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Languages and Music | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Music, Movies, TV & Radio |  | |
| yawn Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5417 days ago 141 posts - 209 votes  Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, FrenchC2, SpanishC2 Studies: GermanB1 | Message 1 of 16 09 February 2011 at 6:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm wondering how much of an overlap there is between learning foreign languages and being musically inclined. I personally have been trained in classical piano since I was 6, played the flute for 3 years at one point, and am currently trying to learn the guitar. Many of my music teachers have told me that I have a "good ear", and I consider myself fairly successful when it comes to learning languages, but I don't know if there's really a connection between either of them.
What do you think? :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Levi Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5558 days ago 2268 posts - 3328 votes Speaks: English*, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian | Message 2 of 16 09 February 2011 at 7:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think there is compelling evidence that language and music are related brain activities. Charles Darwin even argued that the evolution of language arose out of a musical proto-language which, while difficult to prove, is a compelling hypothesis. Edited by Levi on 09 February 2011 at 7:10pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5973 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 3 of 16 09 February 2011 at 7:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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I did my first degree in music. I wouldn't say I am particularly talented in music (or for that matter languages), but I did work quite hard at the time. As with languages, if you spend several hours a day, every day, working at it, over time I think you can't help but get a bit good. I would say, however, that most of the musicians I do know have little interest in languages beyond that which is needed to progress in music, but I'm sure this is hardly a representative sample.
I also remember being told that music and mathematics had a tendency to be linked in a similar way, but again I know plenty of musicians who are lousy at maths. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| w.shipley Groupie United States Joined 5667 days ago 42 posts - 43 votes Speaks: English* | Message 4 of 16 09 February 2011 at 7:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm a music student in college right now (Viola Performance Major!) and I have to say
that I'm the only person I know who is remotely interested in language learning. Some people have said things like, "Oh, I want to learn Russian" or something similar, but no one acts on it. I can tell you, being a musician doesn't leave you with a lot of free time. 3+ hours of rehearsal a day three/four times a week, 3-5 hours of practice a day every day, on top of other classes and homework, maybe teaching private lessons, playing in various gigs in the area, having a social life, sleeping, etc. All of that really eats up a lot of time, not leaving much for activities like learning a language. Several hours a day or study? Almost impossible. For me, at least. =] Oh, I don't know if there's a direct relation between talent with music and talent with language, but I certainly believe that certain people are more better equipped to learn things like music or languages. Some people just never get it, some can't help but get it. You never know, right? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| hjordis Senior Member United States snapshotsoftheworld. Joined 5177 days ago 209 posts - 264 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 5 of 16 09 February 2011 at 8:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, I'm slightly musically inclined and have been since a young age in much the same way as I've been interested in language from a young age. My best friend is much more interested in music than I am, though, and she only has a passing interest in language and claims to be bad at it. Another friend is bad at both. I don't know if there's a correlation, so much as they can coexist the same as any other two hobbies or natural talents.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7212 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 6 of 16 10 February 2011 at 6:36am | IP Logged | ||
I have been intrigued by the tonal languages (Like Mandarin) and music. Specifically perfect pitch. From the same site here is how language helps with music and I am presuming it goes both ways. Here I just started to whistle today after seeing a dvd titled "Pucker Up." In the dvd there are two places that actually use whistling as forms of communication. They are in Kusköy, Turkey and Silbo on the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands. The links I provided are not from the show, but informational videos from Youtube. Even though I am now whistling just for enjoyment, it is interesting to see people whistle as a language. There are more places in the world I am sure, but these were the two locations mentioned in the dvd. Italian is a language I have heard multiple times mentioned as a melodic language. I agree and yes I believe there is a connection between music and language. Edited by alang on 10 February 2011 at 6:43am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| horshod Pentaglot Groupie India Joined 5761 days ago 74 posts - 107 votes Speaks: Hindi, Marathi*, Bengali, Gujarati, English Studies: German, Spanish, Turkish | Message 7 of 16 10 February 2011 at 9:30am | IP Logged | ||
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I was learning Indian Classical music for 5 years and have been learning languages for
some time now.. I am not extremely good at either of the two but I love both a lot :D Sounds like an interesting theory.. On a side note, do you think it is easier for people with an 'ear for music' to learn tonal languages (as a second language of course; I know there are millions of native speakers of these languages who may not be interested in music)? Edited by horshod on 10 February 2011 at 9:34am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JPike1028 Triglot Senior Member United States piketransitions Joined 5388 days ago 297 posts - 337 votes Speaks: English*, French, Italian Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic (Written), Swedish, Portuguese, Czech | Message 8 of 16 10 February 2011 at 10:42am | IP Logged | ||
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Music is separate from speech in the brain. However when singing both hemispheres of the brain light up as
compared to only one side or the other when either talking of whistling. That being said, I believe that the advantage of being a musician and studying languages is the ear training a musician (of a certain level) goes through. For me personally it is a lot easier to hear and pick up decent pronunciation in a short matter of time. I think that music develops aural learning skills much like being a carpenter can develop spatial skills. I am an aspiring opera singer, so languages are kind of a large part of my life. The advantage in singing is the vast exposure one gets, not to mention the hours of IPA and translating that a singer goes through and has to internalize in order to do a piece justice. I believe, although do not remember for sure, that there are studies done by Edwin Gordon finding that early exposure to music promotes language development in children. Again I don't have a citation for that, but it seems to ring a bell somewhere in the back of my brain. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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