10 March 2011 (Thursday)

This week we again had 5 students.

As we waited for students to arrive we watched "How Do You Do" (video, lyrics) by beFour (bio).

I mentioned to the class that this weekend I would go see a concert by Khaira Arby (Seattle Times article about her).  I showed a video and asked if anyone would like to join me.  No one was interested; this is not the kind of music the class likes, I guess. (Note after the concert: it was FANTASTIC and I loved the concert!!)

Next we listened to a song called "Go Hard" (video with lyrics) by Thai, Nump Trump & Dew Deezy.  This song was chosen because one of the rappers in the crew is Vietnamese.

After this song we talked a while about why some videos rely on showing extreme materialism and emphasize sex so much.  One student mentioned that when a woman watches a video like that, she's looking at the clothes she would like, while the guy is looking at the beautiful girls he fantasizes about having.  That's a good observation!  Another student said that the visuals are meant to distract from the lack of talent in the song; that when a song is good, it doesn't need all those extreme visuals.  Another good explanation.

Along that theme, that it's more about the song than the visual, I played Susan Boyle's (bio) "I Dreamed A Dream" (video, lyrics) performance from Britain's Got Talent to show how a visual can make one impression (how people reacted when she came out on stage) but the actual performance can change that perception (and many people we ashamed at their reaction to her visual presence once they heard her voice).

Speaking of talent, I showed a video of KT Tunstall (bio) and how she, as one person, could build a song up from many parts, by herself, using taping + loops. "Black Horse & The Cherry Tree" (video, lyrics) live on French television.

The next song was "African Queen" (video, lyrics) by 2Face Idibia (bio).  I noted that in this song he compared a woman's beauty to the moon; I find this a very romantic comparison.  One of the students from Vietnam said that it is also common there to compare a woman's beauty to the moon.

Next was a clip from the Arab's Got Talent show, which has just started.  We watched the Salama Crew (video). It is very interesting to see how these kinds of shows are done in different countries/cultures!

Next was another Arabic video, "Aa Bali Habibi" (video with English translation) by Elissa (bio).  Mohanned, who chose this song, finds the lyrics to be so extremely overdramatic that it is hard for him to listen to them.  He showed another example from her with "Bitmoun" (English: "I owe you") (video).  Sabine, who lived in Tunesia, loves this song!

I can't remember how the next song was chosen, but it was "A Time For Us" (video with lyrics) by Andy Williams (bio).  The question arose why the play Romeo & Juliet is considered the greatest love story ever.  That was a great question and I am not sure how it got elevated to that status!  I did find this discussion on the topic.

Someone wanted to hear "Hallelujah" (video, lyrics) by Alexandra Burke (bio).  I asked the student why she chose that song and she said it's because the emotion is so strong.  She had heard it in the movie Shrek.

"Hallelujah" is a classic song from the 1960's, originally by Leonard Cohen (bio).  I showed how he originally did it.

Next song was "Isnebo" (video) by Faadah Kawtal.

Our time for this week was coming to an end and the last song chosen was "Irreplaceable" (video, lyrics) by Beyonce (bio). The theme of that song is telling a guy to not get so sure of himself to think that he cannot be replaced.

That inspired me to show my favorite song on that topic: "Tyrone" (video, lyrics) by Erykah Badu (bio).

And with that, class for the week was over.  Very fun!!

3 March 2011 (Thursday)

5 students today.  It is starting to be the same students each week, which is nice since we get to know each other and the conversations flow more easily between the students themselves.

We watched lots of videos today!!  Starting with "Love... what is it?" (video ; note you can click the "cc" button to see an English translation of the song).  After this song we discussed the philosophy of whether it is better to "have loved and lost or never to have loved at all."  The class has mixed opinions/feelings on this subject.

The next video was definitely less philosophical: "Check It Out" (video, lyrics) by will.i.am (bio) featuring Nicki Minaj (bio).  If I remember correctly, the student chose this song because the guy at the beginning of the video is Korean and there are Korean words in the background of the video.

To my surprise most of the students didn't know the will.i.am song is based on the song "Video Killed The Radio Star" (video, lyrics, song info) by The Buggles (bio).  The Buggles song is significant because it was the very first song ever shown on MTV when it went on the air on 1 August 1981.

Now we were on the topic of songs which sample older songs.  Next song was "The Time (Dirty Bit)" (video, lyrics, song info) by the Black Eyed Peas (bio). 

That song is based on "Time Of My Life" (video, lyrics) from the movie "Dirty Dancing" (info).  I told my students that this movie is a classic in American culture: every American who grew up in the 80's watched this movie.

One student said he is not familiar with the band Black Eyed Peas.  I cannot imagine *anyone* on the planet right now is not familiar with at least this song by them: "I Gotta Feeling" (video, lyrics).  Indeed, as soon as it started he said "Oh yeah, I know that song!".

We talked a bit about how simplistic the lyrics for Black Eyed Peas songs are.  But most of the students said often the lyrics don't matter, they just want a beat to dance to.

Next up was Shakira (bio) "Waka Waka" (video, lyrics, song information), the official song for the 2010 World Cup.  This song has lots of dancing and, in keeping with our theme for the day, it turns out it is not her original song -- it is originally a Cameroonian song (video)!  It is a song soldiers sing to stay happy.  In that sense it is like a Black Eyed Peas song: it's not deep, just creates a good mood.

Here's a video interview where Shakira takes full credit for writing the song, but if you listen to the original version above, she just took over an existing song! Apparently Shakira didn't have to pay anything to the original composers of the song because they didn't copyright it. Apparenly Shakira's not the first to steal the song: here's another Latin American version of it.

Now we moved off of songs which have their basis in other songs.  One of the Korean students chose "Rocketeer" (video, lyrics) by Far East Movement (bio) featuring Ryan Tedder (bio).

Today there was a new student in the class and I asked her to choose a song.  She chose "I have a dream" (video, lyrics) by Westlife (bio).

After this song another student chose "When You Say Nothing At All" (video, lyrics) by Ronan Keating (bio).  The student who chose this one said it is the song he heard when he met his girlfriend at a cafe in Ho Chi Minh city.

Another student has a similar song: "No One Like You" (video, lyrics) by P Square (bio); she was listening to this song when she met her boyfriend (I think that's the right version of the story...).  I pointed out that in the lyrics there are some African dialect phrases and words inserted, which are not used in American English.

By now we had watched lots of videos and had great conversations but it was time to go end this week's class.  The last song of the day was "Separate Ways" (video, lyrics) by Journey (bio).  I asked the student why he chose this old song and he said it was his father's favorite song and his father used to play it at home all the time.

24 February 2011 (Thursday)

The weather today was very cold with the threat of snow.  Only four students showed up.

As we waited to see if more people would come we watched the video for the Beyonce (bio) song Halo (video, lyrics).  I explained what a halo is and how to pronounce the world.  I asked the student who chose the song why she likes it. She said she likes it because it's about love.

One of the students asked me to remind her where the dance lessons in the area are.  They are 1/2 block from where we do the conversation class, at the Century Ballroom (website, map)!  We looked at the schedule of dance classes offered and watched some videos of the types of dances: Lindy Hop, Samba. 

I then showed the salsa dancing part of the song Isla Margarita (video) by my friends Children Of The Revolution (website).

Now we moved from talking about dancing back to music. The song was Uncle Kracker (bio) "Oh You Make Me Smile" (video, lyrics, song info).  The video we watched for this song is not the official video, but the student it because she likes horses and the video is all about riding.

Somehow we got onto the subject of the Muslim tradition of the Hajj (info), but I can't remember anymore how we go onto that topic.  But I enjoy discussions about other cultures and traditions.

By now we had talked a lot in the class but hadn't watched very many videos.  The last video of the day was "Erdene" (video) by Bold, featuring Oyun.  The song means "I love you" in Mongolian.

17 February 2011 (Thursday)

8 students today, two of whom were new!

As I chatted with the new students at the beginning of class I asked if they have very many interactions with Americans.  Basically they do not: they live with friends from their home country, or alone, and are among the other international students all day at Seattle Central.  It's a shame that they are here in America, but have so little contact with Americans!

I know from my own experience living abroad how hard it can be to integrate with local people.  In the past I have tried to give my Language Of Music students a taste of local culture and I will do the same with this group.  I like the personalities I have in the class and I am sure I will find some fun things for the group to do.

One student wants to learn to dance Salsa.  In the building attached to where our class is The Century Ballroom (website), which has dance classes of all types throughout the week.

The theme for today's discussion was "love songs" in honor of Valentine's Day earlier in the week.  But before we started with love songs I asked the two new students to pick a song from their home country.

Sabine, from Cameroon started and chose Ca La (video) by Lady Ponce.  The style of music is "Bikutsi" (info) which is the most popular musical style in Cameroon.  Lady Ponce is a new singer on the scene and a rising star.

I asked what the song is about.  Sabine said it's Lady Ponce beckoning a man to be with her.  I asked Sabine if the men in Cameroon are good and she replied only about 20% of them are good.  So I guess Lady Ponce has to do a lot of beckoning ;-) .

Next Mohanned, from Saudi Arabia, chose a song.  Fortunately it was also in the theme of "love": "The Wedding" (video) by Qusai and Jeddah Legend (info) which is a Saudi rap song about getting married. It is interesting to hear the mix of English and Arabic and the mix of rap and traditional in the song and video.

At this point I asked the class how long wedding celebrations typically last in their home countries.  It was interesting to hear about the traditions.  Some places celebrate just for one day, other places for three days.

While we were talking about weddings I thought to ask the class if men are "romantic" in their culture.  I was asked to define "romantic";  I said "giving flowers to a woman" is gave an example of a man being romantic.  

We talked about in which ways men are romantic in different cultures for a while and then I asked everyone to say "I love you" in their own language so we could hear it.  Then we talked about whether a person says "I love you" to his/her husband/wife or to his/her parents in their cultures.

I found the whole conversation fascinating, but we weren't actually watching any music videos.  But that was fine: the point of the class is to practice speaking English and everyone was talking :-) .

Now I suggested we listen to a song.  Togtuun, one of the students from Mongolia, wanted to hear the song "Patient" (video, lyrics) by a rapper named Tulgat.  The interesting thing is that this rapper is from Mongolia but moved to the States -- to Seattle! -- as a teenager.  He has quite a story and is a good rapper -- listen to the song!

Haili, the other student from Mongolia, had brought with her a traditional Mongolian stringed instrument, a "morin khuur" (info).  She played two songs for us.  It was great!  How kind of her to bring the instrument and play for us!!  These kinds of experiences are why I love hosting this class!  Here is an example of a morin khuur being played.

I asked if there are any examples of songs where the morin khuur is combined with modern music.  Haili showed us the song "Mongolz" (video) by Jonon.  Very cool mix of traditional and modern!  I am intrigued to learn more about Mongolian music and culture!

This reminded me of when I learned about the Yoshida Brothers (吉田兄弟) (info) from one of my Japanese students when I first started leading this class almost 5 years ago; she had wanted to show me how a traditional Japanese instrument, the shamisen, was being played in a modern context.  I quickly showed the class two Yoshida Brothers videos: "Kodo" (video) and "Rising" (video) (which has a full rock band behind the brothers!). 

I would have never discovered the Yoshida Brothers if not for this class.  And I had the good fortune to see them in a small club in Seattle with my student when they came on tour in the US.  This was a special treat for her, as the Yoshida Brothers normally only play big halls in Japan.

By now we had been talking for more than 90 minutes and I hadn't been able to hear many picks of love songs.  It was time to close the class for this week, but we will continue with the theme of love songs next week.

10 February 2011 (Thursday)

First thing: in honor of Valentine's Day the theme for Thursday's (17 Feb) class is "your favorite love songs".  Students, please think of your favorite love songs (in any language, not just English) and we will listen to them on Thursday.

On 10 February, eleven students showed up!

We did a round of introductions, which included name, country of origin and favorite music. 

For the first time I have students from Mongolia and also Russian students from the Russian Far East.  I was surprised to learn that their city, Khabarovsk (map, info), is only 30km from China! 

I mentioned that I dream of visiting Lake Baikal (map, info) and one of my students said she spent a summer -- 3 months! -- there.  I had to teach the class the word "envious" (it is like "jealous") at this point.  I imagine Lake Baikal to be very beautiful and magical.  One day I must go there!

Back to music: It seems to me that R&B and hip-hop are particularly well liked.  I look forward to learning more about the students' taste in music over the coming weeks.

I asked the class if they know any music or bands from Seattle.  Blank looks.  So I showed them the video to the most famous song from Seattle ever: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (video, lyrics) by Nirvana (bio).  As soon as the song started half the class nodded in recognition of the song.

Since so many people in the class said they like hip-hop, I mentioned that Seattle has some hip-hop bands that are getting nationwide attention.  The most well known one is Shabazz Palaces (bio).  I don't know their music well myself, so I just picked the song on YouTube with the most views "Belhaven Meridian" (video).

Coincidentally, in the Seattle Times newspaper this week there was an article about a local rapper named Macklemore.  He has sold out three nights at the Showbox (my favorite live music venue in the world) and is going out on a national tour.  Here you can read the article and see some of his videos.

To see what kind of music the students like I asked for someone to pick a song.  First choice was "Who's That Chick" (song, lyrics) by Rihanna (bio).  As we watched the song and read the lyrics I explained what the word "tipsy" means (it means to have feel that you have drunk some alcohol, but you are not yet drunk).

The next song chosen was "Take Your Shirt Off" (video, lyrics) by T-Pain (bio).  After we watched it I asked the student who picked the song why she likes that song.  She answered that when she is sad, it makes her happy.  She doesn't pay attention to the lyrics, she just likes the energy of the song.

But she did mention that she is getting bored of the song.  At this point I explained the different forms of using the word "bored" and "boring".  For example, you can say:

"That song is boring."

"That song bores me."

"That song is boring to me."

But you *cannot* say "I am boring" if you mean to say "That is boring" -- the two sentences have very different meanings!

Speaking of club music like T-Pain, one of the students says he has been to the Seattle club "Trinity" but hasn't yet been to "Venom".  He said Trinity was ok but nothing special.

Another student had an example of a song which she likes to listen to when she feels pressure: "Kurenai" (video) by X-Japan (bio).  It was interesting to me to hear that the lyrics are a mix of English and Japanese.

This video was taken at their last concert, before they broke up.  The band actually got back together for reunion concerts, but the original guitarist had died during the time between, so they had a special place for him on the stage.

I mentioned that a Seattle band, Alice In Chains (bio) has a similar situation: The original singer died a few years ago and when the band plays the song "Black Gives Way To Blue" (video, lyrics), which is dedicated to him, they put a microphone on the stage where he would have stood.

Someone in the class mentioned at this point that Seattle songs seem to be pretty depressing.  I guess there's truth to that observation.  I motioned to the window and said, "With this kind of weather, what do you expect?!?"

I asked one of the students who hadn't been talking very much to choose a song.  He chose "No Promises" (video, lyrics) by Shayne Ward (bio).

Now one of the Russian students introduced us to a Russian rapper, Timati (bio), which features Snoop Dogg (bio), "Groove On" (video, lyrics).

Next song was a switch back to mellow: "I Believe I Can Fly" (video, lyrics) by Ronan Keating (bio).

The last song of the day was a perfect example of why I love doing this class.  It is a video with all the Mongolian music stars -- of every genre -- singing together: "Ugluu shig eh oron" (video). What a great way to learn about Mongolian music in one song/video!  (It's a long song and worth watching all the way through!)

With that everyone went home for the day.  I hope the students enjoyed the music and the conversation and will come back again on Thursday the 17th.

3 February 2011 (Thursday)

Today was the first day of class for the quarter, and the first class I have done in nearly two years(!!).  

I was curious to see how many students would show up, especially since this was the first time I am doing the class at Seattle Central in years; usually once I have established the class at a college, there are at least a few people who continue from one quarter to the next and they bring their friends.

In this case, it was a completely fresh start and I was curious to see how many students would show up.

I arrived at the classroom at 5pm. The clock continued to roll and no one showed up.

As I waited I made the plan to email my contacts at Seattle Central the next day (Friday) and suggest that next week I visit the English classes in person to promote the class.

By 5:10pm, it was clear no one was going to come so I started packing my things.  Suddenly one of the ESL teachers showed up with 6 students!  My face brightened.  

We did some quick introductions, but it was clear that most of the students had not actually planned on staying late after school this evening, so four of the six left shortly after the introductions.  Nonetheless two stayed and we had a great conversation for over an hour. :-)

We started by talking about where they are from.  Deniz is from Turkey and Helga is from Taiwan.

Deniz is especially interested in dance so showed them a clip of my friend, Encarna, doing one of her flamenco performances (video).

We continued talking about theatrical/dance performances.  I told them there is this great cabaret in Seattle called Teatro Zinzanni (website).  It has fantastic performances, but is expensive.  It's worth the money, if you can afford it, though!

I also mentioned that Cirque Du Soleil (website) is coming to Everett (20 minutes drive north of Seattle) March 16 - 20.  They were not familiar with Cirque Du Soleil, so we watched a performance clip (video) so they could see what it's about.  I have long wanted to see Cirque Du Soleil and might finally go.

We started talking about other cultural things to do Seattle besides just music-related ones.  I told them there are some great place up on Capitol Hill, right around Seattle Central:

• Town Hall (website, map) has very interesting presentations and lectures. They usually cost about $5 to attend.
• Elliott Bay Books (events, map) is around the corner from SCCC and is the best bookstore in Seattle and has many interesting presentaions by authors.
• The first Thursday of every month the art galleries in Pioneer Square are open late and lots of people go look at what is on offer (information). 

The return of the Language of Music conversation group!

I never anticipated the break for the Language of Music conversation group would be so long, but the break is over -- starting Thursday, 3 February, I will be hosting the class again every week.  

Since I am working in Seattle (as opposed to Redmond, as previously), the group will meet at Seattle Central Community College.

I look forward to meeting the new group of students and I look forward to learning about the music they like!

Notice: No more Language Of Music meetings for a while!

Thank you to all my students at BCC for coming to the Language Of Music English conversation group each week; I have enjoyed very much learning about you and the music you like.

Unfortunately I have started a new job which will not allow me to regularly come to BCC Thursday afternoons. Until I find a new solution (ex. a new time/day of the week to meet or if someone else will host the conversation on Thursday afternoons), there will be no more meetings.

I will stay in touch! And feel free to contact me any time if you have questions about musical or cultural events in Seattle.

22 January 2009 (Thursday)

After last week's small turnout I was curious to see how many showed up for the next class... Eight students came, four of whom were new. This quarter is starting off so differently from other quarters! But of course I am enjoying the class, as always!

I asked one of the new students to pick a song. He choose "Take Me To Your Heart" (video, lyrics) by Michael Learns To Rock (bio).







Another new student chose the next song: Celine Dion (bio) "A New Day Has Come" (video, lyrics).








Somehow we started talking about the theme music to the old TV comedy "Friends" (info). We listened to the theme song "I'll Be There For You" (video, lyrics) and I explained what "DOA" means in the lyrics (it's short for "dead on arrival", i.e. the lyric "your love life's DOA" means "you love life is totally dead.")

Speaking of tv comedies, I mentioned that my favorite comedy is "My Name Is Earl" (info) which is one at 8pm on Thursdays. But it is so full of references to American culture that I doubt my students would think it's actually very funny...

I also told the class about another US cultural phenomenon: The late night talk shows that start at 11.30pm after the news. On Channel 5 is "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" (info) and on Channel 7 is "Late Night With David Letterman" (info). For millions of Americans every evening ends watching the news, then falling asleep watching Leno or Letterman.


Another Celine Dion song was chosen and I had to tell the class that the late night comedians often make jokes about how over-dramatic Ms. Dion can be. But there's no denying she is extremely popular!

We watched Celine Dion duet with Il Divo (bio) on "I Believe In You" (video, lyrics). Actually, we were looking for the song she duets where the guy sings in Italian, but now I've forgotten which song we found...




At this point we all agreed we needed something non-Celine Dion, something heavier. "Crawling" (video, lyrics) by Linkin Park (bio) was suggested and watched.

Um, that was a bit *too* heavy for most of the class!...



We settled on something in the middle of Linkin Park and Celine Dion: Rihanna (bio) "Umbrella" (video, lyrics).





Rihanna is friends with Chris Brown (bio), so we watched his song "With You" (video, lyrics).

One of the new students, Vu, likes the dancing in Chris's song "Say Goodbye" (video, lyrics), so we watched that as the last song of the day.

I noted that the lyrics of "Say Goodbye" are almost exactly opposite of those of "With You" -- girls, beware of that guy! ;-)

15 January 2009 (Thursday)

The Language Of Music conversation class is back! After December holidays and snowstorms the first class of the 2009 Winter Quarter! Normally the first class of a quarter is overflowing with new students who show up to check out what the class is about. I was surprised that this time only five students showed up! Not only that, but four of the five were students from last quarter; the only new student was a Colombian friend of Diego's.

While such a low turnout was surprising, it was also just fine as it let me catch up with my old students about how their holidays were. For most of the class time we just caught up with each other, telling what we did through December rather than particularly talking about music! Aoi was back in Japan for the holidays and told us about the tradition of watching "Kohaku" (紅白歌合戦) (info). She told us how two teams, one which is women in red and one which is men in white, do a competition. We didn't find any clips from this year's Kohaku on YouTube, but watched this one as an example of the program.

Later, when we did talk about music a bit, Hyeijin mentioned that she is not a big fan of Jason Mraz (bio), an artist she discovered in this class! Her favorite song by him is "If It Kills Me" (video, lyrics).





I don't remember exactly how the next song came up but we watched "So Sick" (video, lyrics) by Ne-Yo (bio). The winter theme of the video fits Winter Quarter!

There is a "female perspective/answer" to Ne-Yo's song (song with lyrics).



It was great to see the familiar faces again, but that's all the music we talked about today. :-)

25 November 2008 (Tuesday) -- Flamenco Performance!

I have told my students countless times about the great flamenco show my friends Eric and Encarna do every Tuesday evening at the Capitol Club (website) in Seattle. I convinced a group of students to trek over to Seattle for the evening of the 25th to see it for themselves. About 20 (including friends and boyfriends) showed up -- we filled the club! And Eric and Encarna (with a special guest appearance by Vassili) played a *great* show!!

A lot of pictures were taken during the performance, but the only one that I have from my camera is the one above (students, please send me your favorite pictures so I can post them!).

If you liked that show, I highly recommend that you get tickets to see their full band (Children Of The Revolution) on January 16th at the Triple Door. They will play two sets: one which is open to all ages (7.30pm) and one which is 21 and over (10pm). Get tickets here (buy tickets early -- both shows will sell out!!).

By the way, I go to the Capitol Club very often on Tuesday evenings to see Eric and Encarna play -- if any of you ever want to go again, just let me know!