How to improve your English through Social Issues in Song

Maybe you are polishing your skills in order to get a better score on TOEIC or a higher level of Eiken, CEFR, or TOEFL.

Maybe you don’t need to pass an exam, but you want to maintain the level of English you have or to increase your vocabulary.

Maybe you just like history and songs and enjoy learning about them through English.

All of these are great reasons to be here. Now, how can you use these articles to improve your English skills? I suggest the following:

1) Read through an article once. Don’t worry about understanding everything. When you finish, think about what you did understand. If a friend asked you about the article, what basic information could you tell them (without referring back to the article)?

2) For Japanese learners, look at the vocabulary words at the bottom. Refer to them when you read the article a second time. If you’re a native speaker of another language, choose a few words to look up and make notes. Read the passage a second time.

3) How much did you understand this time? Would you be able to tell your friend a few more details?

4) Listen to the song/watch the video a couple of times and think about the lyrics. If you can, sing along with the song. This will help to improve your fluency and to remember the vocabulary. From what you learned in the article, are you able to follow the song and understand a little more?

5) Review the vocabulary you learned. Now, put it aside and go have a cup of tea or coffee. Go play with the cat. Take a walk. As you are drinking/playing/walking, can you remember the melody of the song? Is there a chorus with a few words you remember? If you found the song on YouTube, would you be able to sing along a little?

Every article you finish brings you that much closer to reaching the goal you have for yourself. Learning a language is a lot like learning to ride a bicycle. You don’t just get on and ride. There are so many things to learn just so that you can move forward. Every time you get on the bike, your skills get a little stronger. Just like they do when you read these articles!

NEVER GIVE UP.

YOU CAN DO IT!

"Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter."

• Francis Chan