What's it all about?
My name is Desta Haile and this is Languages through Music.
For the past 15 years I’ve been a teacher in languages, theatre and intercultural communication, as well as being a musician. I've been lucky to travel a lot with different artists and to speak different languages. I’ve packed all of this personal and professional experience into Languages through Music.
Why learn a language through music?
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Because:
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it's fun!
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you can make new friends
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it can give you job opportunities that you wouldn’t have otherwise
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it gives you a different appreciation for your own language
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it gives you confidence – once you learn one language it gives you confidence to try others
If you’re learning Portuguese, you’re not just learning about Portugal – you’re learning about Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde. If you’re learning French, you’re not just learning about France – you’re learning about Belgium, Ivory Coast, Senegal. You’re travelling to all the places that speak the language you want to learn!
How does a class work?
In each class you get a song. We learn about the artist, we learn about the style and we go through the song, line by line.
You'll get to:
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work on pronunciation
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learn all the words
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learn the story
With a lot of repetition in music, it really sinks in.
Your job is to sing/speak along to it – slowly at first, until you’re so comfortable that you don’t even need to read it anymore.
After that, we pick out all the important vocabulary – words and grammar points.
With each song, you’ll get vocabulary and grammar in a “sonic package” that’s easy to remember, because it deals with emotions, stories, people. That’s what we remember! Not some random grammar book.
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I look forward to learning a language with you soon!
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Desta