That's right! This week is another tip for listening success.
If you have taken ESL classes or any kind of language class, you are most likely familiar with this tip for success. Dictations! For some of you reading you probably said "woo hoo! I love dictations" And others of you probably said"oh no! Dictations are hard."
Many teachers use this method to help their students improve listening and pronunciation skills. You too can use this skill outside of the classroom as a self-study tool.
Instead of the traditional method of listening to a sentence and writing what you hear, why not shake it up a little and add a little beat to it. That's right! Do a dictation to your favorite song or tunes you want to learn the lyrics to. This is a great way to sharpen your listening, learn new vocabulary, fine tune your pronunciation, and get your groove on.
All you need is a paper and pencil, your song of choice, and of course the correct lyrics to check your answers. Check out this website lyricsondemand.com for the most up to date and accurate lyrics to your favorite songs.
Another recommendation is to try lyricstraining.com. lyricstraining.com is an easy, interactive, and fun way to do all the things I mentioned before through the use of music videos. With the use of music videos, fill in the blank activities, and karoake, lyricstraining.com allows you to train your ears to recognize sounds, words, and accents at any language level.
Try your first activity with Ed Sheeran's popular song Shape of You and leave a comment below on how you did and any other videos you tried. Enjoy!
Click the link below
Vocab
1) lyrics (noun)--> words put to music, also known as a song
2) sharpen (verb) --> to improve; make better
3) fine tune (idiom)--> to make small improvements
4) get your groove on (idiom)--> to dance
5) tune (noun)--> a melody or beat to a song
Resources