Lyrics Training- an alternative way of picking up English!

Sometimes traditional textbook based listening activities can be boring for our students. In addition, listening exercises are never enough. So, let's try out Lyrics Training, an amazing free website which allows our learners to practice their listening skills through listening to YouTube music videos. It is a user-friendly and amusing site. Basically, we watch a music video while the lyrics appear underneath and we try to fill in the gaps (according to the level we have chosen) line by line. The website is very well organized and there is a growing amount of content available in English. The most important feature is that it is very interactive in the way it works, we can repeat lines or skip words etc. I believe that it is one of the most interesting websites on the Internet and it will be very popular among our students because they love listening to YouTube videos and singing the lyrics of songs.

Basic tips on how to use Lyrics Training!

• We visit Lyrics Training website and then we have to choose between 7 languages. We are interested in YouTube music videos with English lyrics, so we will choose English (Image 1).

Image 1

• We can search for a particular YouTube music video by typing its title in the search bar or we can choose a song from the sections provided on the home page (Now Playing, New Lyrics, Top Lyrics (Today) (Image 2).

Image 2

• Once we have chosen our song we can choose the level of difficulty (beginner, intermediate, advanced, expert). The level of difficulty (game mode) will decide how many words will be missing from the lyrics appearing underneath the video which our students will have to fill in. Then we can start the game, Bear in mind that if our students want they can choose the"Karaoke" option. This will display all the lyrics while listening to the song (Image 3).

Image 3

• Our students will have to fill in the missing words line by line. If they get stumped, they have 3 basic options they can listen again to the line by clicking on the "backspace" button. This will allow our students to listen to the line as many times as they want until they can come up with the word. Once they type the word the song will carry on playing automatically. Another choice is to use the arrow icon at the left corner so that they can listen to the previous line which may help them contextualise the missing word. Finally, obviously sometimes our students might actually cannot find the word. In this case they can skip the word by clicking on the "Tab" button (Image 4). Interactivity is the most powerful thing about this website. Our students can now have control over listening activities.

Image 4

• Moreover, our learners can see the score, the time they needed to find the words, how many words they found and how many they skipped. They can share it with friends on Facebook, Twitter or send it via email. Finally, registration is not required but students can sign up so that they can keep a record of their scores.

For more details you can watch Russell Stannard's teacher training video-Lyrics Training.

Some ideas about how to use Lyrics Training in and out of classroom!

In classroom
We can use Lyrics Training for warm-up or pre-listening activities.

• First we need to find a song that suits our needs, our lesson's topic. For example, if our lesson's aim is to practice past simple and "used to", we can choose a song with lyrics consisted of verbs in past simple and have our students listen to it by choosing the "Karaoke" option while writing down these verbs. Then, we can write everything on the blackboard and continue with our warm-up.
•  Apart from grammar points, Lyrics Training can be useful for introducing vocabulary. If our lesson's topic is the importance of protecting our environment we can use The Cranberries song "Time is Ticking Out" to introduce our students words like 'ozone layer', 'consequences', 'radiation' etc. This can be the starting point of brainstorming and discussion about environment.

Out of classroom

I believe that the real power of Lyrics Training website is what our learners can do with it outside the classroom. This site is perfect for independent study. Our students can listen to as many songs as they wish!

Why Lyrics Training website is great for independent study!

I guarantee that every human being listens to some kind of music, rock, pop etc. Lyrics Training website covers many such genres and our students can have the chance to listen to a wide variety of songs. They will choose the songs they like and listen to them while seeing their lyrics. Of course, we can guide them to watch particular videos but I am sure that they will do more than this.

Why I say 'yes' to Lyrics Training! 

•  Our students can practice their listening skills infinitely in a more relaxing way.
• I believe that even if some of them do not want to play the game, they will at least click on the 'Karaoke' button so that they can see the lyrics and sing the song. After all, most of us tend to search for videos in YouTube displaying also the lyrics. Furthermore, our students will try to sing the songs thus they can practice their reading skills, their pronunciation and a more natural way of speaking including contractions and reduced forms of language.
• Students with musical aptitude will be benefited.
• The songs are authentic and up to date so students might be more motivated to listen to them and learn English. 
• Music is culture, so our students can become familiarized with the English culture.
• The website is very interactive in the way it works so students can scaffold themselves by repeating or pausing the lines.
• Feedback is also provided and our students have the chance to play again the game trying to achieve higher scores.

Limitations to think about!

• There is only one type of activity, fill in the gaps. However, we can always use other listening activities to supplement it.
• We should be careful with videos containing inappropriate words, meanings or images.
• Some contractions may get our students confused. We should warn them as well as inform them about informal and formal way of writing.

One last tip

Even though Lyrics Training website is very interesting and I believe that most of our students will happily use it, we should find ways to check if they actually do this and give them our own feedback. In this way, their motivation will be even more increased. For example, we can make posters in the classroom with the songs that our students like, or we can ask them to make posters with interesting words that they have learnt!

So, let's go ahead and take advantage of our students need to listen to songs!


Printscreens from Lyrics Training