Using songs in the English class

Not an original idea, is it? After all, singing in the classroom must be as old the hills. But it’s fun, you have to agree to that. And you will also agree that you can use songs in various ways in order to teach several things, such as vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation, poetry and history.

What I would like to suggest is perhaps a new approach. Well, not exactly ‘new’, since I myself included it in one of my first books published back in the past century.

Okay, this is the thing. It’s an activity intended for advanced students (preferably), which consists in listening to a pair of songs – one in English and one in Portuguese – and then comparing them in terms of cultural aspects. Students may surprise you with the differences or the similarities they can find.

Here is ‘my’ list:

1.   Chão de Estrelas (by Orestes Barbosa) and Yesterday

( Lennon and MacCartney)

2.   Canção da América (Milton Nascimento and Fernando Brant) and You’ve got a friend (by Carole King)

3.   Apelo (Vinicius and Baden Powell) and If I fell (Lennon and MacCartney)

4.   Pais e filhos (Renato Russo) and Parents andchildren (Cat Stevens)

5.   O filho que eu quero ter (Toquinho and Vinicius) and For Mamma (Charles Aznavour and Robert Gall-Black)

6.   Maior Abandonado (Frejat and Cazuza) and Rehab (Amy Winehouse)

7.   Pra não dizer que eu não falei das flores (Geraldo Vandré) and Blowin’ in the wind (Bob Dylan)