Read on to completely change the way you think about Spotify!<\/p>\n
[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n
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1. Make the Most of the Spotify Music Selection<\/h2>\n
We might have mentioned a time or two that listening to foreign language songs<\/a> is a great way to learn the language.<\/p>\n Songs have a way of getting into our long-term memory better than any other medium. They help us to hear and learn grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary naturally and have a way of making us sound fluent faster. They make language easier to remember.<\/p>\n Yes, you can find every song by Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga on Spotify, but why not mix it up with some cool tunes in your target language?(\u201cDespacito,\u201d<\/em> anyone?)<\/p>\n Songs are such great language sources that you just can\u2019t leave them out of your learning routine.<\/p>\n But how do you get to them?<\/p>\n We’ve got some suggestions to find the best ways to find the perfect tunes for your playlist.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t your run-of-the-mill Spotify search where you only need to type the title of the song or the artist. You might not even be familiar with many songs or singers in the target language.<\/p>\n So the best thing you can do is use the target language in your search string. For example, if you\u2019re doing a search for Italian songs, you can use the general term \u201cItalian\u201d or \u201cItaly\u201d and type in phrases like:<\/p>\n The idea here is to pair your target language with common search terms. It’ll tease out relevant foreign language songs, artists, albums and playlists. This is really a general search, sort of acquainting you with the landscape of what\u2019s available.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t worry if you feel like you’re sort of simply nibbling on the sides. The next tip will take care of that.<\/p>\n In reality, you\u2019ll probably only be using the previous search technique once or twice. Spotify is very proactive in offering you song after song after song related to the one you\u2019re currently listening to. So you can simply let Spotify lead the way and automatically find songs you might be interested in. Just tap and follow the trail.<\/p>\n Found an Italian artist that you love? Spotify will give you a list of other songs by the same artist. It’ll also let you see other songs in the same album. And just to make your day, if you scroll down, you have the \u201cRelated Artists\u201d section where Spotify identifies singers of the same genre.<\/p>\n And if you want to get in-depth with a certain song, looking up the song’s music video is a great way to get a sense of the story the music is telling. If you’re lucky, the video will also offer captions, so you can read along to further your comprehension.\u00a0<\/p>\n Go to Spotify\u2019s \u201cBrowse\u201d section, and in there you\u2019ll see an icon labeled \u201cCharts.\u201d Tap on that and you\u2019ll be presented with a page featuring the \u201cViral 50 by Country\u201d option. Tap on that, and what do you get?<\/p>\n Well, only the top 50 songs that have exploded online\u2014categorized by country. (Spotify has a special algorithm to determine this list.)<\/p>\n So you\u2019re given the countries in alphabetical order. For the language learner, this should already alert you to scroll down to the country where the target language is spoken.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re learning Japanese, scroll down to Japan and tap on the square picture representing the country. You\u2019ll then see the list of the most viral songs in Japan at the moment. Of course, the list will include your perennial and international favorites\u2014your Bruno Mars and Beyonc\u00e9\u2014but a large part of it will be local talents; artists producing hit songs in their respective countries.<\/p>\n The list is a goldmine for language learners! By employing the previous technique of \u201cfollowing the trail,\u201d you can find plenty of songs in the target language.<\/p>\n We’ve already talked about finding user-generated playlists, now let’s talk about creating your own language learning playlist.<\/p>\n Spotify gives you ultimate control over your songs. While searching for foreign language music, you can make a playlist of the songs that you like as you go along. Simply long press on the song and select \u201cAdd to Playlist.\u201d You\u2019ll have the option of adding songs to existing ones or make a new program with just your favorite foreign language beats.<\/p>\n A tip on titling your playlist, make sure the target language is clearly specified. So if the list is about Mandarin songs, then make sure \u201cMandarin\u201d is in the title (eg. \u201cEasy Mandarin Songs for Language Learners), so others would know what to expect.<\/p>\n And, just as a \u201cthank you\u201d to all the folks who shared their own language playlists and made your life a little easier, you can make your own playlist public too. Go to \u201cYour Library\u201d and tap on \u201cPlaylists.\u201d Long press the program you want others to see and choose \u201cMake Public.\u201d<\/p>\n You can even make a playlist collaborative, allowing your language-learning friends to add songs that they think would benefit everybody. Again, just long press on the playlist and choose \u201cMake Collaborative.\u201d Anybody who follows your list can make changes to it. Just another way for language learners to help each other out.<\/p>\n Just to prove that the platform goes beyond music, believe it or not, Spotify itself sponsors language learning apps<\/a> and programs.<\/p>\n Go to \u201cBrowse.\u201d You know, that\u2019s where you usually go when you want to search for songs via genre. You\u2019ll get sections on pop, rock, hip-hop, Christian and R&B. Spotify also arranges them via mood, like “chill,” “party” or “sleep.”<\/p>\n Scroll down to the bottom and you\u2019ll get a section called \u201cWord.\u201d Tap on it and you\u2019ll get selections on spoken word tracks like poems, audiobooks, scary stories and guided meditation.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also find language programs that teach you not only the basic greetings but the structure, pronunciation and grammar that make a language work. And these aren’t just your \u201ctoken\u201d language courses that teach very little. They mean business here. (French, for example, has 45 hours worth of free audio lessons. Swedish has six hours.)<\/p>\n Other languages include: Spanish, Chinese, German, Arabic, Italian, Irish, Russian and Portuguese.<\/p>\n So head on over now to the \u201cWord\u201d section of \u201cBrowse\u201d and listen to your heart\u2019s content. Spotify courses are there waiting for you!<\/p>\n Here are some other options you should check out.<\/p>\n The Radio Lingua Network, producer of Coffee Break Languages, was launched in 2006. Their podcasts, both densely informative and professional, have won a string of European Podcast Awards and are continually upping the language podcast game. Coffee Break Spanish<\/a>, hosted by Mark and Kara, is particularly popular. Their passion for teaching shines through and when you listen to them, you immediately feel a kind of connection with those voices\u2014which by the way, have a Scottish accent. (The company is headquartered in Scotland.)<\/p>\n The programs take you beyond the \u201clisten-and-repeat\u201d track, although it does give you plenty of time to practice the target language<\/a>. In addition to language lessons, you also get interesting cultural asides, which make the programs more robust for faithful listeners. You get more than you bargained for with their podcasts, and it\u2019ll feel like listening to friends who really want you to succeed with languages.<\/p>\n Presently, they have podcasts for Italian<\/a>, German<\/a>, Spanish<\/a> and French<\/a>.<\/p>\n As suggested by the title, these programs were created to be consumed while driving to or from work. But don\u2019t worry, you don\u2019t need to get a car for this one. You can be on a train platform or on a restroom queue during halftime and still engage in a little language learning.<\/p>\n Penton Overseas Inc. offers a slew of programs that are specifically targeted to vocabulary and verbs. In addition to the \u201cLearn in Your Car\u201d series, they also have the \u201cVocabulearn\u201d series which teaches you words, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and expressions in the language. Their \u201cVerbs 101\u201d programs teach you conjugation principles and patterns as well as tenses.<\/p>\n Penton offers free lessons for Spanish, French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, Japanese, Hebrew, Swedish, Tagalog, Ukrainian, Polish, Portuguese and Swahili.<\/p>\n Of the language programs offered here, this one has the slimmest of pickings\u2014offering just three languages: French<\/a>, Spanish<\/a> and English<\/a>.<\/p>\n The three programs do have different flavors and approaches, probably due to the fact that different folks developed these courses. The French program has a more grammatical approach, with tracks tackling lessons on nouns, regular and irregular verbs, adverbs and conjunctions. The Spanish program is more topically arranged, with tracks that teach vocabulary related to animals, clothes, days of the week, numbers, etc.<\/p>\n The English course, for its part, is quite advanced and would be perfect for those learning the subtleties of written English, having tracks that explain the uses and nuances of the comma, colon and semi-colon, for example.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re learning Spanish, French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish, Russian, Polish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Finnish, Czech, Bengali, Turkish, Swahili, Nepali, Cambodian, Tagalog, Thai, Bulgarian, Hebrew or Farsi\u2014then you\u2019re in luck.<\/p>\n Complete Language Lessons has you covered! And they’re all free! Admittedly, they\u2019re not the full-blown programs like a paid course, but they do a mighty job of starting you off right. You learn the basics for each of the languages mentioned. You get the fundamentals, the basic grammar rules and the most words and expressions.<\/p>\n With today\u2019s technology, there\u2019s really very little stopping you from learning that second or third language. The material is there. You just have to do the work.<\/p>\n If you’re partial to video, you can use the authentic video library of FluentU:<\/p>\n FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\nForget artists and song titles<\/h3>\n
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Follow the trail: Let one artist or song lead you to a thousand others<\/h3>\n
Use the \u201cViral 50 by Country\u201d feature<\/h3>\n
Create your own language-specific playlists<\/h3>\n
2. Use Spotify Language Courses<\/h2>\n
Coffee Break Languages (by Radio Lingua Network)<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/spotify-language-learning-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLearn In Your Car (by Penton Overseas, Inc.)<\/a>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/spotify-language-learning-2.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h3>\nLearning Language Company
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/spotify-language-learning-3.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h3>\nComplete Language Lessons<\/a>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/spotify-language-learning-4.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"FluentU](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/try-fluentu-for-free.jpg\")
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