I’ve always had a musician’s brain. Eight years of lessons, marching bands, jazz bands and concert bands. My mind naturally thinks in rhythms and I can’t help it. Never would I have guessed that this skill would translate over to resolve a language barrier.
Every student in my high school was required to have one language under their belt in order to graduate. Hispanic language and culture was something I have such a huge appreciation for. When it came time to select my language pathway freshman year, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to pursue Spanish in my language journey.
It would be a gross understatement to say that the first few weeks of class was rough. The grammar and sentence structure was just not clicking for me and with each class I grew more frustrated. When I had felt that I was right on the verge of giving up, something unexpected happened that caused me to have the one of the biggest educational breakthroughs of my life.
Él música fue la cosa que me ayudó aprender.
Growing up, I had a few brushes with latinx artists. My dad was, and still is, one of the biggest Selena fans. Although it isn’t in Spanish, “Dreaming of You” will always bring me memories of my childhood. During the time that I was struggling with my Spanish courses, I had somehow stumbled back into her music. My iPod almost always had the album “Amor Prohibido” on repeat. Selena Quintanilla Perez was the Tejano Queen for a reason, her voice was like literal silk.
The fact that I couldn’t comprehend her songs due to the language barrier made me so upset. As a fan I felt I wasn’t appreciating her songs to their full potential. Most of the time I found myself looking up the lyrics and trying desperately to learn the song. Little did I know at the time that I was subconsciously immersing myself into the language. Teaching myself to sing along to the Spanish lyrics appealed to the musical part of my brain and acted as the catalyst I needed to make the language really begin to “click.”
Many studies have proven that one of the best ways to learn a language is through natural exposure. As infants, humans learn to speak by listening to their parents. Many believe that the adult brain can also behave this way, just with a much slower retention time. Surrounding yourself with the language and learning how it is applied in everyday situations can allow you to flex and tone the mental muscles you build in the traditional classroom setting.
Having my playlists filled with Romeo Santos and Carlos Santana was just my way of inadvertently immersing. Not only is music something that’s catchy and memorable, it was also portable. I was essentially carrying the language with me in my pocket.
The deeper I got into my passion for the music, the better my grades eventually got. It wasn’t until later in my life that I realized the two were connected. I would even go as far as to confidently say it was more of a direct causation than a coincidental correlation. The research and practice I was doing was almost perfectly complementing the skills I was studying in class.
Fourteen-year-old me would have never dreamed of ever being good enough to earn a language degree. Flash forward 6 years and here I am: a sophomore in college. Not only am I semi-fluent and continuing to pursue my Spanish education but I still listen to the same Selena album so much so that it annoys my roommate.
