The World in a Song: How Global Language Project Turns Tunes to Language Learning Gateways

Music is often the first inkling we have of another culture, of another world of words and sound. It’s a gateway to new places and people, suggesting whole realms of experience outside of our own.

For language learners, and particularly young ones, it can turn a new language from a daunting task of memorization or yet another quiz to study for, into a lively, engaging experience, a lifelong fascination. This insight powers GLP Music, a small label dedicated to fostering excitement about and proficiency in languages via music for young listeners.

GLP Music was launched by the Global Language Project (GLP), a New York-based non-profit, as part of a larger initiative to expand early language learning opportunities. GLP Music pairs catchy, high-caliber recordings from engaging artists with fun activities and songbooks. The combination won the fledgling label a Latin Grammy for its first release, Coloreando, featuring the Colombian singer Marta Gomez, a collection of traditional Latin American children’s songs which had Spanish tripping from the lips of many young learners. GLP is hoping their next release, Aquarela, by highly respected, generous-hearted Brazilian musician Paulinho Garcia, will be similarly embraced.

Listening to music in a language new to you does more than entertain. It can play a unique role in absorbing and using a language. “The more you can immerse yourself in a new language, the more you’ll learn and the less you will be translating,” explains Victoria Gilbert, veteran language instructor and GLP’s Director of Curriculum. “The more symbols or ideas you can experience within the target language, the better. Music makes that happen. You hear words, but they are associated with movement, pattern, rhythms, and rich context,” all of which help listeners retain what they hear.

Music may be an important first step to language mastery, and that is the central focus of GLP. The educational non-profit is the brainchild of former international marketing executive Angela Jackson. Growing up in a small Illinois town, Jackson studied Spanish at school, in what felt like an exercise in rote learning for its own sake. “No one told me why it was important,” she recalls. “It was just for the grade, to get into college. I could conjugate verbs but couldn’t chat about my day.”

As Jackson entered the professional world, first at Sony Pictures, then working with teams around the world for Nokia, the importance of knowing several languages hit home. There were exciting job openings at Sony in Latin America--but she needed strong Spanish. At Nokia, she was wowed by her colleagues’ command of multiple languages and baffled by her fellow Americans’ lack of foreign language mastery.

Jackson decided she wanted to change that and learn another language fluently. She enrolled in the Sorbonne, in classes that covered not only French but France’s culture and history. The experience changed her life. Jackson saw what many who learn a new language experience : Language is more than a means to communicate; it’s a gateway to a culture, with its own perspectives and worldviews.

When Jackson left the corporate world, she resolved to share this discovery and to promote early education in languages, especially among students without broader access or resources to foreign language instruction. In schools in New York City, and via programs and materials designed to bolster learning in classrooms and at home across the US, GLP has reached thousands of students nationwide.

It was a natural extension of the mission, to commission and create albums that supported these efforts. In crafting the releases, GLP seeks the place where good music meets robust educational content, where native speakers and new learners can both enjoy themselves. “We’re on the lookout for things that native speakers will connect with, recognize, that go to the heart,” says Gilbert, who grew up bilingual. “You’re unpacking little gems that have crystallized a meaningful moment, whether it's a lullaby or a game.”

“Even if they never learn a word of Portuguese or Spanish,” concludes Rex Niswander, who directs GLP Music’s A&R, “kids can learn there’s a world of music outside of mainstream American popular music. A world of possibilities beyond their current understanding. That’s something that will stay with them, no matter how well they learn a language. And that will change their lives.”