Bad for your sanity, good for your Spanish

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Some of you know I became a dad last year. 

My daughter is almost 1 now, which is hard to believe. 

A few months ago, something started to change in what helps her calm down when she’s upset. 

Until recently, she loved it when I’d sing Beatles’ songs. Yellow Submarine was her favorite. 

But now… 

The only thing that works are songs about rowing boats and wheels on buses…

Which means those songs are on a 24/7 loop in my head. 

And that’s what inspired today’s newsletter. 

The thing is, I’m trying to speak to her primarily in Spanish.

Meaning I’ve had to learn a few canciones infantiles too.

And besides Last Christmas by Wham!, nothing sticks in your head more than childrens’ songs. 

Annoying, but highly useful for language learners. 

Singing these songs, I’ve noticed all kinds of interesting Spanish lessons that I thought I’d share with you today.

(plus, this way you’ll get las ruedas del bus van stuck in your head and I won’t have to suffer alone). 

Different kinds of Spanish

Last week, I stumbled upon a podcast episode from the great How to Spanish podcast

They were talking about raising your child in a language other than your native one. At one point, it felt like one of the hosts, Ana, was reading my mind:

“Al inicio pensé que iba a ser casi igual hablar con un bebé que con un adulto, en cuanto a que iba a requerir la misma cantidad de esfuerzo o de conocimiento. Y no, hablar con un niño es más difícil en tu segundo idioma de lo que es hablar con un adulto. Porque si aprendiste el idioma ya de adulto o de joven, pues el tipo de temas del que hablas, el tipo de vocabulario que es natural para ti, es vocabulario adulto, digamos.”

“At the beginning I thought it was going to be about the same talking to a baby as talking to an adult, in that it was going to require the same amount of effort or knowledge. And no, talking to a child is more difficult in your second language than talking to an adult. Because if you learned the language already as an adult or as a young person, then the kind of topics you talk about, the kind of vocabulary that’s natural to you, is adult vocabulary, let’s say.”

Speaking Spanish with our daughter, I’ve almost been embarrassed at the number of words I’ve had to look up. 

But I remind myself it’s normal. 

I never needed to know how to say pacifier, bib, or the very hungry caterpillar before. 

Fortunately, the childrens’ songs I’ve started to learn have helped me fill in some vocabulary gaps.

Try it and you’ll see: 

Two listens to Las ruedas del bus van and you’ll never be able to forget words like ruedas, rodando or parabrisas.

The images onscreen reinforce the meanings, too. 

You really won’t need to write anything down because the song will be in your head all day (you’re welcome). 

But the biggest thing I’ve noticed while singing these songs is that they contain some unbeatable lessons in pronunciation and speech flow. 

For instance, the length of syllables and the way two vowels work together. 

Take the line, “ el parabrisas limpiará” (equivalent for “the wipers on the bus go swish swish swish). 

When you’re singing it to yourself later, you’ll be trying to fit the Spanish words into the rhythm. 

When they don’t fit, it’ll be because something about the way you’re pronouncing things is off. 

A quick revisit to the song will help you figure out that limpiará is three syllables (lim-pia-rá), not four (lim-pi-a-rá) as many learners are prone to pronounce it. 

Get started

Here are some songs you can try this with. 

*Warning: you might want to open these links in a private window so your entire YouTube feed doesn’t get taken over by CoComelon en Español.  

Tunes you’ll be familiar with:

These will be the easiest to remember, since the Spanish words just drop into a melody you already know well. 

Estrellita, ¿dónde estás?

Las ruedas del bus van

Calma bebé

En la granja de mi tío

Fray Santiago

Songs that were new to me in the Spanish speaking world: 

Los pollitos dicen 

Arrorró Mi Niño

Cinco patitos (familiar rhythm but I can’t place it)

Do I have to??

You can of course do this with adult music. 

There are plenty of catchy, genuinely good songs out there (I even made a free guide with a playlist and tips on using music to improve your skills). 

But it’s hard to find music that gets stuck in your head faster than Rema, rema tu bote

Bad for your sanity, good for your Spanish. 

Buen fin de semana,

Connor

P.S. Looking for a more structured way to improve how your Spanish sounds and feels? Want detailed feedback from me on specifically where you can improve?

Check out the coaching version of the Confident Spanish Pronunciation course. I’ll listen to your Spanish and give you in-depth feedback and advice specific to you. Then we’ll get on a few calls and work on it together.

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Hey there, I'm Connor. I help motivated learners speak Spanish without slogging through grammar books or tapping through every new app. I started Breakthrough Spanish to give more people the confidence and focus to learn effectively Spanish from home. Learn more about me here.

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