Another video, another song…
I will be teaching a “karaoke class” in my school next week, helping students learn songs so that they can improve their pronunciation and speaking. One song I will use is very popular and very famous all around the world - Hotel California. Have you heard of it? It’s a rather difficult song to understand because it’s symbolic of many of the things that were wrong with the United States when the song was written way back in 1976. Unfortunately, the problems in the United States continued for the next 32 years until we have arrived at a dangerous time. You can watch the video of Hotel California, with subtitles, by clicking HERE. I hope you enjoy it…
Nafis Said,
October 19, 2008 @ 7:45 pm
Dear teacher Joe,
I heard this song and I really like it. It is very nice. When I was in my country, Iran, many youths heard it and they knew The Eagles band. It was a popular song in Iran as well.
Regards,
Nafis Said,
October 19, 2008 @ 7:55 pm
Dear teacher Joe,
Can we have the list of songs that you use for your Karaoke class?
You told us some of them like John Denver, Beatles and a lady singer that I forgot her name.
Thanks a lot,
Regards,
teacherjoe Said,
October 20, 2008 @ 5:19 am
From John Denver, we sang two songs: Annie’s Song (some of you have seen my lesson on You Tube using this song) and Sunshine on My Shoulder. From the Beatles, we sang Yesterday. Next week I might sing either Imagine or Hey, Jude, both also from the Beatles. And from the Carpenters, we sang Please, Mr. Postman. There are lots and lots of popular songs by the Carpenters, but I am not a big fan myself.
Those songs are very easy to find in any karaoke place in Beijing, so I wanted to teach those to my students first. In my next class, I will teach songs that may be a bit less common in karaoke but maybe more interesting. Hotel California is one of them. We will also probably sing The Day You Went Away by M2M, a funny country music song called Achy, Breaky Heart (I forgot the singer’s name), God is Girl (again, I forgot the groups name - this is my student’s request), and several others that have not been decided yet.
Nafis Said,
October 20, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
Dear teacher Joe,
Thank you so much for telling me the songs.
Regards,
Nafis Said,
October 21, 2008 @ 1:09 pm
Dear teacher Joe,
I have a question for you. I am wondering if I have to listen to special songs or I can listen to every song. How can I know that a song is good to listen to except the songs that you told me? I want to know that if there is a special instruction for it or not?
Thanks and regards,
teacherjoe Said,
October 21, 2008 @ 2:40 pm
Hi Nafis,
I think you can listen to any song that you like. You can always improve your listening and pronunciation that way. However, you might not learn very useful vocabulary and expressions in all types of songs. Example 1: I like to listen to the blues, but many of the words and expressions are strange for ME! Other expressions, even though I know the meaning, are things I would never say in my daily life. Example 2: my students last year loved to listen to hip hop. Some of the things they say in hip hop, though, could get you killed if you try to use them in a real conversation!
Of course, part of listening to songs, or listening to TV shows and movies, is to start to recognize what is normal spoken English, what is slang that we should only use with our friends, and what is special “creative” language that we might never use. So, go ahead and listen to any song you like, but think carefully before you start to use that language in conversations.