English as a Singing Language

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 adve...

In each season, we have to include at least one fun, silly traditional folk song that might be considered a “children’s song,” but is actually for everyone! The traditional folk song, “Down by the Bay,” was recorded by the children’s artist, Raffi, in the 1970’s. People of all ages can enjoy creating rhyming lyrics of their own. For example, Ece came up with, “Have you ever seen Heather, enjoying...

Heather is getting together with her friends from high school, and she’s putting together a playlist of songs from the 80s that they can listen to. One song in particular catches her attention, and it turns out it is a great song for talking about past, present and future tense verbs. In this episode, Ece and Heather are talking about Tracy Chapman’s 1988 song, “Fast Car.” It’s a song that tells t...

Ece is extremely busy and she’s feeling a bit overwhelmed. Luckily, she runs into Heather at the park by the river. Heather convinces her that she needs to relax and listen to the sound of sunshine. Does sunshine make a sound? It does when you’re listening to Michael Franti’s 2010 hit song, “The Sound of Sunshine.”  This upbeat, fun song is great for practicing fluency. It might seem way too fast...

Heather is feeling a little down because of some negative comments on a photo she posted on Instagram (you can follow us on Instagram @singinglanguages). Fortunately, Ece is there to remind her that life’s too short to worry about what someone on Instagram thinks. She recommends the 2022 hit song, “Life’s Too Short,” by the K-pop band aespa. This song is full of really useful conversational Englis...

Ece is planning a block party in her neighborhood, and she needs the perfect song for her summer playlist. Heather suggests the 1964 Motown hit, “Dancing in the Street,” by Martha and the Vandellas. It’s the perfect song for a summer party that is, or that’s, full of singin’ and dancin’!  This episode focuses on contractions and reductions. You may have noticed when talking with proficient English...

In this episode, Heather is feeling nervous about an upcoming project. It is something new that she hasn’t done before, and she’s working in a place she has never been before. Luckily, Ece has the perfect song for the occasion.  In this episode, we’re going to be using Shakira’s 2016 hit song, “Try Everything,” to talk about phrasal verbs. What are phrasal verbs? We encourage you to check out this...

We always encourage our listeners to not be afraid to make mistakes. Making a mistake is a great chance to learn. But sometimes, all we can do when we make a mistake is laugh. We write scripts and practice before we record, but we still make mistakes. All we do is stop, laugh and then start again. Ece has saved her favorite mistakes, or “bloopers,” from Season One of the podcast. While we’re waiti...

Welcome to the final episode in Season One of the English as a Singing Language podcast. When we got this crazy idea, we had no idea if we would be able to actually create even one episode. Here we are, one year later, and we’ve released a total of 17 episodes. There are songs from different artists, decades and styles. We’ve talked about pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. What makes the whole...

Ece is doing some online shopping and she’s feeling a little frustrated. This leads to a discussion about the importance of things that money just can’t buy. Can money buy you love? No, no, no, nooooooooo! In this episode, we’re listening to the Beatles 1964 hit song, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and we’re focusing on real conditionals in grammar. If you don’t love this song, we will be very surprised! ⁠...

It’s finally spring where we are, and we are so excited to see the bird in a nest, the nest on a branch and the green grass growing all around!! And what do all of these things have in common? They all have at least one consonant cluster. We’re going way, way back in time to the 1800s for this song! It’s a traditional folk song called, “The Green Grass Grows all Around,” and it’s great practice fo...

March 8th is International Women’s Day. Ece is planning a party to celebrate with her friends and will certainly include the song for this week, Hailee Steinfeld’s 2017 hit pop song, “Most Girls,” on the playlist for the party. In this episode, we are practicing intonation used for items in a list and some useful, common reductions. We think you’ll find this episode interesting, useful, and fun. T...

This week’s episode is a special edition of the podcast. Like many of you, we both felt sad and helpless after seeing the suffering caused by the devastating earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria last month. Therefore, we decided to take our feelings and put them into a podcast episode.  We are shining a bright light on an outstanding organization located in Hatay, Türkiye, called “ Be the V...

Are you a person who loves learning English? We know you must be someone who loves English grammar as much as we do. And, speaking of love, English as a Singing Language has a love song for this episode -  just in time for Valentine’s Day!💗 Episode 12 features the 1988 song, I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), by the Scottish duo, The Proclaimers. We’re going to discuss love, grammar, and Scottish Eng...

Are you ready for even more winter fun? In Episode 11 of English as a Singing Language, Ece is trying to get Heather to relax and not get so upset about small, unimportant things. In other words, Ece thinks she should, “Let it Go!” This song, originally featured in the Disney animated film, “Frozen,” is full of descriptive verbs and brilliant imagery. It’s also a great song to practice some rhymin...

We’re ending 2022 and welcoming 2023. English as a Singing Language has a dynamite song prepared to bring in the new year. Join Ece and Heather to start 2023 with the international smash hit, “Dynamite,” from the K-pop sensation BTS. In Episode 10, we’re going to talk about all of the cultural references and cool expressions in the song lyrics. We’ll also talk about some of the reductions that can...

Winter is on its way, and not everyone is a fan of the cold! In this episode, Ece and Heather are discussing the traditional holiday song, “Let it Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” The language focus for this episode is linking words and descriptive adjectives. Come join Ece and Heather in a winter wonderland! Grab a cup of hot chocolate, pull up a seat by the fireplace and enjoy Episode 9! YouTube...

Go Team! Let’s go!! Ece and Heather are talking about Jamaican singer OMI’s hit song from the 2010’s, “Cheerleader.” This is an extremely fun song that is fun for both singing and dancing. This episode focuses on pronunciation of that tricky final “r” sound found in the English spoken in the Northern parts of North America. Ece and Heather are cheering for you! Join them for Episode 8! Official Yo...

This week’s episode comes straight from the 1980’s! We’re talking about Suzanne Vega’s hit song, “Tom’s Diner.” We are having a great time with the podcast, and we hope that you are listening to every episode! We’re talking about the present progressive verb tense, and we are throwing in a little vocabulary, too. What are you waiting for? We’re learning and singing English together! Official YouTu...

In this episode, Ece and Heather are going back in time to 1960’s Motown with a song by The Temptations called, “The Way You Do the Things You Do.” We’re going to have some good times, because this song is full of rhymes! In addition to rhyming words, we’ve also included some sentence intonation and even a little bit of grammar! We hope you’re enjoying learning English with the podcast and singing...

Hosts Ece and Heather are staying in the 2000’s for this episode. Ece is trying to finish an exciting book, and that leads to an interesting discussion about Natasha Bedingfield’s 2004 song, Unwritten. There is a mountain of useful and descriptive vocabulary in this song. After you listen to the podcast, make sure that you listen to the song and sing out loud. Official YouTube Video For more conte...

For this episode, Ece and Heather are jumping ahead to the 2000’s. Heather is feeling self-conscious about her dancing skills and Ece decides to use the 2013 song “Shake,” sung by Victoria Justice. After listening to the encouraging and inspiring lyrics, Heather starts to feel more confident and she’s ready to shake what her mama gave her. In addition to being great to dance to, this song is also...

Ece and Heather have decided to stay in the 70’s for this episode. Even though she has prepared for her upcoming presentation, Ece is lacking confidence. However, after they talk about the 1977 rock anthem, “We Are The Champions,” by the British band Queen, from their album, News of the World, Ece feels like she can do anything! This song focuses on the present perfect verb tense. Therefore, after...

Hosts Ece and Heather travel back in time to the 1970’s for this song. In this episode, Heather is feeling a bit sad, and Ece uses the 1972 reggae-influenced song, “I Can See Clearly,” by Johnny Nash to cheer her up. In this song, there are some useful reductions of words like “can” and “going to” that you’ll have fun singing and then be able to use in your English conversation. Don’t forget to li...

Sometimes, something good can come from a broken heart, and in this case, it’s improved English ability! But seriously, we couldn’t think of a better song than Taylor Swift’s 2012 pop song, “I knew you were trouble,” from her album, Red, for our first episode. In this song, there are a wide variety of verb tenses, from the past, to the present, to the future. After you listen to the episode,...