English, baby!

Kelly Clarkson

Date: Apr 28 2003

Go Super!

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

ballad
suck

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Kelly Clarkson, the winner of the first American Idol competition, recently released her first album. As expected, the album has already sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Unexpected, however, is the album’s quality. It’s actually getting positive reviews from most music critics. Rolling Stone magazine gave it three stars, which is a very good rating for a pop album.
Read on to learn more about Kelly and Thankful.

Dialog

1. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

American Idol is an extraordinarily popular TV show, and Kelly Clarkson has become a huge star because she was the best singer in the competition. However, many people predicted that Kelly would not make good music. They thought she would make formulaic pop music – which many people are sick of after the overwhelming popularity of people like Britney Spears, Mandy Moore and NSYNC.
But Kelly’s first album, Thankful, isn’t formulaic. It’s not the bad album that so many people predicted it would be. In fact, it’s actually pretty good. The songs are diverse and they show that Kelly can sound like anyone from Faith Hill to Christina Aguilera. In fact, many people are saying that the first hit single from Thankful sounds just like a song Christina would sing. In “Miss Independent,” Kelly shows that her voice is much like Christina’s and that she’s able to sing more than sappy ballads.
Check out some of the lyrics to “Miss Independent:”
When Miss Independent walked away
No time for love that came her way
She looked in the mirror and thought today
What happened to Miss no longer afraid?
It took some time for her to see
How beautiful love could truly be
No more talk of why can’t that be me
I’m so glad I’ve finally seen

Quizzes

Go Super to take Quiz

Lesson MP3

Go Super to download full lesson MP3

Go Super to Ask Ebaby! teachers your questions!

The iTEP^® test

Sponsored by

Schedule an iTEP^® test and take the official English Practice Test.
Take Now >

Discussion

To be honest, I thought Kelly Clarkson’s album was going to suck. However, I just heard “Miss Independent” for the first time yesterday, and I have to admit, I like it. It’s a good song. I listened to the rest of the album today, and it’s pretty good too. It’s very similar to music by Nikka Costa, who I love.
I’m not telling you that you should be like the millions of others who are going to buy Thankful, but you should at least give it a listen. If you’re not a Kelly fan yet, it might surprise you.
Rock on,
Migs