Karaoke!
I know what you're going to say, "I can't sing". Well if you can speak, you can sing. (Whether anyone wants to listen to you is a different matter.) So, having settled the fact that you can sing, you can learn English by singing songs! Why not? As I always say to my students - "Whatever works for you."
If you have a Play Station the "SingStar" series is really good fun. Have a party with your friends.
Here are some of the best resources I have found on the web, it's difficult to find free karaoke sites though, due to copyright issues:-
Singsnap - A network of fans.
KaraFun - Online or offline.
karaokemachinecritics - Reviews of karaoke machines.
Alternatives
I realise many people can't afford to buy machines, software and music files, but you can set up your own very cheaply.
- Look for songs that you have on CD/tape or that are being played on the radio a lot.
- Look for free .mid files on the web and the corresponding lyrics, or search YouTube for videos. (A lot of the large record companies are putting their videos on YouTube for free.)
- Print out the lyrics page.
- Play the files on your computer.
- Sing along!
Here are a couple of sites that we have found:-
Free Midi Files - search and download or play on-line.
Free Lyrics - search and find sites that contain the lyrics to almost every song.
Be careful when searching for any kinds of free downloads on the net. Make sure you use reputable sites and virus check anything before you install it on your computer.