English is a tricky language, and no one method is universally accepted as the best way to learn it -- but quite a few teachers have found that playing their students Beatles songs can help.

A recent study conducted by Kaplan International Colleges surveyed more than 500 English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers from 40 countries and concluded that 86 percent them use music as part of their curriculum -- and of that 86 percent, an impressive 40 percent uses the music of the Beatles in the classroom, far outpacing artists such as Michael Jackson (6 percent), Bob Marley (5 percent), Elvis Presley (4 percent), and One Direction (3 percent).

That's an incredibly wide margin, and it underscores the global nature of the Beatles phenomenon. As Kaplan points out, its survey was truly international, polling teachers from "the U.K., U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Russia, India, South Korea, Turkey, Georgia, Germany, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Greece, Vietnam, Spain, Cuba, France, Taiwan, Thailand, Azerbajan, Pakistan, Tunisia, Mexico, Iran, Ukraine, Jamaica, Malaysia, Romania, Poland, Argentina, Czech Republic, Latvia, Uganda, Malta, Singapore and Chile."

Paul McCartney's son James was understandably enthused by the results of the poll, responding, "What a great way to learn any language -- by learning through music. Music is a universal language that can bridge the traditional language barrier, and the music of the Beatles has always been a bridge of love and communication. I think this is great."

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