Learning English when you least expect it!

Over the years I have developed an instinct. I am always on the lookout for new words and expressions of course, but also novel ways to learn English. And increasingly, I am reflecting on how I actually learned English in the first place.

I love and miss the 80s and 90s.  However I envy those born in the late 90s and later because the resources available to them for learning English - or for that matter anything that can be learned - have skyrocketed. They have multiplied in quantity and quality. The same can be said about the quality and quantity of those channeling that learning process: less and less traditional teachers and more and more facilitators and coaches.

I keep telling my students that the only thing you can not really do without another speaker is maintain a real conversation. But every other step of the learning process can be made alone. For example improving your pronunciation - along with your vocabulary and others, even your grammar - by focusing on things you like in English.

And this can happen when and where you least expect it. For example watching this video on MTV or youtube:

Now here are the lyrics. As usual my comments will be in blue. All the credit goes to the artists (Kelly Rowland and DJ David Guetta) and to the BBC for the interview I found on youtube.)

Its complicated

This line is actually very simple. The only thing to comment on is the sound of the "t" in complicated, which is similar to the spanish "simple r"

It always is

(why not "it is always"? Because by changing the standard, neutral order, you underline the meaning of the words you have moved. Also notice how the words "it" and "always" blend (mix) so they feel like one word.

Thats just the way it goes

A common expression in English (that's the way it goes) which would translate into Spanish as "así son las cosas".

Feels like I waited so long for this

Predictability in English is used to avoid unnecessary repetitions. In this case, the sentence is grammatically incorrect in the sense that it should be "it feels like...". But it still works well because everybody knows that was is implied is "it feels like" because it can't be confused with anything else.

I wonder if it shows

This line in the song is very interesting. We find two expressions which are not reflexive in Spanish: "I wonder if" (in Spanish "Me pregunto si") and "It shows" (In Spanish "Se nota"). 

The first thing we have to do is be open minded: you can say things in different ways in different languages and still transmit the same idea. If you have problems with this kind of expressions, go to my post on "reflexive vs. non reflexive". 

Additionally, notice what she does with the "r" in "wonder". As I mention in my comments below, in her accent (Atlanta, Georgia) speakers show a characteristic which is typically british: not pronouncing the "r" when it is after a vowel and before other consonant (e.g. "Turn") or in final position ("Driver"). 

Following this rule and n normal conditions she would not pronounce the "r" in the word wonder. So what's happening here? What's happening is that there is another rule that is the "linking r". This rule is very simple: if you have two vowels (for example I wonder if) and it is difficult to pronounce them in normal speech without making a clear stop, then, an "r" sound is pronounced to "lubricate" even if it is not there originally. This rule applies, as far as I know, to all dialects of english. It is practical because it makes your life easier. So you would say things like "AustraliarandNewZealand" instead of stopping to make a clear separation between "Australia" and "and". 

Head under water

This line and the text two are a metaphor and a paradox at the same time: she is describing an uncomfortable feeling: she can not breathe because her head is under water. Paradoxically she says she feels extraordinarily well.

Now I can't breath
It never felt so good
Cause i can feel it coming over me

In formal speech you would say "because" but in everyday informal English you often hear people drop the first part and say "cause" and write it "cos" or even "coz". 

I wouldn't stop it if I could

Could is a modal verb: that means a number of things, including it can be used for very few things. But could in that sense is an exception. It can be used in three ways:

1) I could walk when I was eleven months old. (Podía/sabía caminar cuando tenía once meses)
2) I could help you but I will not. (Podría ayudarte pero no lo haré.)
3) If I could help you I would. (Si pudiese ayudarte lo haría). Explanation: in English we use the past simple to express subjunctive (pudiese). Could is a past simple. So it can be used as subjunctive. 

So that's what is happening in this sentence.

When love takes over (yeah-ah-eah)

"over": See above the rules for pronouncing the /r/ in Britain and parts of southern US.

You know you can't deny

/t/ and /d/ are almost the same sound phonetically. So it makes sense than they will be become one, longer sound.

When love takes over (yeah-ah-eah)
Cause something's here tonight

Give me a reason

I gotta know

"gotta" means "have got to", from which is has been phonetically reduced in colloquial speech for linguistic economy reasons. This kind of process happens when the word or group of words is predictable. And English as a language uses this system continuously.

Do you feel it too?
Cant you see me here on overload

"cant you" sounds almost like "cantcha" (see gotta above)

And this time I blame you
Looking out for you to hold my hand
It feels like I could fall
Now love me right, like I know you can

"love me the right way, correctly"
"like I know you can": strictly speaking, it should be "as I know you can" but in colloquial English it is very common to find people using like in this way.

We could lose it all

it all = everything

When love takes over (yeah-ah-eah)
You know you cant deny
When love takes over (yeah-ah-eah)
Cause something's here tonight
Tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight (keep saying)

I'll be loving you all the time
it's true.
Cause I wanna make it right

"Wanna" (see "gotta" above)

with you
...

When love takes over(x6)
when love takes over over over over over
over over over over over over!

When love takes over (yeah-ah-eah)
You know you cant deny
When love takes over (yeah-ah-eah)
Cause somethings here tonight

You are probably familiar with this song, want it or not because it was on heavy rotation for months a few years ago on radios and TV stations. What I like about this song first of all is the clear pronunciation of the singer, Kelly Rowland. Although she is an American, her pronunciation has a lot in common with British pronunciation, because she is originally from Atlanta, and that part of the South of the US has a lot of features in common with British English.

I had to do a little research about this - I am not so up to date about all her comings and goings. She was chosen to be one of the members of the jury at X-factor in the UK, and later in the US. Now here she is in a BBC interview and she perfectly blends in with the British presenters. She's quite the British lady. Maybe she could join the cast at Downton Abbey (OK, maybe not so ladylike).

And this is all for today! Don't forget of course to listen to the music and enjoy while you learn English!