Teaching With Music Videos

This week is finals week at my school and as a result I’m not teaching at all. Last week I didn’t teach much, either, so I have some time to blog.

One thing I try to do as much as I can is teach students with music videos. This is especially the case when I have 15 minutes left over from speaking tests or a shorter lesson.  I don’t really expect them to follow along wit the lyrics, unless I supply them, like I have done in the past with “California Stars” by Billy Bragg & Wilco and “Thriller” by Michael Jackson (Directed by John Landis).  Sometimes I just give them songs with easy lyrics to see if they can understand them, like “Take On Me” by A-ha.

Sometimes I try to extract a student’s thoughts and point of view toward something with the videos. Other times I just want to freak them out (educationally).  One video I showed as of late is Peter Serafinowicz’s video for Hot Chip’s song “I Feel Better.” To me, I see it as a parody of pop singers, and in a way that the director didn’t necessarily intend, Korean pop songs in general.  The video plays out like the way the students are used to, young men dancing and looking sexy in front of a camera until a Mr. Burns on drugs-looking character comes in and zaps them to death.  They general response by students was 뭐, or “what…”

Other times I try to show them videos that are bizarre or funny and ask them why they think it’s funny and what it is about them that they enjoyed. In those cases I videos like “Two Weeks” by Grizzly Bear,  “Heaven Can Wait” by Charlette Gainsbourg and Beck or “The Polite Dance Song” by The Bird and The Bee.

On different occasions I present videos for songs that I really like and have some deeper meaning they can extrapolate. My example  is “No One Does It Like You” by Department of Eagles. The general response is, “War and people -go to heaven- dead.”  or “War is bad.”  I don’t expect full sentences on complex subjects like war, but I want to hear them try.  When they can deliver their feelings towards music and its message in English, or maybe look at music beyond  their K-Pop scope, it’s quite rewarding.

In that sense, music videos can be an invaluable teaching tool and not just a time filler for when lesson plans run short. It gives the students a peek into American and Western culture beyond what has been funneled to them from the charts. Part of our job as Native Speakers is to ease them into understanding Western cultures, not just teach the language.

And lastly, sometimes I show videos like the one I attached at the top. The song is  “Marrow” by St. Vincent.  I like showing it because, well, I am completely entranced by Annie Clark’s eyes.  That, and she and her band was the last show I saw in San Diego and the last topic I wrote about for KPBS. My wallpaper on my Korean phone is even from some decent photos I took at the show.  So, yes, I have my ulterior motives to show some music videos, but they are pretty benign.