Having poor pronunciation can make you feel a bit embarrassed or just uncomfortable while you are speaking English. You will find it difficult to participate in speaking activities, which might significantly hold you back. Students who are aware of having poor English pronunciation mostly find themselves less motivated to improve their language skills.
If you are also among those who have pronunciation issues, then there is a good method to improve it. And that method is to use songs to improve your pronunciation.
This blog by Cafe Converse Delhi’s leading institute for spoken English shares a list of a few English songs that will help you to improve your English pronunciation.
Before we share the name of the songs, it is important for you to listen to these songs multiple times. Only that way you will improve in a better manner. Here are those catchy songs..
“Do-Re-Mi” from “The Sound of Music” (Beginner)
If you are a beginner, you may want to start with a song such as this one. “Do-Re-Mi” is a show tune from the musical “The Sound of Music.” This is a song about the sounds of words, and since it is designed keeping children in mind, every word is clearly enunciated.
Simply take a look at some of the things you can learn by listening to this song. It teaches various musical sounds by linking them with English words you might recognize. As you sing along, pay specific attention to vowel sounds.
Doe: a deer, a female deer.
Ray: a drop of golden sun.
Me: a name I call myself (the objective first-person pronoun).
…
Sew: (the verb for) a needle-pulling thread.
Tea: a drink with jam and bread.
Simply like the song says, “when you know the notes to sing, you can sing most (almost) anything.”
We would rephrase that statement to “when you know the sounds to say, you can say almost anything!”
“The Bare Necessities” from “The Jungle Book” (Intermediate)
There is nothing like a good old song to improve your English pronunciation! They are fun. There’s a plot to follow so you would not get bored. Since nearly all of them are targeted toward children, the words are clear as a bell. Probabilities are, you know most of the words already, so you can pay attention to pronunciation rather than comprehension.
“The Bare Necessities,” written for the film “The Jungle Book,” is a perfect tongue twister to practice several difficult sounds, rhyming words (like paw/raw or bear/pear) and homophones (words that sound alike but have contrasting meanings) like bear/bare.
Have we given you a clue of all the things you can practice with these lyrics?
Now when you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Well, next time beware
Don’t pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don’t need to use the claw
When you pick a pair of the big pawpaw
“Seasons of Love” from “Rent” (Beginner)
If you were ever in a choir or musical during your school years, you may remember this classic song.
This song from the Broadway musical “Rent” is suitable for anyone struggling to pronounce numbers in English. The cast constantly sings the line, “Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes” (the number of minutes in a year).
Another thing this song is great to learn English is that the assorted vocabulary in the lyrics is very simple and continuously repeated throughout the song. You do not have to worry too much about unfamiliar words—you can simply concentrate on pronunciation.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments, oh dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, a year in life?
“Word Crimes” by Weird Al (Advanced)
Set to the tune of “Blurred Lines” this song is a catchy collection of cheerful jokes on the errors people commit in written and spoken English.
However, what we like the most about this song is not the grammar lessons, but the manner you can learn to pronounce academic and linguistic terms such as nomenclature quickly followed by a line having contractions and slang.
Okay, now here’s the deal… I’ll try to educate ya
Gonna familiarize you with the nomenclature
You’ll learn the definitions
Of nouns and prepositions
Literacy’s your mission
Lastly, this song has a lot of lessons that are useful for advanced learners like the fact that there is no “x” in espresso, a word that is mostly misspelled and mispronounced even by native speakers.
We bet that if you can properly pronounce every word in this song, you will be speaking English better than most native speakers of the world.
Music provides a great and fun way to enhance your pronunciation. Furthermore, simply exposing yourself to these songs in English will assist you in naturally acquiring and incorporating these pronunciation aspects in your own speech.
Another reason for listening to songs to enhance your pronunciation is that music can be an impactful tool to reduce your stress and anxiety toward speaking English. Singing can boost your confidence and your ability to pronounce words in English, which will make certainly you a very successful English learner. But do not forget the best part! You can now sing in English! Isn’t that awesome?
Ms Sonu Goel is a professionally acclaimed certified ESL trainer from British Council having 15 years of strong background for teaching English language in both online and physical classes. She is dedicated to the teaching of English in an interactive and practical way, whereby learners feel enriched with knowledge and experience the language hands-on. She uses creative ideas and aids to let the learning happen as organically and efficiently as possible. Ms Goel has travelled various European countries and experienced an array of cultures and linguistic skills for the English language.
