📘 Part 3: Songs and poems

This episode's vocabulary

Humorous (adj.) - funny, or making you laugh.

To recite (verb) - to say a piece of writing aloud from memory, or to publicly say a list of things.

The sky is the limit (idiom) - there is no limit.

Complex (adj.) - involving a lot of different but related parts.

To grasp (verb) - to understand something, especially something difficult.

The jury is out (phrase) - If you say that the jury is out or that the jury is still out on a particular subject, you mean that people in general have still not made a decision or formed an opinion about that subject.

Specifics (plural noun) - exact details.

Rhythmic (adj.) - a rhythmic sound has a regular movement or beat that is repeated.

To trigger (verb) - to cause something to start.

To enhance (verb) - to improve the quality, amount, or strength of something.

Anthem (noun) - a song that has special importance for a particular group of people, an organization, or a country, often sung on a special occasion.

Gathering (noun) - a party or a meeting when many people come together as a group.

Hymn (noun) - a song of praise, esp. to God.

Verse (noun) - one of the parts that a poem or song is divided into.

Contingent on/upon something (phrase) - depending on something else in the future in order to happen.

Astute (adj.) - able to understand a situation quickly and see how to take advantage of it.

To aid (verb) - help, typically of a practical nature.

Retention (noun) - the continued use, existence, or possession of something or someone.

Contemporary (adj.) - existing or happening now, and therefore seeming modern.

Questions and Answers

M: What can people learn from songs or poems?

R: Well, all kinds of things. There's this particularly humorous example of this guy playing the piano and reciting the periodic table that I think helps people remember elements of it, if you'll pardon the pun. So if they can learn that, then the sky is pretty much the limit, isn't it?

M: Is it easier for children to learn a song or poem than adults?

R: That's a good question. I mean, theoretically, children have more time to learn things like songs compared to adults who've got work and social lives. However, the songs might not be as complex, since they can't really grasp the sounds and concepts as easily as adult minds. So I suppose the jury's pretty much kind of out on that one, I suppose. As always, it depends on the specifics.

M: Why might children like the rhythm of songs or poems?

R: Well, if it's a particularly rhythmic one, then it's just fun to listen to, isn't it? I imagine it triggers all kinds of dopamine and other neurotransmitter releases too, which might enhance the feelings they experience. Adults will get that too, but since kids are experiencing them for the first time, the high is likely greater, I'd imagine.

M: Do people in your country listen to songs from other countries?

R: Yes, they do, because Eurovision is quite popular, and that's the time when different European countries come together to share different songs they've written for that particular event. So that's just one example of them coming together to share things. There will be other examples, but that's the leading one.

M: When do people in your country sing songs together?

R: Oh, gosh, well, I suppose the big ones are religious and sporting events. So for example, football clubs tend to have their own songs as well, and they'll probably, if their regional or national teams, have the national or regional anthems as well. And then, if we talk about religious gatherings, of course, when you're together in church, people tend to sing different hymns and verses from the Bible.

M: Where do people in your country go to sing?

R: Well, other than churches and various other religious establishments, they also do it in football stadiums when the matches are on. I think those are the leading ones. Possibly they would also sing when they have certain school competitions, for example. That might be fun for them to join in.

M: Is it easy for people to memorize songs or poems?

R: I think that's probably contingent on two things. The first will be the person or the individual, and the second will be the nature of what it is they have to memorize. So if we think about individuals, I mean, memory is a very personal thing, and some people will have better memories than others. They might be more musically astute, too. So some people are more able to follow a beat, and that can aid with the memory retention. And then on top of that, it's not only about the individual, it's also about the song. So if a song is fairly rhythmic or has lots of repetition or rhyming going on, then that would probably make it easier to remember just through regularity. But if it's something more complex or abstract, like some kind of contemporary poem where the sentences break in half at weird points, then I can see that being an issue for memory.

M: Yay! Thank you, Rory, for your answers!

Discussion

M: So, people can learn different things from songs or poems, and you give an example of a guy playing the piano and reciting the periodic table. So he was kind of like playing the piano. And the same time he was saying the periodic table, to remember the table, or to remember how to play the piano?

R: To remember the table. He was reciting the elements in order from start to finish.

M: Okay. Yeah, but like, what can people learn from songs or poems?

R: Well, in this case, this person is singing the periodic table, and so that combination of things being humorous might help people remember at least parts of the periodic table.

M: Yeah, but what can people learn from songs?

R: Yeah, the periodic table. That's one example of things they can learn.

M: So it's a song about the periodic table?

R: Yeah. So they learn the song and then they learn the periodic table.

M: Ah, okay. Dear listener, you see? So if a song is about the third conditional in the English language, you sing this song about the third conditional, and you remember the third conditional.

R: Well, it might help you. It's not the only thing that will help you. Learning is like a really poorly understood phenomenon at the best of times.

M: And if you say that there is no limit to what can be learned from poems and songs, you can say the sky is the limit. So there is no limit. We say that we recite poetry. So we recite poems. So when you learn a poem and then you say it out loud, you recite a poem, you sing a song, you recite a poem. Children have more time to learn things like songs compared to adults. So just children have more time to learn poems or songs, and it might be easier for children to grasp the sounds of a song. So to understand the sounds of a song, to grasp it.

R: It might be. Like learning in adults and children, again, it's very poorly understood.

M: Or you can say that children usually have better memories as they have a younger brain. Okay? Or it's like more interesting for children, and children's songs or poems are usually funny, short and easy to remember. Every song has a rhythm, okay? So this rhythm of a song, this kind of like strong pattern of sounds, okay? And children usually enjoy, um, rhythmic songs. Songs like Baby Shark... The rhythm. Yeah, like a catchy tune. And children are fond of rhythmic songs. They are fun to listen to. So don't forget to, listen to songs. And such a song triggers all kinds of dopamine. Dopamine is this happy hormone. Dopamine.

R: On the subject of different hormones and things, do you know that you have a painkiller that's naturally secreted by your body in your saliva? That's something... It's several times more powerful than morphine.

M: Really?

R: Yeah. It's in very small amounts, though, but it's the reason why you can bite your tongue and then you don't feel as much pain afterwards.

M: Oh, wow. That's exciting. People sing songs together, usually at football stadium, when they watch football together and people sing national anthems. Okay, dear listener? A national anthem is a national song. Usually, there's one national anthem and people sing it together. And also at some sporting events, national teams sing a national anthem. You can also speak about religious gatherings. So people go to churches, it's a religious gathering. So people get together for religious purposes, and they sing different hymns.

R: Or they go to the mosque. And I think you sing in the mosque as well. I'm not too clear on that.

M: Yeah, like a hymn is a song of praise that the Christians sing to God. And anthem is a song that has special importance for a particular group of people or country. Usually, we say like the national anthem. In churches, people usually recite verses from the Bible. So they kind of, they sing them. So lines or verses from the Bible, dear listener. The, the article. What do you call a group of people who sing together? For example, in a church.

R: A choir.

M: Yeah. A choir has an interesting spelling. A choir, a group of people who sing together. So you can say that people could sing in a church choir, for example. Or they just sing in a choir because they learn how to sing, for example. If you want to say it depends on, you can say it's contingent on different things. Astute is a nice adjective, which means to be able to understand a situation quickly and see how to take advantage of it. So, for example, an astute investor, an astute businesswoman. And, Rory, you used this adjective about what?

R: Did I say musically astute? I can't remember now.

M: Yeah.

R: Yes, aha.

M: And some songs are easy to memorize because they are rhythmic and they have rhymes. So like Rory story, you see? It's a rhyme. Rory story. Rhymes.

R: I have just checked word astute. It's a C1-level word, so it's still band seven or band eight.

M: Yeah. Could you give us an example about songs music and the word astute?

R: Well, I suppose musicians have to be musically astute.

M: Yeah.

R: Well, successful musicians have to be musically astute. Of course, this is just according to an AI on Google. So take from that what you will. Other websites seem to think that it is C2 level. I want to believe it's C2-level because that means I said something that would give me a band nine score.

M: Yay! Right, dear listener. So from songs and poems so we can learn about different cultures. Thank you very much for listening, and we'll get back to you in our next episode! Bye!

R: Bye!

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