Learning through songs, good or bad idea?

[kulaputra]

Bottom line, IMO:

I can't "study" a language for 5 hours a day, every day. I can't even read a book I enjoy in a language I'm highly proficient in for 5+ hours. But can I listen to music 5 hours or more a day? Easily. I can listen to music while driving, walking, exercising, showering, brushing my teeth, and even when I'm just using the toilet. And music is fun!

Ultimately, the question is not "is this the most efficient possible usage of my time" so much as "is this more efficient then what I would otherwise be doing?" The principles of opportunity cost and comparative advantage, basically. Answering that latter question requires a bit of introspection and self awareness, FWIW.

[aquarius]

So, what is my biggest complaint, when it comes to learning through songs: I think they are a bit overrated, when it comes to beginners.

The very first song I have been listing to in Czech was 'Demokracie' by Karel Kryl. Strictly speaking, I didn't intend to learn Czech, and I hadn't learnt any Czech so far, I just came across this song erroneously, when looking for a song in Slovak. And I had been learning Slovak for one month at this time. But I had been learning Polish for a longer time, so this helped me to understand a bit of the song when listening.

In this song, there is a lot of imagery, and there is also a lot of wordplay. Often there are parts of sentences that are pronounced almost identically, but have different meanings.

Demokracie panuje od Aše po Humenné
Samet i něha v pánu je a zuby vylomenné

I concluded, that maybe this song should not be the first choice for someone just starting to learn Czech ... , but nethertheless, I liked (and still like) listening to this song, and I managed to decoded a part of its text.