Singing in the language you are learning has always been popular and with good reason.
Why sing?
Learning a traditional song gives a cultural element and a connection with the people of the country.
Singing sentences helps them in stick in the memory and can also help with pronunciation as the singer copies what he hears.
Once known, a song can start or finish a lesson in just a few minutes
Some songs are made up specifically for language learners eg Français, français from
the language factory. Many take familiar tunes and add new words. Some are really catchy and helpful for learning vocabulary and phrases. Of course, a native speaker will never have heard of that song.
How to present songs
There are several methods depending on the song and what your aim is for it.
1 Traditionally
go over the words and meaning
repeat a line at a time
listen to the song
sing a line at a time
or listen to whole song and join in when you can.
or for longer songs just do this for the chorus.
2 Listen and join in when you can, especially if part of a video or karaoke
3 Pick out key words. Use an action or a visual prop. Children hold up prop or do action when the word comes up. eg mon merle with feathers, belle histoire (Henri Dès) with a character allocated to each pupil. This helps the vocabulary stick and pupils have to concentrate!
Experimenting with songs
Get children to make up their own new words to familiar tunes.
eg food and meals to tune of Frère Jacques
Le dîner est prêt Le dîner est prêt
Qu’est-ce qu'il y a? Qu’est-ce qu”il y a?
Pizza margarita Pizza margarita
Bon appétit Bon appétit
Lots of enjoyment can be had from singing or even just watching a video of a song.
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