Can You Really Learn English Through Songs and Music Ask Alisha
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Lose yourself in the music, the moment, you
own it, you better never let it go.
Hi everybody!
Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series
where you ask me questions and I answer them,
maybe!
Please remember, you can submit your questions
to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha.
This week’s first question is a question from
Bahar…
Bahar?
I’m very sorry.
Hi, Alisha!
I’d like to learn about “as” and “like,” what’s
the difference between them?
To begin with, “like” is a preposition.
Remember, prepositions are words we use to
show relationships to other words, or to position
the elements in a sentence, so for example,
“at” and “by” and “on” are also prepositions.
The word “like” is a preposition; however,
the word “as” is a conjunction.
A conjunction is a word that connects elements
in a sentence, so for example, “and,” “but,”
“or,” “for,” “so,” these words are conjunctions.
That’s point one.
We use “like” and “as” to make comparisons,
the general agreement on how to use “like”
and “as” at this point in time is that if
you are following the word “like” with a simple
statement, like a noun phrase, you should
use the word “like;” if, however, the part
that comes after the word “like” or “as” has
a verb in the clause, there’s a verb in that
part of the sentence, you should use “as”
to do that because “as” functions as a conjunction.
Remember, it’s connecting the elements in
a sentence, so we should use “like” if there’s
just a simple phrase, a simple noun phrase,
something like that after “like” or “as.”
So to give some examples, my coworker eats
like a pig.
In that case, I’ve used the word “like” because
after “like” comes “a pig,” it’s just a simple
noun phrase.
If, however, I said, my coworker eats as if
he were a pig, I’m using the verb “were,”
as if he were, so we can use “as” in cases
wherever we follow the statement with a verb.
We can you “like” in cases where we follow
that statement with a simple noun phrase.
Generally, we use them both to make comparisons.
I’ll say though that native speakers often
make mistakes with this.
Generally speaking now, especially in spoken
conversation in casual spoken conversation,
at least American English speakers, tend to
use “like” more often than “as” in everyday
conversation.
I tend to use “like,” I rely on “like” heavily
for my comparisons in everyday situations.
It’s like you were, it’s like he was, it’s
like blah blah blah.
“As,” I feel, is more common, at least among
American English speakers in writing.
So you might see “as if” and “as though,”
both of those we can use to make comparisons.
“Like” comes before a simple noun phrase;
“as” is used before something containing a
verb.
Yeah, thanks for that question, Bahar.
Next question.
The next question is from Taylor.
Taylor asks which one sounds better, I read
a newspaper every morning or I read the newspaper
every morning?
Nice question.
This is a question about articles, this is
just about being specific.
If, for example, there’s a specific newspaper
that you want to read, like, I read the ABC
newspaper every morning, you should use “the.”
If it’s not important to you to be specific
about a newspaper and if you want to imply
that you just read any newspaper every morning,
you can use a newspaper, I read a newspaper
every morning.
Using “the” instead though shows that there’s
maybe a specific newspaper.
Using “the” before newspaper in this case
though sounds like there’s a specific newspaper
you read every morning.
If you say, I read a newspaper every morning,
it sounds like you just choose any newspaper
that’s available to you on that day and you
read that newspaper.
So using “the” shows that there’s a specific
or it implies that there’s a specific newspaper
you’ll read every day.
You don’t have to be specific about which
one, you can, like, I read the New York Times
every day or I read that Guardian every day,
for example.
But if you say I read a newspaper every day,
it sounds like you don’t choose the same news
paper each day.
That’s the difference between these two phrases,
most people, however, do choose the same newspaper
every day and so they use I read the newspaper
every day.
You can say I read the news every day, as
well; but using that set phrase, the news,
it’s like the news for the day, I read that
day’s news every day, or I read the previous
day’s news every day.
So usually we say “the” news, we don’t use
“a” news, it sounds a little strange to use
“a” news.
So the same sort of thing applies to a newspaper,
most people choose the same newspaper every
day, so we say “the” newspaper instead of
“a” newspaper.
But thanks to that question, Taylor, nice!
Next question!
Next question comes from Brian…
Brian?
I’m very sorry.
Hey, Alisha, what’s your height?
I am 1,000 centimeters tall or maybe I’m 6
centimeters tall and this whole thing has
just been a scam the entire time.
Next question!
Next question is from Farris…?
Farris Godsally?
I’m very sorry!
Farris asks, hey Alisha, can we use “hasn’t”
in an essay?
Hasn’t is the contracted form of “has not.”
You can, it’s physically possible for you
to use “hasn’t” in an essay, sure.
But if you use contractions in your writing,
it makes you, in my opinion, it makes you
sound a bit less formal.
If you use the expanded form, the non-contracted
version, you’re gonna sound a bit more formal,
a bit more polished, I feel.
This does not only apply to the word “has
not” and “hasn’t” therefore, this applies
to all contractions really.
The answer is, yes, you can, but I don’t necessarily
recommend it if you want to sound formal and
polished.
Thanks for that question, though, Farris!
Next question!
Next question is from another person called
Taylor, maybe Taylor submitted more than one
question, I don’t know.
Do these have different meanings?
There is not a quiz today, and there is no
quiz today.
There is not homework, there is no homework.
There are not flowers, there are no flowers.
They really mean the same things, they communicate
the same idea.
I would say, though, it’s more natural not
to use an article but you would not have any
communication problem if you said there is
not homework today, there is not a quiz today.
Thanks for that question, Taylor!
Next question!
Next question comes from Ray.
Ray asks, hey Alisha, I like rap songs, is
it effective if I learn English by memorizing
and singing a rap song like lose yourself
by Eminem?
This is a very specific question.
Is it effective?
If you only want to learn the English in that
song, sure, using music in media is, of course,
helpful in learning, not only words like vocabulary
words but also learning a bit about pop culture
from the language that you’re studying.
In that way, in that respect, yes, it can
be effective for learning; however, things
to keep in mind, number one, by studying a
song or something like that, you may learn
some incorrect grammar or you may find that
the words, the word play, the vocabulary words
that are chosen are not the words that native
speakers use in everyday life, or it’s only
a speaking pattern that that artist uses,
so that’s a risk.
Two, you might not realize it but you might
study some vocabulary words that are extremely
rude or that are not appropriate for you to
use.
You might sound a bit strange if you use those
words.
Three, there might be a very limited number
of situations where you can actually apply
those words, and he’s using like little interjections
throughout that song, like “snap back to reality,
oh, there goes gravity…”
That’s not something that most of us use in
everyday speech.
If you can keep those points in mind, go for
it!
I think it’s really really fun to study with
something like music and movies because you
get to enjoy yourself while you study.
I actually use music, that was part of the
reason that I got interested in another language,
was through music, but just keep in mind that
the way that you speak and the way your favorite
artist speaks maybe a little bit different.
If you want to learn to speak like Eminem,
for sure, you should listen to Eminem’s music.
But just remember, like, if you sound like
Eminem when you speak, it’s gonna really surprise
a native speaker and maybe not, it’s maybe
gonna confuse people.
Thanks for that question, Ray, it’s really
interesting.
Okay, so those are all the questions that
I want to answer this week.
Thanks very much for sending in all your questions.
Remember, you can send them to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha
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for more good stuff.
Thanks very much for watching this week’s
episode of Ask Alisha.
I will see you again next Saturday.
Bye-bye!
It’s been a long time since I listened to
Eminem.
Hey Eminem, you want to do a collaboration?
We can do like a cool pronunciation collaboration.
I’ll do my pronunciation.
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are
heavy, there’s vomit on his sweater already,
mom’s spaghetti, he’s nervous, but on the
surface he looks calm and ready to drop bombs,
but he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down,
the whole crowd goes so loud, he own…
And you can do your pronunciation.
Eminem, if you’re watching, leave a comment.