From experience, learning language through song tends to be pretty fruitful and relatively painless. From a brutally economical point of view, rap music is particularly efficient, as it packs in more words per minute. Somewhat less prosaically, it also tends to mix formal and everyday speech, often in pleasingly memorable combinations for the listener/learner.

Now, we’re obviously not talking about the oeuvre of Mixalot, or NTM‘s later works here (I’ve included links, click if you must!), but rather the handful of poetic yet popular rappers countries sometimes produce. 蛋堡 (aka ‘Soft Lipa’, for apparently no reason) is one such rapper, and his country of origin is Taiwan.

Recorded several years ago, and with about a million views as I write this, the song is a minor classic of Taiwanese rap (it is by no means his biggest hit). Yet the subject matter is pretty banal: teenage angst.

The song is pretty typical of 蛋堡’s mellow and somewhat jazzy style, and his vocabulary (idiosyncratically) tends slightly toward the erudite. With approximate timings, the three words/expressions that stand out most for me are:

01:10.03
徬徨
Hesitate (restlessly), even ‘fret’ – here, the sense is more the latter.

01:25.76
微不足道
Insignificant, trifling – here, akin to ‘nonsense’

03:31.11
妒火
Envy
(This is often part of the expression ‘妒火中燒’, meaning ‘burning with envy)

These are all words I seldom heard or used previously, but are now firmly ingrained in my memory, over that melancholy melody…

Overall, like many of his other songs, 少年維持的煩惱 is easy to listen to and understand, but leaves a lingering and bittersweet taste. Listening regularly to 蛋堡’s music has without doubt improved my vocabulary over time. It also helps that his music is really rather catchy!

謝謝收聽!