I’m always trying to add new songs to my playlist — they help break up the monotony that can come with my daily study grind. Recently, though, I’ve gotten into songs in languages I don’t fully understand. While I’ve done this a few times before on a whim, I’ve come to think that adding songs in languages we don’t speak should become more commonplace. Here’s why.
- They can help you learn a new language
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This point kind of goes without saying — if you want to learn a new language, immerse yourself in it. Listen to it, use the words you learn and know in real-life scenarios, try to think in it, write in it, watch movies and shows with that language’s subtitles and go all out. Listening to the lyrics of songs that are in a different language is one way to get close to that language without going to its origin country. Lyrics in a song’s original language can teach you slang and grammar in ways traditional language classes can’t. The more you listen to music in that language, the more you’ll understand how it’s regularly used.
- They give you an avenue to explore different cultures
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Learning about the Tropicalia movement in my Portuguese class got me back into exploring music in different languages. The Tropicalia movement was an artistic and musical movement in Brazil in the late 1960s that exposed the country’s social culture despite the threat of being shut down by the military dictatorship in power at the time. Songs like Caetano Veloso’s “Alegria, Alegria” were adopted as protest songs, and this movement gained so much influence that key artists like Veloso were exiled for a few years. Listening to “Alegria, Alegria” piqued my curiosity so much that the next thing I knew I was listening to all different kinds of Brazilian genres and artists — from the more well-known Bossa Nova genre to more contemporary sounds created like artists like Lagum. While I was familiar with some Brazilian music already (thanks to the CDs I’d heard of Kid Abelha, an 80s rock band, during road trips as a kid), learning about the Tropicalia movement exposed me to a different side of Brazil I wasn’t previously familiar with and listening to its music only opened me up to its culture in a way I’d never expected.
- They can make you feel more connected
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From my experience, few things are able to unite the entire world like music and sports. The FIFA World Cup is the most iconic collaboration between the two. World Cup anthems like Shakira’s “Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)” and Santana’s “Dar um Jeito,” among others, are multi-lingual anthems that have united people who may have little in common together. Other iconic songs, like “La Bamba” and “La Vie En Rose,” continue to bridge people from different places and backgrounds. There’s something beautiful in people coming together over music, especially if these songs can speak to many cultures.
- They let you enjoy music in a different way
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I’m not sure if I can put this feeling into words, but getting hype to a song whose language you don’t know is the best. Not being able to follow the lyrics becomes irrelevant because you’re so invested in the melody and beat and you can let go and enjoy the song for what it is. A few of my favorites that hype me up every time are “C’est la vie” (which I came to know through Marc Anthony’s “Vivir Mi Vida”), “Allez reset” and “Jai Jai Shivshankar” (which got me interested in Bollywood). Focusing on the actual music feels so freeing (and has a similar effect to music without lyrics if you’re studying, since the words become another layer in the song).
If you’re already listening to music in different languages (and if you’re not), play something you already know (or listen to any of the songs above), and let your streaming platform do its magic in suggesting new songs. When you find something you like, go to that artist. Play all of their music. Go to their radio. Learn about what you’re listening to. And enjoy it.