Memorizing Songs

I find if I look at the lyrics for a song I've listened to a few times, I rarely forget the words. I'm not sure if that would help with Japanese/Korean/Mandarin/Cantonese songs, though...

 

Write them, it helps alot. =]

 

With Japanese songs I just put them on repeat. It helps a lot if you understand the words they're singing as well. I find it very difficult to memorise a song if I can't understand what they're saying....

kimi ha kimi dake shika inai yo
kawari nante hoka ni inainda
karenaide ichirin no hana
... Do you like High and Mighty Color?

 

You're probably having trouble memorizing the songs because the far Eastern languages are so utterly different from English. You have no basis in your language that helps make understanding the lyrics easier.

I (mostly) memorized many German songs, but that is because it's a European language and probably because my mother language is partly derived from it.

 

Woah, I hardly ever listen to songs in a language other than English ... well maybe some in Italian but that's it. Uhmm yeah I agree with GuitarGirl, writing them will probably help alot, I guess.

 

I don't know, I just remember it... I have good memory. I tend to remember lots of totally random things.

 

Agree with GuitarGirl and CelebrityHead that writing the lyrics helps a lot. Also breaking the song down to 4-liners helped me. Even better than writing is to actually sing the verses several times. When I was memorizing the national anthem, I would go to the middle of a sports field and sing away until I had it down. A little awkward if someone comes by and wonders what you're doing. :icon_bigg

 

Lorenz, the German National Anthem is among the shortest in the world, if you break it down into 4-liners you only get 2 of them... lol

I remember it from when I studied German... "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"

 

It does help to write it out, or just learn the lyrics first, then add them to the melody!

 

Yeah it should be simple but it wasn't. I haven't sung that many songs in German. I guess I have an American memory .

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
für das deutsche Vaterland!
Danach lasst uns alle streben
Brüderlich mit Herz und Hand!
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
Sind des Glückes Unterpfand;
Blüh' im Glanze dieses Glückes,
Blühe, deutsches Vaterland.

 

High and Mighty Color are J-Pop, but a lot of it is metally.

 

I'd prefer to BE Japanese over anything, anyday.

I really suck at memorizing lyrics too. I've had Ayumi Hamasaki's Fly High on for about 50 times in a row and could barely make out the really fast bit after the first verse, even WITH lyrics! Perhaps I'm not a fast singer/talker. Shame... one day I wanna talk like a native Japanese. ^^

And I know Japanese names are written with family name first... it just sounds better the English way.

 

I can only memorize english and spanish songs...I've tried to memorize "Spicy Marmalade" By Bad luck, I found the Japanese and english lyrics, but even after one week, i still couldn't memorize it! T_T And it only took me one day to memorize Faint by Linkin Park! XD Damn, this sucks...

 

Sing them in the shower, sing them anywhere, if I cant remember, I can put in some of my own words, as long as it makes sense

but the best thing is to read the lyrics, like to memory a lesson,

The words are hard but the pitches are easy to remember

 

Um...I really don't suggest trying to memorize songs sung in Chinese without having a basic knowledge of the language.
Mandarin Chinese (that's spoken in mainland China -- as opposed to the speaking style in Taiwan) is a language that stresses correct pronunciation. For example, there are three s-type sounds: "s(i)," "s(hi)," and "sh." Any incorrect enunciation can result in your saying a completely different word. (This is the reason I'm glad my parents are from Taiwan -- the Chinese spoken by Taiwanese people is looser and more relaxed. Oh. And in case you're wondering, I wasn't using pin yin because I hate that teaching style. I learned Chinese from my parents who used the "bo po mo fo" method. Yarly.)

Also, intonation is INCREDIBLY important in Mandarin Chinese. Saying "shiao" with a "down-up" intonation can mean "small" (among other things), but saying the same word with a "down" intonation can mean "laugh" (again...among other things). Regardless of the regional speaking style being spoken, the intonation thing is always true.
But, you know, intonation isn't as important in songs since people need to sing according to the melodies.

Japanese should be fine, though...as long as you can pronounce the characters correctly in Romanji. But the Japanese language doesn't have as many syllabic stresses as the English language. Just...uh...look out for that. Yeah...
Oh! And something that many people overlook is the small "tsu" or the "hyphenated character." Remember to doubly pronounce the next consonant -- id est, pause for one extra syllable before saying/singing the next character (after the "tsu.")

I don't know Korean at all, so...I can't provide any advice on that language. Sorry!


Hey! I sound completely pretentious!

 

Never heard of Metis Gretel, Japanese band?

I definetely would not prefer to be Japanese. I know a half Japanese guy who would shoot you in the face for wishing that fate upon yourself lol. Then again I suppose if you were born Japanese you wouldn't know better.

I love being an Aussie. Hallelujah to freedom and lack of authoritay XD

((Note: I love Japan, some of my bestest ever friends are Japanese and I want to live over there for a while so no insult intended ^_^; .... They're just so uptight.. Generally speaking that is... XS))

 

Yeah, for me it really helps to write the words down too.