It’s a Holiday Sing-A-Long … 8 songs to learn IN ENGLISH ! (classroom activity!)
As you know, learning English can be difficult. But here at Speak English Center we always try to teach with the most fun, effective methods, including “non-traditional” classroom techniques that you may not have had in school. This includes theatre, film, art, and of course MUSIC !
These methods employ many different learning elements: listening, comprehension, pronunciation, expressions and even spelling! Listening to correct English is the most effective way to stop making mistakes, or learn new expressions. And, doing a passive, fun activity and creating a memory helps you to remember information naturally—not by memorization.
Last year around this time, we gave you list of some fun facts about the Christmas holiday, and the best Christmas movies you can watch (with English sub-titles!) to improve your English. Did you try it?
This year, we’d like to give you a list of some wonderful classic Christmas songs that you can learn at home or maybe even with the whole family! Listening to music, and singing the words, is a VERY effective way to learn and improve your English. You can learn new words, correct pronunciation, and have a great time doing it, so you don’t feel like you are actually “studying” English! Besides, who wants to study on winter holidays? No thanks!
So without further ado, here are some classic Christmas holiday tunes—both old and new!—to practice over the next two weeks! These are some very popular (yet secular!) songs that millions of people love to sing during the Christmas season :
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer This is a fun song for kids, which tells the story of a young reindeer who doesn’t fit in with the others:
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire (The Christmas Song) This slow, nostalgic song evokes visions of cold days and a warm fire:
Santa baby This is a flirty song from the 1950’s, in which the famous singer Eartha Kitt tries to charm old Santa Claus:
Walking in a winter wonderland A fun classic with a quick tempo and some great winter vocabulary:
Last Christmas This is a truly modern classic from the 1980’s which you have probably heard before:
All I want for Christmas Another modern favorite, this has become the song that won’t go away:
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Another cute kids song in which a little boy doesn’t know that his father is dressed as Santa Claus:
These videos feature lyrics so you can follow along and sing! But you can do this for any song buy simply finding the video on you tube. If the lyrics are not available, look them up on a lyrics website, and follow along with the video. Reading and hearing the words at the same time are the key to learning and improving! Note: beware of “automated” sub-titles, as they often contain many mistakes!
And if you want a real treat, try reading along with the classic story ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas—you can find the text to the story here, to go along with the video:
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Did you try to sing the songs?
Did you find it was a good way to learn English?
Tell us what you think in the comments below!