Are you planning to study abroad? And you probably need to improve your foreign language skills to move to your new country?
Then, all you need is love…
Love for music.
If you are looking to study abroad, you might feel insecure about your fluency in the language of your destination country. Don’t worry, international students are not expected to speak and write perfectly from t
he first day and it’s true, improvement comes very quickly once you are there.
Most of the institutions worldwide ask for language level certificates as an admission requirement though, so you might need to put some extra effort before or during the application process when you are still at home.
The best way to learn a language
In both cases, there are many ways of learning a new language or improving your foreign language skills for free: You can read a book that attracts you, watch movies with subtitles or attend an online course. Nevertheless, we believe that the best method to passively take up a new language without a lot of effort is music.
Professional Advice
To provide you with some expert advice, we invited our partner, Syllabus, the Spanish Language School, to let us know how to quickly learn the language spoken by 470 million speakers all over the world! Here what Syllabus’ CEO, the language expert and PhD in Language and Spanish Culture, Marcos Villa, suggests!
Say it with a song!
From “So many paths to walk” to “Look for happiness beyond the stars”, you will feel “the Universe above you” when you discover what Spanish Music can teach you…You don’t need to study it, just enjoy it! In a previous article, we saw a few good ways of passively picking up Spanish by having your brain automatically filtering the language effortless and without even noticing it. The internet, the magazines and the cinema will always help, nevertheless, music is definitely the best way to achieve it.
It will always be more interesting to learn new words in a song context rather than in a textbook. You must definitely already know a few Spanish songs that taught you new words in the past, correct? Catchy rhythms not only stay in our head like a “mantra”, but they also generate curiosity and make us want to “decrypt” the message. This need is what leads us to look up the unknown vocabulary.
Also, if you like a song, you are going to listen to it repeatedly paying attention to the lyrics. New words and their pronunciation will remain printed in your memory and your ears will get used to the foreign language. A really good idea is to listen to the song while reading its lyrics in order to be able to easily connect sounds with words.
It´s about Culture!
Of course, music is the way to understand the Spanish culture, the art, the history and the people. In the lyrics you´ll discover the real essence of Spain, the spanish way of thinking, living and enjoying life, the Spanish mentality and the of course the Spanish way of singing and feeling…
Listen to that!
To give you some practical advice, you should definitely listen to Amaral, the duo from Saragoza that after 20 years of a brilliant career has become a first class creative band for all the ages! Personally, I suggest “El universo sobre mi“, a so positive and optimistic song that you will love!
For more information and more music, please contact Syllabus
!
The Study Abroad Portal is here to help
So, during you are improving your spanish language skills, you will need to find the right Bachelor, Master, PhD or MBA programme abroad. The Study Abroad Portal helps thousands of students to find the right course for them and you are welcome! We offer you a free Online Open Day, a 45-min interactive webinar, with the university of your choice that will tremendously help you to make the right decision for your future!
Study in Spain
Are you inspired by Amaral and want to study in Zaragoza?
Then book your place now!
- 1 February 2017: Máster en Dirección de Supply Chain – In Spanish
- 15 February 2017: Master of Engineering in Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Conducted by ZLC, a Research and Educational Institute Affiliated to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Zaragoza.
