I remember the listening center I set up in my elementary school classroom as if it was yesterday. It was my first year of teaching, and I was so proud of that blue denim beanbag chair and cassette tape listening station that I had put together to introduce Spanish to my second graders. I had decided not to subject the little seven year olds to me singing acappella on the tapes I made at home, but I did incorporate some rhythmic beat to make the learning easier. I chanted the vocabulary word in English first then in Spanish and repeated the pair again, leaving time for the student to repeat the words out loud.

It worked! The little darlings were begging me to make more and more tapes each weekend, thinking I had no other life outside of being their teacher. (For those of you who are teachers you can so relate to that feeling!) And so it was, way back in the early 1980s, I was carrying on the tradition of what generations of parents and teachers had been doing which was to introduce new concepts to kids with rhythm and song.

Why does this technique work so well that even as adults we recall a cute little tune our French teacher taught us to learn the colors in French or that silly little chant our Science teacher rapped off to us about the Solar System so that we never forgot the order of the planets as long as we could recite our little rap out loud? There are many studies, some recent and some from years back, that explain to us how music works so well in the learning process.

As adults, we intuitively realize that students who have had the opportunity to study music tend to do better in school and in life, and over the years there has been quite a lot of research to support those feelings. It has been proven that children who study music perform better on tests. There have been many studies conducted where the conclusions point to kids participating in music programs show enhanced academic performance and better social skills.

It is even more astounding to note that a study conducted by the College Entrance Examination Board reports students with experience in music performance or courses that involved music scored more than fifty points higher on the verbal section of the SAT and more than forty points higher on the math section. As a parent and teacher that means a lot to me and my take on the arts in the education of my children.

Music engages children and allows them to learn concepts that sometimes are difficult without the beat or without the rhythm of a song. It allows children to remember important facts, whether they are in history, science, math or language arts. Imagine the feeling of success a child experiences once he has mastered his ABCs thanks to that little song placed to the melody of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. You have seen the delight on many faces of toddlers and preschoolers who master that twenty-six letter song!

Music helps many children build a level of confidence they might never have experienced had it not been for music. Children gain nourishment from music in their classrooms, in their homes, in their daily routines. Sometimes that child who feels no success in the academic side of school finally is introduced to music with that one special teacher and the rest is history (no pun intended!). Drop outs may become drop ins thanks to a little rap, a simple play of jazz or a classic tune played during art class for inspiration.

Exposing children to other cultures, other people, and other lands far from theirs come many times through music. What a lovely way to hear what the new student in school used to listen to daily by appreciating and playing the music from his country during his first week in class. Imagine the impact that teacher makes on the success of this new student by embracing the culture of this new student, inviting her to bring in a CD from home or a song book from her childhood. The encouragement it provides her as a new member of this society along with the world experience it allows all of the members of the class to have are things no text book could ever provide with such feeling, such emotion.

Music is the universal language of our world. Whether you speak English, Spanish, French, Hindu, Mandarin, Farsi, or any of the other thousands of languages in our world, you will always be connected to your neighbor, your co-worker, your new friend by music. And it is that music that should continue to be a large part of the learning you expose your child to and insist that his school continue to incorporate in order to bring the learning to life and make the learning fun.

Many people can’t seem to get enough of anything that has to do with celebrities’ news, gossips, scandals, fashion, and lifestyle, just to name a few. All these are captured by celebrity pictures, whether celebrities like it or not. TV and movie stars have no way of escaping the prying eyes of the paparazzi. Every move celebrities make even in their private moments is always caught on camera. Photos of stars in their most glamorous or most unflattering looks grace the pages of various celebrity magazines and websites.

Celebrity photos have been popular especially during the World War II, when GIs pin up on barrack walls pictures of female movie stars wearing either one-piece swimsuits or low-cut evening gowns. According to historians, the fascination of Americans with celebrity photos started with the illustration “Gibson Girl” that landed on the pages of a magazine in 1887. Prior to the Internet boom, people were content seeing images of celebrities on magazines and movie posters. But nowadays, it’s easy to access celebrity photos on the Internet. You can view and download photos of Hollywood stars in just a few minutes. Or you may download a Bollywood actress picture if you adore Indian actresses. All it takes is just a few clicks on celebrity websites that can provide hundreds of celebrity photos in various shapes and sizes.

People love to view celebrity photos, even to the point of being overly fascinated with the who’s who in Tinseltown. Surfing the Web for Hollywood actress pictures has been a national pastime for men and women alike. Some people make hobbies out of celebrity photos by using them as desktop wallpapers. In particular, teenagers usually like posting photo printouts of their favorite actors, actresses, and musicians on the walls of their rooms.

Why are people so interested with celebrity pictures? Pictures of celebrities have entertained people across the globe as much as their acting, singing, and dancing prowess. Viewing a photo of your favorite star gives you an enjoyable distraction, helping you get through a busy, routinary, and tiring day.

But compared to talents, pictures have a more visible and lasting effect. It’s because pictures immortalize celebrities. Even after the death of immensely popular stars, their memories remain alive. Also, photos instantly elicit various reactions. How many times have you wondered why a certain actress always wears horrible gowns on the red carpet, or why a young star has suddenly become skinny or overweight? A celebrity’s personal life, usually depicted on photos, bothers you even if you know too well that it’s none of your business.

Although they appear like demigods on the screen, celebrities are “humanized” on photos. To some extent, celebrity photos give fans a glimpse of how certain superstars make a lapse in fashion, speech, or manners. To satisfy people’s curiosity, photos also show the appearance of Hollywood stars when they’re away from the limelight. For example, some Hollywood actress pictures show that certain celebrities can still look hot and attractive even without makeup. Photos of pregnant celebrity moms as well as celebrity hunks babysitting their children are just as popular. Thus, celebrity photos prove that actors and actresses despite their fame and glamour are humans just like everybody else.

The average person considers music to be a singular language. It is one of the oldest vehicles of communication, capable of expressing emotion and often having a profound effect on its listeners. However, the ability to appreciate music in its multiple forms is often ignored. We agree that bilingual people have an advantage over those who only know one language. In October 2001, the Juilliard School of Music, renowned for its unparalleled classical instructors and performers, added jazz to its academic curriculum. The world’s finest music institution is only one of a growing number of supporters backing a combined education in both classical and jazz for children and young musicians.

To express oneself in any language, one must first understand the language phonetically (learning by ear) before learning to read and write. To read and write a language, one must be familiar with its structure. In parallel, someone foreign to a language may have a more structured and scientific understanding than a native speaker. As a child, I was always fascinated when my uncle, a doctor of linguistics, would ask me, “How do you say that in English?” He was asking how to express the language colloquially and with English as my first language, it was natural to me.

Children learn foreign languages naturally by ear. On the other hand, adults tend to learn languages logically and methodically, referring back to their native language for comparison. It is obvious which method is easier; if one is brought up in a specific culture, it is easier to learn that culture’s language via naturally rather than via studious reading. Furthermore, when one understands and grows up in their native culture, one can understand the nuances of its language. For example, English speakers have varied dialects that differ depending on geography. There are noticeable differences in dialects between people from Canada’s west coast, east coast and the prairies. They all speak the same language but exhibit nuances that are inherent within their cultural structure.

Understanding music requires a similar method. Before learning to read or sight-read, one should be familiar with pitch. However, this is rarely the case in music education where the emphasis is on reading and not listening. Both classical and jazz artists employ a musical alphabet, but they use it in different ways. Jazz is a sophisticated language that is commonly overlooked in lieu of a “traditional” classical music upbringing. Growing up as the only Korean children in school, my sister and I were told by our Grade 1 teacher not to speak Korean at home, supposedly as it would confuse our understanding of English. Nevertheless, our father spoke English to us, and our mother spoke Korean. As a result, we can both understand Korean but not speak the language. This example demonstrates why I firmly believe children must learn both musical languages – that is, jazz and classical.