Learning English with Eminem

Music plays a significant role in people’s life. Music helps, heals, entertains, inspires and much more. It is praised, it is discussed, it is followed. So, music might serve as a great tool in ELT lessons to encourage learners to delve into topics brought up during lessons by discovering ideas, aims, takeaways of songs; to boost up vocabulary (slang, collocations, idioms, phrasal verbs) by analyzing the lyrics; to identify learned grammar structures and show students how they are used. 

What songs to choose for the lessons? 

Well, that depends on a teacher’s or a student’s taste of music or relevance of a particular song to topics of lessons. Building a good rapport with the student may be a weighty reason to use songs. Once Eminem helped me to find a way to a student who wasn’t so eager to study English but forced by parents due to “everyone studies you should too”. 

Eminem’s songs are good examples of using slang, phrasal verbs and metaphors that’s why they (songs) can be used at lessons with those who really love diving into the world of words or simply are great buffs of the rapper. 

Let’s have a look at his latest album “Music to be murdered by” and see how we can make use of it in our lessons (as some lyrics of songs contain obscene vocabulary and raise controversial topics, it is vital to pick a song according to your student’s age):

1. Discussing the album, its tracks, co-rappers\singers and the cover. The cover might be a cause for a whole new lesson . Eminem posted on his Instagram* account that Alfred Hitchcock inspired him to do such cover. Isn’t it a great opportunity to get down to this? 

Questions for discussion (students work in groups or pairs):

1) What comes to your mind when you look at this cover?

2) Why did an author\ designer\creator choose such colours and objects and angle?

3) What do you know about Alfred Hitchcock and why did Eminem find him inspiring in your opinion?

2. Choosing a song from the album and teaching interesting phrases from it and, of course, reviewing the ideas, aims, reasons behind them. 

3. Watching Eminem’s interview dedicated to his album and discussing it with students. It is better to watch the interview first and choose some useful vocabulary (phrasal verbs, collocations, slang) and send it to a student: they should watch the interview and make notes about the context where these words\phrases are used. During the lesson you need to check the vocabulary and then answer the questions related to the interview which were prepared beforehand. 

One of the songs from the album “Leaving Heaven” feat. Skylar Grey which is a great combination of Eminem’s rapping skills and Skylar’s beautiful vocal might be a good way to spice up lessons. How can we deliver the song?

1. Warm-up

Discussing the picture: What springs to your mind when you look at the picture?

2. Lead-in

Say that today you are going to go to Eminem’s world of music and start with the song “Leaving Heaven” feat. Skylar Grey from his latest album. What may the song be about? Do you know Skylar?

3. Working on vocabulary: 

• picking cool phrases from the lyrics according to the level of your students,
• making up exercises (matching, find the synonyms, slang-original version, giving definitions).

— Choosing phrases:

to stoop to one’s level — to behave as badly as someone who has treated one wrongly
I’ ma be — I am going to be
cussing — to curse or curse at
tryna — trying to
wind-up — a wind-up toy, watch, etc. has a key or part that you turn to make it operate

to be\stay woke- ‘Woke’ is increasingly used as a byword for social awareness
to go AWOL — to go missing suddenly and without warning
prolly — probably
to seethe — to feel or show strong emotion (such as anger) even though you try to control it 

— Possible tasks:

1) Match the phrases with their definitions:

А. To stoop to one’s level

В. Cussing

С. To go AWOl

D. To be/stay awake

E. To seethe 

1. To feel or show strong emotion (such as anger) even though you try to control it 
2. To behave as badly as someone who has treated one wrongly
3. To be aware\ to know what is going on around
4. To curse or curse at

To go missing suddenly and without warning 

2) Replace the words in sentences with appropriate phrases from above:

• Even though I see he is wrong I don’t want to argue with him as he does with me.
• I haven’t heard from Kate for a while. She disappeared. 
• If we want to beat the virus, we have to know everything about it and be ready.
• No cursing in the house.
• I have never seen Tom to be so angry. 

3) Write down your own sentences/questions using the phrases above.

4. Listening to the song (parts of the song as it may last too long) and filling in the gaps with phrases discussed in the previous step of the lesson. You can stage all steps of listening (pre-listening, while listening, after listening) depending on the level of students. 

• Listen to the part of the song and fill in the gaps (twice or even three times):

Yeah (I knew this day was coming)

………………………., you gotta come back down (it’s all going to hell now, man)

Stoop to someone’s …………………….(yeah)

…………………dozen, flies buzzin’ over your head

Call me the Grim Reaper, sleep is my ………………………

You dead to me ……………. and I’ma be the last face you see

‘Fore you die cussin’ (yep)

My eye a tiger’s and I’m ………………………so I will rise up and (what?)

Be triumphant ’cause when I’m looking at my ……………. (leg, I see)

……………………of dogs tryna dry hump it

Like Triumph The Puppet, so I’m like, «F* it»

Pile the carnage up ’til its so high, it’s touching the………………………

Let ’em all line up and………………………..

Single filling up in the stack

Call ’em toy soldiers (yeah)

‘Cause they just wind up on their backs

Now the sky’s nothing but black

But I ………………. back, I done told ya

I told the woke me to go to …………………

But still, they keep on provoking me

They’………………………to see me completely broken emotionally

But how in the f* am I not supposed to be ……………….

When these f*  just keep poking me? Now

I’m ………………… Heaven

I’m leaving Heaven

Angels won’t ……………………………

Where are you going?

4. Check the answers and sing the song.

5. Discussing the song (speaking questions, debating controversial statements). This article might be sent as homework if a student can express their thoughts\feelings easily after listening or used to cover the questions about the meaning of lyrics during the lesson if the student struggles to come up with some ideas. 

Questions for discussion:

1. What is the song about?
2. What emotions does the song evoke and why?
3. What problems (personal, social) are raised in the song?
4. Why do Eminem use cursing in his lyrics? Is it necessary or not? 
5. Is there a reason for including a melodic chorus by Skylar? If yes, explain. 
6. What can you say about specific names, nicknames used in the song? Who\what do they refer to?
7. What is mainstream media’s attitude towards Eminem? What is the rapper’s reaction?
8. How would you explain “leaving heaven”?
9. Did the song serve its purpose in your opinion? 

Plenty of tasks may be created while working on the song. The point here is to make the student get something new as well as enjoy the lesson.