TEACH MUSIC > song - lyrics
GENERAL GUIDE : FOREIGN LANGUAGE
- general guide
- Always have at your disposal the song's material in a special folder (e.g. STILLE NACHT FOLDER)
- A. Teacher plays-and-sings the song at the piano.
- And/or the class listens to a recording. Recordings are used only when:
- the tonality is singable,
- the arrangement is simple and suitable for children,
- avoid bad 'pop' arrangements.
- B. Teach the lyrics with no music accompaniment.
- 1. Teacher recites one, or half verse. - Students repeat.
- 2. Continue step 1 for all the verses of the first stanza.
- 3. We all repeat the whole stanza.
- Do not teach more than two or three stanzas.
- C. Teacher plays and sings the song, students sing along. Repeat small units until the song is learnt.
- D. From time to time, include in your lessons songs already taught in class. Children love singing their songs again and again.
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- in a foreign language
- When the original song is in a foreign language, I prefer to teach it in the original language. To always teach the prototype is correct musicologically, but also from a paedagogical point of view, because children come closer to foreign cultures.
For example, 'Frère Jacques' is sung in hundreds of languages, but I think the original french is the best.
- The parents
- Before teaching a nursery rhyme in a foreign language, I always ask the parents if they agree. Most of them do.
- There are very few parents that object having their child sing a well-known song in a foreign language. If so, do respect their decision and just sing once or twice the original song to their child, but teach it in the most common mother-language translation.
- The teacher
- NEVER teach a foreign song without knowing the exact meaning and pronunciation of every single word.
- Always have at your disposal the lyrics written in the original language, the pronunciation written down in International Phonetic Alphabet, translations. All material should come from known and reliable sources.
- If you are not certain about your pronunciation, ask from a native speaker to recite slowly and clearly and record him.
- There are two kinds of translations:
- 1. Mot-à-mot (word to word translation as your aid, not the students')
- 2. Free translation suitable for singing.
- Singable translation: Choose the translation used in official school books, or a famous poet's translation. Not translations from unauthorised textbooks.
- ATTENTION: If the child already sings a particular translation, do not change it. Keep using it even if you do not like it.
- For students:
- Explain the meaning of the words, without turning the music lesson into a language lesson.
- Try to teach the pronunciation accurately but not meticulously (imitating a foreign accent is a useful exercise for the ear and expressive abilities).
- Comment: Children can sing foreign songs without understanding a single word. My grandmother would sing to me 'Au clair de la lune' and 'O Tannenbaum', and I still remember them without much knowledge of french or german.
katerina sarri, athens, 2 DEC 2007.