watercolors on a watery canvas, a mayhem of colors without lines. But to the trained ear, sounds of a language are like the colors of a tapestry on the wall. There are patterns. There is repetition. Artists speak through the colors they choose. Our words are like red, yellow, green, black, and white as well as mauve, turquoise, grey, and ivory. Language is simply a tapestry of organized sound.

I remember when I first decided to learn another language. I had traveled to India with friends. From morning to evening my communication with others was dependent upon a translator who acted as a bridge between me and those with whom I wanted to talk. I remember the feeling of wishing that my mind could understand the chaos of sounds that I heard. I also remember distinctly deciding that if I ever was able to live outside of the USA, I would learn the language of the place where I lived and learn it well.

I did move to another country. I moved to China. I started to study Chinese. For me, learning Chinese was like traveling through a tunnel, constantly wishing to come out on the other side. My heart longed to understand what I heard and be able to communicate what I wanted to say. But the reality was that my ability ran a race much slower than my intentions and hopes. All I could do was faithfully each day learn new words and try to guess at what I was hearing. In the journey of memorization of vocabulary and grammar, I decided to start listening until I could understand. I remember years ago taking my textbook and tape recorder to a coffee shop. I listened to a sentence. I listened again. I listened a third time and again and again until I could slowly distinguish the sounds, words, and meanings of what I was hearing. This was my first goal, comprehension of what I was hearing.

My second goal in my Chinese study was to learn how to speak in Chinese. I was blessed to spend time each week with a tutor who spoke no English. My tutor cared about me. She wanted me to succeed. We would sit and she would talk, and I would try to talk. And then she would correct what I said. Language is meant to be used. That’s the point of language. To me, studying a language without getting to the point of speaking in that language is like going in and out of a museum. It is interesting, but not useful to your everyday life. As you use a language, you slowly will understand more and can communicate more. If you just study a language and don’t use it, you will not progress as deeply.

As I have lived in Asia, I have met many who desire to learn English. I am not an English teacher and honestly, I have never desired to be an English teacher in Asia. But because of my own language learning journeys, I do now understand what the language learner faces in trying to learn a language. And as well, I have a sense of basic vocabulary and grammar structures needed for language study in any language. You need to be able to communicate yes and no, actions and descriptions, pronouns and adverbs, questions, and statements.

I am a singer and I truly enjoy singing with others. It occurred to me one day that perhaps my passion for singing could somehow link to others interest in English learning. Song can be a tool for comprehension and a form of speaking. If I can help you to learn a new song in English or really in any language, then I can help you learn the language. This is the heart behind our WAM songs. We want to provide something fun and useful for both students and teachers of English. So I invite you to “please come and sing with me.”