There are two subjects which are commonly referenced as “things that are easier to learn as a child”: music and foreign languages.

What we are now learning is that those two subjects reinforce each other. For the same reason that young minds adapt quickly to musical concepts such as pitch and rhythm and harmony, new sounds equating to meaning – linguistic reference points – take hold with greater fluidity.

A Southern California music teacher has begun releasing her own CDs of songs sung in Spanish, designed to help young English speakers expand their vocabulary en espanol. Sara Quintanar is her name, and the story of how these songs came about is an interesting one:

http://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/news/tn-gnp-me-music-teacher-20170701-story.html

What began as a musical visit to students’ Spanish classes turned into an interdisciplinary project. Music taught words smoothly, and repetition of melodies helped reinforce the new vocabulary.

Music And Language In Cincinnati

Here in Cincinnati, music can serve as a gateway to other languages. Since we don’t live near a national border, it is not always as easy for us Cincinnatians to practice our foreign-language chops in an immersion setting.

But, as a student of opera can tell you, learning the great arias – in Italian, German, French, Russian, as well as English – is a surefire path toward proficiency in those language. The performance needs to express the text emotionally, and the singer needs to understand, syllable by syllable, what each nugget of libretto serves to communicate.

For Cincinnati music lessons at our Sharonville studio – on drums, piano, bass, double bass, guitar, woodwinds, trumpet, violin, viola, and voice — contact Toedtman School of Music by calling 513.772.7900, or by filling out the contact form below.