Music Recommendations From Around World

When I was in elementary school I went to a Spanish immersion school. And when I was in first grade, an obsession rippled through our school. The obsession was a song (with some amazingly choreographed dance moves) called “Asereje” by Las Ketchup. I was lucky enough to have the CD, which came with a DVD with the music video on it. I remember all 3’9’’ inches of me shaking it in front of my parents’ television trying to get the dance down to a tee. So I was happy to see “Asereje” on a list that two of my Latina friends made for me of their all-time favorite Spanish songs.

While my love for Spanish music started at a young age, I wasn’t so quick to listen to music from anywhere else. I listened to a few K-pop songs after a dance performance by our Korean culture club in high school, but besides that I was pretty much listening to a lot of English and a little bit of Spanish music.

Listening to music in another language can be really helpful for language learning, because we usually remember song lyrics way longer than a high school Spanish or French lesson. In honor of the power of music and language learning, I set out to create an “Anything but English Dance Party” playlist on Spotify and it was amazing. I not only found the Swedish version of some of my favorite ABBA songs, but found some songs that are definitely going to be added to my dancing-in-the-mirror playlist and my exercise playlist.

Here is the link to the “Anything but English Dance Party” playlist on Spotify and the list of all of the songs I added if you want to watch the music videos (ahem, Asereje) or add any to your own playlist. I definitely suggest making your own foreign-language music playlist, because it was a really fun way to pass the time!

1. Stormande Hav by Timoteij (Swedish)
2. Waterloo – Swedish Version by ABBA (Swedish)
3. Honey Honey – Swedish Version by ABBA (Swedish)
4. Boten Anna by Basshunter (Swedish)
5. Pour un flirt by Michael Delpech (French)
6. Sapés comme jamais (ft. Niska) by Maître Gims (French)
7. Djadja by Aya Nakamura (French)
8. Laisse béton by Renaud (French) (side note: this artist is famous for writing songs with a bunch of French slang if you’re interested in learning any!)
9. Dernière danse by Indila (French)
10. Aserejé by Las Ketchup (Spanish)
11. Gasolina by Daddy Yankee (Spanish)
12. Mayores by Becky G and Bad Bunny (Spanish)
13. Chantaje (ft. Maluma) by Shakira (Spanish)
14. Bailando – Spanish Version by Enrique Iglesias (Spanish)
15. FAKE LOVE by BTS (Korean)
16. ON by BTS (Korean)
17. Kill this Love by BLACKPINK (Korean)
18. FANCY by TWICE (Korean)
19. Un domani (ft. Mr. Rain) by Annalisa (Italian)
20. Pensare Male (ft. Elodie) by The Kolors (Italian)
21. Good Times by Ghali (Italian)

Recommended Article