Learning Spanish with music

If you are sick and tired of podcasts, apps, workbooks, and drills for learning Spanish, using Spanish music as a learning tool can be a fresh new way to approach your education. If you do it right, you can learn a lot of vocabulary through songs – and you won’t even feel like you are studying at all.

Can I learn Spanish by listening to music?

“The answer is a wholehearted, enthusiastic, and undeniable “yes!” There is a very good reason why most early childhood education incorporates singing and music. If you think about it, you can probably still to this day remember a good deal of the songs you learned back in preschool and kindergarten. Consider the fact that even fundamental knowledge like the alphabet is taught with song. The information that we learn in a musical format simply has a greater tendency to stay with us – much like a song gets stuck in your head.

We can apply this same concept to our advantage as beginning Spanish language learners. This same principal applies; by incorporating Spanish music into our learning, we can learn faster and retain information for longer*.”

How to learn Spanish with music

Learning Spanish from a book is a great start, but it simply cannot fully prepare you for the speed at which native Spanish speakers talk in their daily life. The language is full of passion and excitement, which manifests itself in rapid speaking. Listening to Spanish music can help you get used to this and begin comprehending more of the language. By using music to help you learn Spanish, you can quickly and drastically improve your:

vocabulary and grammar

Listening to Spanish music is a great way to pick up some new words to incorporate into your conversational language. Plus, artists take creatively liberty with their songwriting, and you are bound to come across interesting and unique vocabulary that you never would have come across in a textbook or novel. Overall, music makes it easier to memorize Spanish vocabulary via repetition, in addition to developing a better understanding of the structure of the language!

listening comprehension

Remember, to appropriately use songs as a learning tool you first must familiarize yourself with the lyrics. However, you will find that the more you listen, the less you need to read the words ahead of time. Your brain will get more practiced at hearing the Spanish lyrics that the singer is singing, and deciphering the meaning with only the auditory clues. The context of the lyrical story also helps you remember the new words and phrases.

accent

As you get used to the singer’s voice and pronunciation, you will find yourself understanding more of the lyrics naturally. The more you listen to native Spanish speakers talking (or singing), the better you will be able to emulate some of the sounds that don’t come naturally to a native English speaker. They can be tricky, but hearing them in context helps!

dialect and slang

Especially if you are listening to Spanish pop music, you will learn some regional dialect and Spanish slang that will be handy if you ever actually travel to a Spanish-speaking country and want to practice your speaking. Some of the phrases that you learn from songs will help you sound more natural than a learner who only used a book to practice.

appreciation

Lastly, it’s a great way to learn more about the wide variety of Spanish music that is out there. Spanish-speaking countries include a variety of divergent cultures with amazing histories. This is one reason why Spanish music is vibrant and diverse. Not only do they have lighthearted pop songs about love and partying, but there are also moving songs about rebellion, revolution and resilience.

What are the best songs to learn Spanish?

Perhaps the #1 most important thing to consider when learning Spanish with music is that you have to find music that you enjoy. This seems obvious but is often overlooked. If you appreciate the music and can actually stand to listen to it, you will certainly be more motivated learn from it. If you absolutely hate the sound of salsa, don’t even bother, you will derive no benefit from forcing yourself to listen to it. There are so many different genres of Spanish music that this should be a stretch, try browsing around YouTube or Pandora until you encounter one that clicks with you.

The other trick to finding a good Spanish learning song is all in the speed. If you start with a song that is rapid-fire (as many Spanish songs are known to be), you will get overwhelmed. If you are listening to what sounds to you like gibberish, you will not be learning anything. You have to be able to understand enough of the song to follow along with familiar vocabulary and expressions. It’s okay if you don’t get it all right away, because you should be pushing the limits of your language comprehension. But, you need to be able to decipher at least some of the words. Contextual clues can help, too. That’s why Spanish music videos are also great for learning Spanish – they provide a visual clue to go along with the auditory message.

If you still find yourself struggling to follow along with a song, try to find a version with subtitles so that you can read the words as you listen. Bilingual subtitles are even better if you’re really having a tough time. After you listen a few times, try to find a karaoke version so that you can read the lyrics aloud after you’ve heard them a few times. If you can’t find that, Google the lyrics and pop them into Google Translate, then follow along while you listen.

Here are a couple of our favorite songs for learning Spanish:

Learning Spanish with music

*In “Making It Stick: Memorable Strategies to Enhance Learning“, some of the psychology of this strategy and other memory retention tactics is unpacked. While the full details of Memory process schema is out of the scope of this article, one thing is clear – the science backs this fact.

Other resources and apps for learning Spanish with music:

Spanish Con Salsa
Spanish Con Salsa is a community of Spanish learners that love music, travel, and culture. Learn Spanish with Latin Music, get fluent faster when you enjoy learning Spanish without “studying”.
This resource provide lyrics to Spanish music, along with English translations and in-depth explanations of the colloquial phrases which may be more difficult to understand. The songs can be slowed down and divided into sections. You can also take interactive quizzes to ensure that you understood the material.

RockAlingua
Educational research has shown that music and interactivity greatly enhance the effectiveness of Spanish lessons for kids too.
Children and beginners can use this online resource to easily learn Spanish with approachable music-based lessons. Get free Spanish classes for kids every Tuesday and Thursday

Earworms Spanish
Simply listen to the music filled with rhythmic repetitions a few times and language learners will subconsciously pick up a collection of verbs, nouns and connecting words, all the while acquiring the correct accent.
Intermediate audio lessons of Spanish words and phrases paird alongside extremely catchy tunes.

lyricstraining
Learn languages through music, music videos, lyrics, and karaoke now on your browser or smartphone!
This smartphone app gamifies learning Spanish with music. It’s best for intermediate to advanced Spanish learners who will be able to understand most of the song without lyric translations.

Songs for teaching
Music for Learning the Spanish Language. Use begining spanish songs to teach the alphabet, animal names, numbers and counting, colors and shapes, parts of the body, time, days, months, seasons, food, jobs, family, and traditional rhymes.
Browse a different song list for each level of difficulty, from children’s songs through advanced.

For more resources you may enjoy, check out how to learn Spanish while driving, or read about compliments in Spanish.