Are musicians better language learners?
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| | | I personally don't believe this to be true-- the way it's been presented | Mar 1, 2014 |
I would agree that the musically talented people are also usually good at languages-- especially as far as the pronunciation is concerned. I've known some people exposed to music from an early age who speak just one language and do not even have any interest in learning other languages.
| | | | | For languages with rythm it can be true | Mar 1, 2014 |
For English,(just as an example) yes (at least in my opinion) as it has a lot of rythm, but for French or German I am not sure it is true.
[Edited at 2014-03-01 14:36 GMT]
| | | | | Why would English be abny differnt? | Mar 1, 2014 |
There are more musical languages than English--tonal, or semi-tonal languages, like Swedish or Lithuanian. Not to mention Cantonese.
Each language has its own rhythm.
[Edited at 2014-03-01 14:14 GMT]
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LilianBNekipelo wrote:
There are more musical languages than English--tonal, or semi-tonal languages, like Swedish or Lithuanian. Not to mention Cantonese.
Each language has its own rhythm.
[Edited at 2014-03-01 14:14 GMT]
I just can judge languages that I know, this is why I mentioned English.
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| tonal and other things | Mar 1, 2014 |
There's a lot of discussion days in music forums about speakers of Oriental languages having a higher incidence of "perfect pitch" (the ability to hear distinct pitches) because the language itself forces this awareness. It does appear that a high proportion of linguists are also involved in music, and a high proportion of the musicians that I have met also have a facility in languages.
Both music and language work with patterns and communication through sound and rhythm. In fact,... See more There's a lot of discussion days in music forums about speakers of Oriental languages having a higher incidence of "perfect pitch" (the ability to hear distinct pitches) because the language itself forces this awareness. It does appear that a high proportion of linguists are also involved in music, and a high proportion of the musicians that I have met also have a facility in languages.
Both music and language work with patterns and communication through sound and rhythm. In fact, in the Roman days somebody borrowed from how music was written in Greek times, to create markings to help with oration. Then around the Renaissance (?), the musicians borrowed from what was written in Rome for orators and their speeches, and applied it back to music. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | my experience proves the opposite | Mar 2, 2014 |
I was an English language teacher in a grammar school that hosted the secondary music school, and to my surprise, too, those pupils were not very successful in English. As I am a singer myself, I thought till then that my talent for music and my talent for languages were one
| | | | | Yes, I agree. Talents are usually separate, although they may | Mar 2, 2014 |
occasionally come in groups, which cannot be treated as any type of rule, though. Plus, the article really claims that just being exposed to music helps tremendously in language learning, which I find to be an overstatement.
On the other hand, the people who do not have a good sense of hearing have problems correctly pronouncing words in a second language. So, you definitely need good hearing, which most musicians would have, to master a language. The mere fact that someone can... See more occasionally come in groups, which cannot be treated as any type of rule, though. Plus, the article really claims that just being exposed to music helps tremendously in language learning, which I find to be an overstatement.
On the other hand, the people who do not have a good sense of hearing have problems correctly pronouncing words in a second language. So, you definitely need good hearing, which most musicians would have, to master a language. The mere fact that someone can correctly repeat words does not mean, however, that they will be able to learn the grammar, or memorize the vocabulary of a new language, easily. There is more to language learning than the correct pronunciation.
Well, my mother was musician and a music teacher-- and she was quite good with languages, but probably not so great with grammar right away. My father, on the other hand--who was more a science-oriented person and an industrial designer was excellent at languages--he spoke three of them at a "native level" and two other languages at a top level. He loved music though, as well. So, I think it all depends on the individual. You definitely cannot create Mozart just by exposing any child to music. Music exposure may have positive effects on children if you expose them to the kind of music each child naturally likes. Otherwise, I doubt it.
[Edited at 2014-03-02 15:26 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lincoln Hui 
Hong Kong
Local time: 01:52
Member
Chinese to English
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| Choral conductor, active accompanist | Mar 2, 2014 |
I should say I'm pretty good at languages, although I'm at the stage where I don't particularly feel motivated to pick up a fourth language.
But then, I'm also pretty good at a lot of things. There are so many factors that you just cannot pin it on one of them; for example, many musicians come from fairly well-to-do families who can afford to give their children a good education.
[Edited at 2014-03-02 16:34 GMT]
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John Moran
Ireland
Local time: 18:52
German to English
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| Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 19:52
Italian to English
In memoriam | To some extent, music and languages are the same thing | Mar 2, 2014 |
Musical notations and second/third/nth languages are similar in that they involve assigning significance to sounds and sound systems that lie outwith the range of the subject's habitual modes of communication.
The sooner you are exposed to them the better. Young children have a greater ability to distinguish and reproduce sounds than adults.
| | | | | I may agree-to some extent-- yes, perhaps. | Mar 3, 2014 |
Musically talented people are most likely good at pronouncing various words in hundreds of languages. Don't forget about the grammar, though, which has not that much to do with music. (At least syntax, not phonology or phonetics--generally speaking)
If listening to music helps one to pronounce words--I really don't know, but not necessarily, I would think, if the person does not have a good sense of hearing.
[Edited at 2014-03-03 11:47 GMT]
| | | | Jessica Noyes
United States
Local time: 13:52
Member
Spanish to English
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In my years as a Spanish and French teacher, I would occasionally encounter someone who studied hard, wrote the language well, but was unable to speak with the correct intonation. They could pronounce the words and knew how to construct a sentence, but no amount of practice would enable them to "get" the intonation. This made their speech difficult to understand. If I asked these people casually if they liked to sing, the response was often, "I'm tone deaf." I can only imagine the trouble they w... See more In my years as a Spanish and French teacher, I would occasionally encounter someone who studied hard, wrote the language well, but was unable to speak with the correct intonation. They could pronounce the words and knew how to construct a sentence, but no amount of practice would enable them to "get" the intonation. This made their speech difficult to understand. If I asked these people casually if they liked to sing, the response was often, "I'm tone deaf." I can only imagine the trouble they would have with tonal languages such as Mixteco or Swahili.
So I will not venture a response to the original question, but rather tentatively suggest that the converse might be partially true. ▲ Collapse
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David Wright
Austria
Local time: 19:52
German to English
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| Skills involved | Mar 6, 2014 |
Anyone who sings/ plays an instrument (with the exception of pre-tuned keyboard instruments) needs to be able to hear other notes exactly to be able to play in tune. Most people sing slightly out of tune, which is why karaoke is such an awful racket, and the ability to sing in tune needs to be trained. This ability to hear and reproduce small differences, I imagine, can be transfered to language learning. After all, a person who hears the german ö as "er" and pronounces it accordingly will neve... See more Anyone who sings/ plays an instrument (with the exception of pre-tuned keyboard instruments) needs to be able to hear other notes exactly to be able to play in tune. Most people sing slightly out of tune, which is why karaoke is such an awful racket, and the ability to sing in tune needs to be trained. This ability to hear and reproduce small differences, I imagine, can be transfered to language learning. After all, a person who hears the german ö as "er" and pronounces it accordingly will never be able to speak it correctly. I doubt whether grammar and vocab skills , or teh ability to write in a foreign language, will be affected by this, though. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I am quite unmusical | Mar 6, 2014 |
It would not surprise me if I was told that language had taken over the areas of my brain that others use for music.
I really have a poor sense of rhythm and coordination (from ball games to touch typing, and don't let me anywhere near playing a musical instrument!!!)
I don't even like poetry very much - with exceptions - though some blank verse and Shakespeare's pentameters are OK. My mother could never understand!
I like so-called classical music, but not... See more It would not surprise me if I was told that language had taken over the areas of my brain that others use for music.
I really have a poor sense of rhythm and coordination (from ball games to touch typing, and don't let me anywhere near playing a musical instrument!!!)
I don't even like poetry very much - with exceptions - though some blank verse and Shakespeare's pentameters are OK. My mother could never understand!
I like so-called classical music, but not thumping rhythms. And I have been exposed to all kinds of music most of my life... with the luxury of working in silence only when I started freelancing and to some extent in-house.
I learned languages with concentration, but not too much effort, right into my thirties and forties - French, Latin, German, Danish, more French and German, smatterings of Swedish and Norwegian.
Here the musical question does arise - written Norwegian especially, and to some extent Swedish, are close to Danish, so reading is not a big problem if you watch out for the false friends. The spoken languages are a challenge to me as to many Scandinavians, because the rhythm and the vowels sound very different. Some dialects are worse than others. Danes slur and mumble... but I am used to them!
Some Scandinavians find it much easier than others to 'tune in' and understand across the borders, and they could well be the more musical ones, I don't know. ▲ Collapse
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