Five Reasons Why You Should Sing to Learn Russian

If you struggle to learn Russian there is hope – you should try singing it instead. Here are five reasons why:
1. Singing reinforces pronunciation which helps to reduce your accent
2. It attunes you to a foreign language intonation which is a unique pattern or melody of pitch
3. It expands your vocabulary in a fun way
4. It teaches you some ready made basic phrases
5. It provides you with grammatical model sentences (aka language patterns) which later make learning grammar rules less abstract and tedious

Research from the University of Edinburgh found that adults, who sang words or short phrases from a foreign language while learning, were twice as good at speaking it later. This technique takes advantage of the strong links between music and memory. Music not only helps students to memorize words easier but also helps to trigger memory recall.

During the study the three randomly assigned groups of twenty adults were taught Hungarian (a very difficult language to master) in three different ways. The participants either listened to words that were spoken and then had to repeat them back (much like a standard teach yourself tape), or the words were said rhythmically or, in the third group, the words were sung. After a 15 minute learning period, the participants were given several tests to see how well they had learned the words. Those who had used the “listen and sign” approach scored highest. They were also better at recalling the words correctly in tests of long term memory. Importantly, they did not sign the words when they recalled them.

Listen to a selection of songs on Weekly Russian to make your Russian studies more fun and engaging. These singers have an excellent pronunciation and articulation and all songs have lyrics (if you don't see subtitles click on Settings). More playlists to try: Best of Traditional Russian Music (beware of some old vocabulary) and Russian Songs with English Subtitles. Enjoy!