THERE are lots of opportunities for teaching English today. Here in Spain alone, the European Union has instituted the mandatory teaching of a second European language because of the peculiar fact that despite the smallness of Europe, it has lots of countries each with its own distinct tongue. That’s why people in Spain and not just the ones working in the hospitality sector are craving to learn English. They perceive that with English as the generally-used international language of communication, they can become competitive. Of course, Chinese is still the most spoken language in the world but think of it this way – imagine an Israeli in France who doesn’t know how to speak English. How can he communicate with the French when the French doesn’t know Hebrew in the first place? Although mainly trivial, that’s really a dilemma I tell you.

So here in Spain particularly in Salamanca, it’s not just German that is famous here, it’s also English. There’s no problem with places like Ibiza where English is the common second tongue. Of course, Ibiza is the headquarters of some of the most reputable DJs in the world such as DJ Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk and Godskitchen.. They are DJs but of course, Billboard number one hits can also be utilized as a teaching look in English language acquisition.

Not only will you help students learn English faster, you will also help them be immersed with American culture so to speak. Of course, Spain has long been immersed with house, trance and electronica already that you need not expose them to that anymore. Aside from house, there are other pop culture music genres that are pervading in the United States. So introduce your students to the world of Flo Rida and T-Pain perhaps. At the same time, you may want to lecture them some background about the United States. After all, there are some Spaniards who still want to go to the United States to pursue that so-called American dream. Some have been fairly successful like Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz. Banderas has even married a Hollywood actress, Melanie Griffith, and established a chain of restaurants all over Spain serving nothing but healthy Mediterranean diet.

Earlier, I was talking about rap star Flo Rida. You may want to teach the students that his name is double entendre. Flo Rida derives from Florida, the Sunshine State bordering the Carribean where many Cuban-Americans exist. It is also the twang for free-flowing rider. In short, Flo Rida is insinuating that his rap music simply flows from his soul. And that’s why his hit Low is currently dominating the Billboard charts nowadays.

You may want to tell your English students too that the next number one hit currently dominating the Billboard charts is No One by Alicia Keys. Alicia Keys’s If I Ain’t Got You is one karaoke hot track all over the world, including here in Spain of course. These are just a few of the examples on how not to make an English language acquisition class boring.