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I've been listening to normal Mongolian songs for about a year (some of it traditional, some of it rap). I think the only thing I've learnt is what Mongolian sounds like, but on the other hand, I assume it hasn't harmed me.
Are there any risks in listening to children's music (music designed to be listened to by children), such as it not being representative of the language?
Listening to songs is an essential part of language learning. Types of songs will vary according to stage of learning.
One of the essential things in the first stages of teaching/learning a new language is to make the learner aware of tone, stress intonation, etc., anything that will help put into place good oral communication skills. Children songs are perfect for that matter. They usually consist of simple spoken sounds (mind I'm not writing "words" at that stage), that will be easily picked and repeated by the budding learner who will be able to learn them by heart and sing them, thus imprinting in his mind rhythm and sounds. I include traditional nursery rhymes and tongue twisters in children songs, which are part of a language cultural element and culture is essential in the learning of a language.
In later stages, when the learner has more more vocabulary and grasp of the language, other types of songs will be more appropriate so that the meaning of words in sentences can become part of the learning process.
I will answer in general for most languages for future reference
Children use and have bad grammar, there is no going around that. Relating to children's songs, the songs may have bad grammar in order to fit a child's understanding and knowledge of words.
In addition to bad grammar, children tend to use the more informal ways of talking to others, if you use children's style of talking, you may get odd to bad reactions to what you say.
