You've been learning English for some time now. You're still doing great, but lately your enthusiasm isn't as strong as it used to be. You feel a little tired and find it ever harder to focus. Abandoning the study is not an option, so you're asking yourself: "Is there anything I can do to regain my rhythm?"

First of all, don't feel guilty and don't freak out: this is a natural disposition.

Eventually, fatigue will show its signs in any prolonged effort, and learning a foreign language definitely requires a sustained intellectual effort. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with taking a short break every now and then. Just make sure you are not overindulging in these breaks, of course.

Then, the good news: there are ways of keeping you on your learning track without necessarily overworking your brain.

In this series, Challenger offers you some tips that will help you add some flavor to your learning and thus retain the joy of learning English. As you might have already guessed, they consist mainly of a balanced, meaningful mix of work and fun.

So, ready to spice up a little your learning methods?

Listening to Music

You already enjoy listening to your favorite artist's songs, so why not take advantage of this relaxing activity to improve your command of English. This, of course, assumes that you have a favorite artist (a singer or a band) who performs in English.

The main practical advantage of this method is that you can turn your favorite pastime activity almost instantly into something productive with a minimum of hassle.

Other than what you already have, namely the songs on your music player of choice, you only need the lyrics themselves. If you do not own a CD cover or something similar, don't worry; you can find many websites that offer free lyrics sheets.

So why do we list this tip?

The answer is simple: aside from giving you a better understanding and appreciation of your favorite artist's work, listening to music with the lyrics in front of your eyes will also be a rewarding exercise in modern English.

No one could ever account for the millions upon millions of songs out there, and your tastes will certainly guide you toward what you enjoy listening to: oldies, pop, rock, and so on. Nevertheless, you will probably see your favorite artists and their songs in a different light after reading and understanding their lyrics.

Moreover, this is not all that you can do to get more fun when using English-through-music. For example, you can try to build your own playlists based on different lyrics qualities: highly poetic, fast-paced and tongue twisting or, why not, utterly meaningless.

In the end, we would like to stress that this tip is not about memorizing song lyrics, although we admit that this could very well be a secondary effect.

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(Article illustration courtesy of saruman-23)