Do you remember songs from when you were a child? Songs can help us remember words. In an experiment in the UK, 60 adults learned short phrases in Hungarian, a language they did not know.

Some people spoke the phrases, and some people sang them. The singing group remembered the phrases better. But songs also have limits. Some lyrics use strange grammar. So learn useful phrases from songs, and then use them yourself.

Many people can still sing songs they learned as children, and the chorus of an English song often sticks in our heads. Can songs help us learn a foreign language? In a study by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, 60 English-speaking adults learned 20 short phrases in Hungarian, a language they did not know, for about 15 minutes. They either spoke the phrases, spoke them with rhythm, or sang them.

On most of the five tests, the singing group did best, especially when they had to recall the phrases word for word. Another study found that Spanish-speaking children remembered English sentences better and pronounced them more accurately when they learned them through songs. However, songs mostly help with fixed phrases and may contain unusual grammar.

The ease with which we recall childhood songs decades later has prompted researchers to ask whether melody can support foreign language learning. In a study published in Memory & Cognition, Ludke and colleagues at the University of Edinburgh randomly assigned 60 English-speaking adults to learn 20 short Hungarian phrases by speaking, rhythmic speaking or singing during a roughly 15-minute session.

Across five tests, the singing group generally performed best, and the advantage was clearest for verbatim recall, reproducing phrases word for word. Melody may act as a scaffold that fixes the order of words in memory, so that recalling one word cues the next. A study of Spanish-speaking children likewise found that English passages taught through song were remembered better and pronounced more accurately.

Research on simply listening to songs repeatedly shows that some new words are picked up, but mainly at the level of recognizing their form, with limited recall of meaning. Limitations remain. These experiments involved short learning sessions and small samples, songs mainly support fixed chunks rather than flexible use, and lyrics often contain nonstandard grammar. Songs are therefore best used to memorize useful phrases that learners then adapt in their own speech and writing.