Some students, and not necessarily the most advanced students, find no difficulties at all in learning songs. They mimic the sounds enthusiastically and sing along joyously with no idea at all of what they are singing. Meaning comes later.
Others, intent on understanding, insist they cannot hear a single word.
Beginners can sometimes write down the lyrics of simple songs phonetically while advanced students insist the task is impossible.
Why?
I think some new students have no expectations. They listen to and mimic sound as might a child. In this way, they perfect accents and intonation. Meaning comes as a bonus. They are totally relaxed and absorbed in enjoying sound rather than focussing on what they already know and understand.
More advanced students keep trying to interpret for meaning. They are not relaxed. Their brains keep coming between them and the music.
At the end of the day, they will also be able to sing the song but only when they understand it.
Both are valid methods of learning. But I think the earlier you introduce music into your learning vocabulary, the easier and more valuable a tool it is.
Stop criticising your own progress. Just remind yourself how many lyrics you do not quite get all the words for in your own language.
Play with sounds rather than words. Then try to transcribe what you hear. You may have written words which you can find in the dictionary. If so, all well and good.
You may find an Internet site with the lyrics for the song you have chosen. And this is another way of learning where you follow the words as you listen, so making the job of dividing sounds into words much easier.
I find it an excellent way of learning grammar because I fix patterns from song lyrics I hear in my head.
It is part of the technique of using more than one of the senses in the learning process.
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