Learn Italian Through Music!

Music has been scientifically proven to be one of the most effective ways to facilitate language learning; it evokes a higher sense of concentration and clarity, and studies have shown that listening to music releases endorphins in your brain, making it more likely that the words you associate with this experience will stick.  And Italian is such a musical language to begin with, ideal for putting to song, that your options in that regard are endless.

YouTube is a wealth of resources for practicing your Italian listening skills while picking up some new vocabulary in the process.  Plenty of songs provide lyrics in both Italian and an English translation under the video, or sometimes even as subtitles.  These can be perfect for watching on your phone during a long commute, or downloading and listening on headphones throughout the day, or even leaving on to listen to while you multitask with other jobs around the house.

When it comes to choosing what type of music to seek out, it may be helpful to start with the most familiar.  International opera star Andrea Bocelli is well-known to most English-speakers who have come into contact with a radio in the past ten years due to his widely beloved pop/opera hit, “Con Te Partiro.”  The music is moving and melodic and Bocelli’s voice is rich and clear.  The lyrics of most of his songs, once you get used to reading in Italian, all make perfect vocabulary words for the intermediate learner: they are common words expressing emotional ideas in simple terms.  Look for songs from his classic album Romanza which are all very catchy and will have you singing along in no time.

If slow, romantic ballads aren’t for you, check out pop stars such as Luciano Ligabue, who has more of a rock and roll edge to his songs, but keeps with Italy’s favorite subject matter: love.  If you’re looking to learn Italian via the songs of a true maestro, explore the work of the famous Mina Mazzini, wild child of the doo-wop age and later queen of virtually every single music genre over the course of her five-decade career.  For fans of Bob Dylan, check out Rino Gaetano, a folksy singer-songwriter who used his music to speak out against the conservatism, hypocrisy, and corruption of his country during the 1970s.

For the more advanced student of Italian who seeks to fully immerse themselves in the power and poetry of the language, the internet has endless resources of classical music and opera for downloading and streaming.  For the student who doesn’t wish to stray so far from what’s familiar, there is an equal amount of songs from movies and pop culture that have been translated into Italian—if you already know the tune, the words will stick that much more easily.

Whatever your strategy in language-learning, keep in mind that before the music and lyrics can mean anything to you, you must have a healthy foundation of Italian to build off of.  Get started right away by sending us an inquiry, or by taking a look at our different Italian courses.  Soon you’ll find yourself singing along to whatever songs you hear!