Image Credit: Deezer

According to new research from Deezer, the majority of Americans think that listening to music helps them learn a new language.

When thinking of learning a new language what comes to mind?Evening classes, Duolingo, going on holiday? All the obvious choices, but according to recent studies by Deezer: 88% of Americans think that listening to music helps them to learn a new language.

Deezer surveyed over 12,000 people to find out how they feel music can play into learning a language. Clearly, a huge majority feel that listening to music of the country and language they are learning helps them progress with 88% saying so.

Americans surveyed found that when they listen to a culture’s music to aid them learning a language, the biggest benefits are: better recall (30%), a bigger vocab range (28%), and an improved overall understanding of the language (28%).

Over half of Americans surveyed (52%) already use music to help them learn new languages. Interestingly, Mexicans and Brazilians are the most likely to aid their language learning with music with a whopping 81% and 76% respectively of those surveyed saying they combine music with their studies.

The potential for learning through music is great for many reasons. For a start, you are listening to the language and passively taking that in; the repetition of choruses helps cement phrases in your mind and the clear pronunciation of singers provides an easy route to speaking vocab when singing along. Additionally, it’s an accessible entry point to culture. Music is one of the most culturally important things to a country and its people, so ingratiating yourself in their art is a top way to embrace the language you are learning.

According to music and language expert Susanna Zaraysky, who helped Deezer to conduct their survey, language learning has been more popular than ever this year. It’s been a chance for people to experience another culture whilst being stuck at home, as well as being a beneficial activity to spend our extra free time on.

Zaraysky says: “Music offers invaluable insight into a foreign lifestyle and culture that can help your conversational language abilities. We have a drive to learn more about the culture behind our favourite tracks and you’re more likely to want to learn if you’re interested.”

You can view Deezer’s full, and honestly fascinating, results from their study here.