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An Unusual Way of Using Music to Practice | ||
Tags: Music | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Glossaphile Pentaglot Newbie United States youtube.com/TranslatRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4674 days ago 26 posts - 26 votes Speaks: English*, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin Studies: Ancient Greek, German, Old English | Message 1 of 9 06 December 2011 at 12:29am | IP Logged | ||
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As a unique and creative way to practice and improve my command of the languages I study, I've been translating song lyrics as a hobby for over ten years. My goal is always to be as faithful as possible while also maintaining melody, beat, and rhyme scheme. As challenging as it is to strike that delicate balance, it's even harder to find singers willing to perform my adaptations (at least, on a pro bono basis).
The process has four phases: 1) initial draft 2) constructive critique from at least one native speaker (or, in the case of Latin and Ancient Greek, someone with at least more experience and/or credentials than what I have) 3) revisions based on feedback from phase 2 4) final draft 5) recording by a volunteer performer (if I'm lucky, which is frustratingly rare) I am always looking for native speakers to provide helpful feedback and aspiring singers willing to lend their voices to my projects. Such people are more difficult to find than you might expect, though. Has anyone else tried something similar (translating/adapting poetry, etc.) as a means of maintaining and/or improving your language skills? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Eltwish Diglot Newbie United States larrykenny.com Joined 4717 days ago 13 posts - 25 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Japanese, German | Message 2 of 9 08 December 2011 at 8:59pm | IP Logged | ||
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It's good to see someone else practicing this delightful art! Indeed, for me listening to songs is, next to good conversation, the most rewarding benefit for learning a new language, and I've found translating songs to be a fascinating way to combine my language and music interests and delve deeper in both aspects.
Usually, I just translate for the fun of the challenge and it says in my notebook, but if you're interested, I have a few performances of translations of mine (currently all from Japanese) available on my website: http://larrykenny.com/music.php. Do you have any of your translations online somewhere to see/hear? Edited by Eltwish on 08 December 2011 at 8:59pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Glossaphile Pentaglot Newbie United States youtube.com/TranslatRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4674 days ago 26 posts - 26 votes Speaks: English*, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin Studies: Ancient Greek, German, Old English | Message 3 of 9 09 December 2011 at 1:48am | IP Logged | ||
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So I'm not the only one! I listened to "No Umbrella," and I was immediately impressed! I scanned the in-depth commentary as well, and you seem quite dedicated.
I was also pleased to learn of your career choice! I myself have just applied for post-baccalaureate courses in linguistics in order to prepare for a second attempt at admission to a doctoral program. As for my own work, I have a YouTube channel of my own (link in my profile to the left) where I put most of my translations/adaptations. Since you speak Spanish, is there any chance I could talk you into lending your voice to a couple of adaptations of mine? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Eltwish Diglot Newbie United States larrykenny.com Joined 4717 days ago 13 posts - 25 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Japanese, German | Message 4 of 9 14 December 2011 at 7:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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Wow, you have translations of Disney songs to Latin! That's really cool. Makes me want to learn Latin. Might I ask where you're applying for grad school? I did my BA in linguistics but now I'm hoping for something different... so I'm currently applying to four different programs at four schools. Comparative literature, cognitive science... anything with language and ideas.
I don't think I have a particularly great voice, but if you like, I'd be happy to record for you. It would have to be after I'm done applying to schools though, so in a month or so. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6532 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes  4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 5 of 9 15 December 2011 at 1:17am | IP Logged | ||
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I don't translate but for me music is normally an essential part of language learning, as important as reading for example. and for languages with a frustrating grammar *cough*Romance*cough*, even more important than grammar.
really, the lack of good rock music is an important reason why i never got fluent in Esperanto. Edited by Serpent on 15 December 2011 at 1:21am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6374 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 6 of 9 15 December 2011 at 3:18am | IP Logged | ||
I guess Supernova isn't up to your standards? Edited by Volte on 15 December 2011 at 3:22am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6532 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 7 of 9 15 December 2011 at 3:39am | IP Logged | ||
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it's not about standards and i guess i shouldn't have said "good"... it's just that it's a bit too light for me to listen to more than a couple of songs at a time. i liked this one and i also like Persone but it's not what i can listen to for hours. thanks for the rec though<333 I do love how supportive Esperanto speakers are<3
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6374 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 8 of 9 15 December 2011 at 4:42am | IP Logged | ||
Krio de Morto is a little heavier. Check out their song mi defalas, for instance. But yeah, most Esperanto rock bands are a lot more poppy than what I think you like - and Esperanto has never had an overwhelmingly large amount of truly good music for any taste, sadly (there's a fair bit of music, but most of it is, well, 'ok'). Edited by Volte on 15 December 2011 at 4:45am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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