English as a Singing Language has created an episode especially for International Workers’ Day on May 1st. We work hard as language teachers and podcasters, and we believe that ALL workers should be paid fairly and work in safe conditions.  We chose the 1980 hit song “9 to 5,” written and sung by Dolly Parton for the film, “9 to 5.” We talk about the descriptive vocabulary and useful idioms that Dolly included in these lyrics, and we celebrate workers all over the world! Happy International Workers’ Day!! ⁠Official YouTube Video⁠ ⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbxUSsFXYo4  For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Singing Languages website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠https://singinglanguages.wixsite.com/home/post/season-2-episode-15-1 ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @singinglanguages.

Both Heather and Ece are ready for a vacation after a long semester of teaching. While Ece is going to a nearby city to visit a friend, Heather is getting ready to go to the beach. In this episode, they are talking about prepositional phrases in the song, "Under the Boardwalk," by The Drifters. Have fun learning some useful English grammar while listening to this doo-wop classic song from the 1960s! Official YouTube Video ⁠ ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSddD6w5SKc  For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Singing Languages website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠https://singinglanguages.wixsite.com/home/post/season-2-episode-14⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @singinglanguages.

There were so many inspirational and empowering songs to choose from for our International Women’s Day episode, we decided to include another song from our party playlist. Katy Perry’s 2013 hit pop song, “Roar” is the perfect song for building up your courage and finding your voice. This song is full of useful and interesting vocabulary, phrases and figurative language. It’s also really fun to sing! Check out this episode wherever you listen to podcasts: Apple podcasts, Spotify, or the English as a Singing Language website or YouTube channel. Make sure you follow us on Instagram, too!! ⁠Official YouTube Video ⁠ ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo1VInw-SKc⁠  For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Singing Languages website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠https://singinglanguages.wixsite.com/home/post/season-2-episode-12⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @singinglanguages.

International Women’s Day is on March 8th. We like to think about all of the smart, strong, beautiful women we know on this day. In fact, Ece is planning a party to celebrate the day, and she is creating a playlist full of inspiring music. What is the first song she is going to add? It’s Rachel Platten’s 2015 hit, “Fight Song.”  This song has extremely inspiring lyrics, and it has great practice with the sounds [f] and [v]. We hope you have a wonderful day celebrating all of the women in your life. Happy International Women’s Day! Official YouTube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo1VInw-SKc  For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Singing Languages website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. https://singinglanguages.wixsite.com/home/post/season-2-episode-12 ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @singinglanguages.

Love and music are in the air! In this special Valentine’s Day episode of the podcast, Heather is worried that she doesn’t have enough days in the week to finish all of the things on her to-do list. Ece introduces The Beatles’s 1964 hit song, “Eight Days a Week,” and we talk about simple present and imperative verbs. We also talk about how great it would be to actually have eight days in a week! Listeners, eight days in a week is not enough to show you how much we care about you! We did, however, make a video version of this episode for our YouTube channel. We hope you enjoy this episode and we wish you a very Happy Valentine’s Day!  ⁠Official YouTube Video⁠ ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEJd2RyGm8Q⁠  For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Singing Languages website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. https://singinglanguages.wixsite.com/home/post/season-2-episode-11 ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @singinglanguages.

We hope your new year is off to a good start. If your new year’s resolution is to improve your English language ability, and you want some inspiration, we encourage you to take a listen to this episode. Most people worry about what others think sometimes, and in this episode, we are using the hit song, “This is Me,” from the 2017 film, “The Greatest Showman,” to talk about accepting yourself and having a positive attitude. The language focus of this song is the pronunciation of the schwa sound in unstressed syllables. The schwa sound is part of what gives English the rhythm and sound that it has. This song will help you sing your way to natural-sounding English! Official YouTube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEJd2RyGm8Q For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Singing Languages website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. https://singinglanguages.wixsite.com/home/post/season-2-episode-10 ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @singinglanguages. ⁠⁠⁠⁠

What’s the weather like where you are? It’s definitely winter where we are, and Ece is once again trying to get Heather to enjoy the cold and snow. In this episode, we’re using Ariana Grande’s hit song, “Winter Things,” to talk about useful words for everyday conversation, and some special winter-themed vocabulary, too! Grab your hat and your gloves and get ready to visualize yourself doing some winter things like skating, skiing… and singing!! Check out our YouTube channel @singinglanguages for a video version of this episode! For more content, visit ⁠⁠⁠the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Singing Languages website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. https://singinglanguages.wixsite.com/home/post/season-2-episode-9 ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @singinglanguages.

Do you like to practice perfect pronunciation? If you said “yes,” then this episode is for you. This song has many examples of aspiration. If you don’t know what this is, you should definitely listen to this episode. There is plenty of pronunciation practice, and a song with a good message. In this episode, we’re talking about Joni Mitchell’s hit 1970 song, “Big Yellow Taxi.” In addition to pronunciation, we also discuss the idea of “taking something for granted.” Isn’t it true that you don’t know what you have until it's gone?

The most recent episode of the podcast featured the song, “Adventurous Girl,”  which was written and sung by our friend and fellow language teacher, Patti Spinner. We were so excited to meet someone who loves using music to teach and learn language as much as we do - some people might even say more! We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk to Patti and ask her about her experience as a teacher and singer/grammar songwriter!  In this special Connections Episode, we would like to share our interview with Patti Spinner. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did! ⁠L-Pop Website⁠ ⁠https://lpop.commons.msu.edu/ ⁠ ⁠About Patti Spinner, Ph.D. ⁠ ⁠https://people.cal.msu.edu/spinnerp/ ⁠ For more content, visit ⁠⁠the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Singing Languages website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. https://singinglanguages.wixsite.com/home/post/season-2-connections-episode-patti-spinner-interview ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @singinglanguages.

Have you ever climbed a mountain? Have you ever flown in a plane? What kinds of adventures have you had? There is something extra special about the song  featured in this episode. This song was written and sung by a friend of the podcast, and it is part of a series of songs that were created specifically to practice different grammar points in English! In this episode, we’re talking about the adventures that we have or haven’t had using the present perfect tense.  The song in this episode, “Adventurous Girl,” by our friend, Patti Spinner, is full of examples of the present perfect verb tense. You may not have heard this song on the radio before, but we’re sure you’re going to enjoy listening to it and singing along! Adventurous Girl Lesson https://lpop.commons.msu.edu/lesson-1/ L-Pop Website https://lpop.commons.msu.edu/ About Patti Spinner, Ph.D. https://people.cal.msu.edu/spinnerp/ For more content, visit ⁠the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Singing Languages website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. https://singinglanguages.wixsite.com/home/post/season-2-episode-7 ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @singinglanguages.