Now here's a bit of a "scoop" or exclusive I can claim to be genuinely proud of!
Many of us like to use songs in English as a Second or Foreign Language classrooms with teenagers. But how often do we get to feature original homegrown musical talent in the form of a teenager from somewhere else in the world?
It's my pleasure to introduce you to a very talented young lady (at the wise old age of 15) named Kendall Phyland, from the tiny town of Wycheproof in rural Victoria, Australia. Her song's called Too Late...
Now, as an extra special favour for all those English language learners out there, Kendall very kindly agreed to make another version of this great track so that listeners could also follow along to the lyrics (and perhaps she's got some English teaching in her, as she's provided a couple of small errors in the transcription for your learners to try and notice and rectify :-). Here it is:
I've also made some downloadable versions of the lyrics for those who want to create classroom activities or worksheets from them. :-)
Here are all the lyrics on a single page, with links to the relevant YouTube versions of the track:
Too Late, by Kendall Phyland (PDF)
Too Late, by Kendall Phyland (MS Word)
Too Late, by Kendall Phyland (Compatible MS Word)
And here is a different printable version, with (de)suggestopedia-style language highlights in a column alongside to provide pivot points that learners could then use to explore more expressions.
Too Late, by Kendall Phyland - Lang Version (PDF)
Too Late, by Kendall Phyland - Lang Version (MS Word)
Too Late, by Kendall Phyland - Lang Version (Compatible MS Word)
Oh, and wordles appear to be all the go for language teaching/learning as well at the moment, so I've got a pre-lesson Wordle version of the lyrics here for you as well:
If this is something you think your learners would enjoy using as classroom and discussion content (and if they like the song), I'd recommend having them take a look at Kendall's YouTube page as well. In addition to a variety of other tracks there (and live performances in Kendall's home), this could actually be a superb chance for your students to connect with Kendall, tell her what they think of her music, ask questions, etc. :-)
Aside from the simple elegance of the lyrics here and the great tune, you might also be able to come up with some fun facts regarding the town where Kendall lives (throw 'Wycheproof' into Google and see what you come up with!). Smallest registered mountain in the world? Railway down the middle of the main road? What IS 'The King of the Mountain' all about, then?
Now, why do I figure this is so special?
Kendall is living in the same small town I spent several years growing up in as a teenager. We never had Internet and things like YouTube in those there olden days, I can tell you...
Her dad, Kevin, was my Physics teacher, and a bloody good one at that. When I consider educational concepts like 'experiential' and 'emergent' and 'independent' learning, he's one of the teachers I recall most vividly. This whole post came about as a result of conversation Kevin and I had on Facebook two nights ago...
So I hope you'll introduce Kendall and her music to your teen classes, and smile a bit about the way she came to our attention!
:-D
