# data[].attributes.headline
Learning English through songs and poems

# data[].attributes.subject
Learning English through songs and poems

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
DISCLAIMER: I DON´T OWN ANY OF THE VIDEOS ON THIS BLOG, BUT THEY ARE BEING USED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, UNDER THE LEARNING CLAUSE, TITLE III, CHAPTER II, ARTICLE 32 OF THE SPANISH LAW OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY/NO SOY EL AUTOR DE NINGUNO DE ESTOS VÍDEOS, PERO SE ESTÁN USANDO CON FINES PURAMENTE EDUCATIVOS, BAJO LA CLÁUSULA DE ILUSTRACIÓN DE LA ENSEÑANZA, TÍTULO III, CAPITULO II, ARTÍCULO 32 DE LA LEY ESPAÑOLA DE PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL.

to my first blog. As an English teacher, I´m always thinking of
ways to motivate my students. This is one of them: a list of songs that can encourage them to keep on going when they feel frustrated with listening activities or, in the best case, make them feel even better when they already understand most of those activities.

I don´t intend my students to understand 100% of each song in this list, but I think they should be able to get an idea of what the song is about and understand at least 70% of it(provided, of course, they have a decent amount of vocabulary and grammar). I´ve selected the following songs according to the following criteria:

¨ Clarity of his/her voice.

Of course, I´m open to corrections/suggestions on songs, so feel free to add any songs you consider appropriate (always imagining the listener is a complete beginner, which is not easy,-even if they´re not-), as well as any constructive criticism/comments.

a mi primer blog. Como profesor de inglés siempre pienso en maneras de motivar a mis alumnos. Ésta es una de ellas: una lista de canciones que pueden animarles a seguir cuando se frustran con las actividades de "listening" o, en el mejor de los casos, hacerles sentir mejor cuando ya entienden la mayoría de estas actividades.

No pretendo que mis alumnos entiendan el 100% de cada canción de esta lista, pero creo que deberían hacerse una idea del tema de la canción y entender por lo menos el 70% de ella (suponiendo, por supuesto, que tengan una cantidad de vocabulario y gramática decentes). He seleccionado las siguientes canciones de acuerdo a los siguientes criterios:

¨ Acento fácil del/ la cantante;

Por supuesto, estoy abierto a correcciones/sugerencias sobre canciones, así que podéis añadir cualquier canción que consideréis apropiada para esta lista (siempre imaginando que el que escucha es un completo principiante, que no es fácil,-aunque no lo sea-), así como cualquier crítica/comentario constructivo.

I´ll add the songs little by little, so that you guys have time to listen to them and give me your opinion. Some of the songs I´ve selected might be a little too difficult for some of you but, as I said before, it´s a little hard to think like a beginner when you are a teacher. If you can´t understand a big chunk of a song, but you still like it you can always go to Youtube and look for the lyrics/karaoke version.
Añadiré las canciones poco a poco, para que tengáis tiempo de escucharlas y darme vuestra opinión. Algunas de las canciones que he elegido pueden ser un poco difíciles para algunos de vosotros pero, como dije antes, es un poco difícil pensar como un principiante cuando eres profesor.Si no podéis entender gran parte de una canción, pero aún así os gusta siempre podéis ir a Youtube y buscar la versión con letra o karaoke.

UPDATE (September 2012) Let me first post here I video I made for my students about a year ago. I´m a big-time Miami Vice fan and it took me over 2 hrs to make the captions for this video. It was taken off Youtube for a while for copyright issues, but it seems to be available worlwide now again. I believe some time ago you could see the classic "In the Air Tonight" scene all over Youtube (not now, since Universal told me they were taking off all content belonging to them), but I thought it was important to also leave the part before that scene to understand what Sonny is going through. The classic song by Phil Collins and its dramatic force makes this, in my opinion, a true piece of TV history.

"Quit playing games with my heart", Backstreet Boys.

Whether you can understand the song or not, you can always click on the video window (to watch the video from this blog click on the "play" icon on the bottom left corner of the video window) and it will take you to Youtube where, most of the times, you can find the karaoke/lyrics version.

Nota:
Tanto si entendéis la canción como si no, siempre podéis hacer click en la ventana del vídeo (para ver el vídeo desde el blog haced click en el icono de "reproducir" en la esquina izquierda de la ventana del vídeo) y os llevará a Youtube donde la mayoría de las veces podéis encontrar la versión con letra o karaoke.

"Dreaming of you", Selena (Quintanilla).

Note:The girl in this video is not Selena.

"Baywatch ("Los Vigilantes de la Playa") Theme", Jim Jameson.

"Everything I do (I do it for you)", Bryan Adams.

"Stronger", Britney Spears.

"High", Lighthouse Family.

Note: Another video with lyrics. If you want to check how much of the song you understand without lyrics, look somewhere else while the video plays.

"Please forgive me", Bryan Adams.

"My heart will go on", Celine Dion.

"What a wonderful world", Louis Armstrong.

"In the army now", Status Quo.

"Let the drummer kick it", Citizen Cope.

"Sometimes", Britney Spears.

"Nobody but you", Backstreet Boys.

"What can I do to make you love me?", The Corrs.

"Broken your heart", Take That.

"I wanna know what love is", Foreigner.

"Ain´t missing you", John Waite.

"Everytime I see you falling", Jewel.

"The way you look tonight", Elton John.

"Walking on sunshine", Katrina & The Waves.

"If you don´t know me by now", Simply Red.

"It´s only love", Simply Red.

"Gone too soon", Michael Jackson.

Warning: You´ll probably cry your heart out with this song. Michael sang it for Ryan White, the boy in the video who, at the age of 13 was diagnosed with AIDS due to a contaminated blood transfusion and died 5 years later. Michael also allowed this song to be included in the tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. Usher sang it at Michael´s funeral service. Rest in peace and God bless you, forever the King of pop.

"I just called to say I love you", Stevie Wonder.

"Yellow submarine", The Beatles.

"Please don´t go", Double You.

Gloria Estefan and her "Reach", official song for the Atlanta ´96 Olympic Games.

"Love me tender", Elvis Presley

I hope these songs help you improve your listening skills. I welcome any comments, suggestions or corrections via this blog or e-mail (if you don´t want to open a gmail account or can´t comment-for whatever reason- on the blog).
** Note: more than 60 videos and no suggestions?? Really??? Come on people, make your voice be heard!!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
DISCLAIMER: I DON´T OWN ANY OF THE VIDEOS ON THIS BLOG, BUT THEY ARE BEING USED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, UNDER THE LEARNING CLAUSE, TITLE III, CHAPTER II, ARTICLE 32 OF THE SPANISH LAW OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY/NO SOY EL AUTOR DE NINGUNO DE ESTOS VÍDEOS, PERO SE ESTÁN USANDO CON FINES PURAMENTE EDUCATIVOS, BAJO LA CLÁUSULA DE ILUSTRACIÓN DE LA ENSEÑANZA, TÍTULO III, CAPITULO II, ARTÍCULO 32 DE LA LEY ESPAÑOLA DE PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
English Glogster: text, images, music, video | Glogster EDU - Interactive multimedia posters

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
See the Glog! English Glogster: text, images, music, video | Glogster EDU - Interactive multimedia posters