Asian karaoke lounges often have English-language songs among the local language songs. Asians like to sing solo, but Westerners often sing in a group, passing the microphone around the room, and accompanying the lead singers in their group. Special karaoke machines, now available on the market for less than a few hundred dollars, can adjust a karaoke singer s voice to make it more pleasing. English language teachers do not need the machinery, but merely a television and a K-TV video. Popular and traditional songs communicate much cultural information.
Songs are a natural springboard for discussion about topics of universal concerns.
Group singing is an enjoyable pastime that motivates and eases language learning. Good singing requires the singer to work the lips, mouth, tongue and breath, making the speaking voice more fluent and pleasant. Ten songs from the Sixties and Seventies, popular in Asia, are half the book. The other ten songs are Beatles selections. Cloze listening exercise, highlighting various grammatical structures for each song.