How to learn Italian with songs?
Learn Italian the enjoyable way
Do you listen to songs as a part of your learning process?
In this article, I share my methods of listening to music in a foreign language that can benefit speaking and listening skills.
How to learn Italian from songs?
Method one: remembering words and expressions
Listening to music has helped me remember many words and expressions in foreign languages. For example, I will always remember the Italian word for a wheelbarrow (la carriola!) because I've heard it many times in "Coccodrilli" a song by Samuele Bersani. I remember many words this was and I can tell you I was able to impress many people with my extended vocabulary. :)
Another example: I would probably never remember leap year in Italian (anno bisestile) because it's used only once every 4 years... but Tiziano Ferro came to my rescue with "Incanto".
If you are a beginner, you can remember basic phrases with songs. Italian pop music is full of them. For example, if you have just completed the first lesson of Italian and know only a couple of expressions like Come stai? try Vasco Rossi or Ultimo or Alessandra Amoroso.
Method two: grammar
Listening to music helps me learn German grammar (I'm A2 in German). What I do is print the text of a song that I like and analyse it. For example: I try to find the trennbare Verben, the cases and so on. Italian songs are great for practising tenses. You listen for verb forms and think: what tense is it? Why is it imperfetto and not passato prossimo? Wait, is this form condizionale or futuro? I know it helped me a lot when I studied Italian. It was ages ago and my favourite song to analyse was "Ti scatterò una foto" by Tiziano Ferro: it contains almost all tenses and moods. I used this method for Spanish and Georgian and it's really effective if you don't expect too much and concentrate on what you already know and want to remember/understand/learn to use well.
Simply listening to music can help you understand how people really speak in Italian. For Polish people, one of the most challenging parts of speaking in Italian are pronouns. We just don't use so many pronouns in Polish and it's hard to accept that in Italian they are everywhere.
We learn grammar, for example as a Polish person you learn the Imperative. In Polish it’s correct to say (and I say it all the time): powiedz (say it, tell me). Nothing else is needed. In Italian it is natural to add a pronoun and for a Polish person, it’s really difficult to accept: dimmi! This form is very common in songs and I've seen many people master using it thanks to music (including myself).
Method three: error correction
This method works well for advanced Italian speakers. If you listen to an Italian song and feel there's an error, maybe there really is. Some songs have very informal language, the Italian artist Vasco Rossi (I've mentioned him before) doesn't use congiuntivo in his songs, even if he should. Some Italian singers use Spanish words (for example Jovanotti in his song "Bella" that was featured in a book for learning Italian with songs. Students regularly asked us: What is mariposa? Or Elettra Lamborghini randomly adding Spanish to her otherwise Italian songs. So if you listen and a word seems not Italian, that's because it probably isn't!
Starter checklist
Here's a checklist for you if you want to start listening to Italian music and benefit from it.
Choose a song you like.
Listen to it as many times as you want.
If you are a beginner, try to understand just one word from the song.
If you are more advanced, look out for new words or phrases. Do you understand the story behind the text? (spoiler alert: 99% of Italian songs are about love)
Listen without the lyrics first.
Listen with the lyrics.
Check the words you don't understand or read the translation.
Do you get the general picture now?
After the analysis above, listen to this song a couple more times, and add it to your favourite playlists. See if the word you want to remember sticks. Try to use it next time you speak Italian. Make a mental note when you hear it somewhere else.
It worked for me with many languages and it's a really pleasant way to learn.
Do you consider listening to songs a part of your learning process?
Websites
If you want to practice Italian with songs, check out these websites that make it possible through exercises:
ps Are you looking for more interesting self-study materials? Try out my other newsletter, Daily Italian. Get 7 days of free access before the price goes up on Monday!
if not opera, then italian folk songs such as my all-time favourite https://youtu.be/vKPvT-8cqkU?si=OJk9-pSVCF2_x-qW by Angelo Branduardi
My knowledge of Italian comes from (1) expression markings in musical scores and (2) Italian opera ! Lots of opera recordings are available (including excerpts of favourites of course) and the majority of well-known opera libretti are freely available on the web (for example: http://www.operafolio.com/list_of_opera_libretti.asp).