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Let Spanish Song Lyrics Help You Learn The Language

By Ida Dorsey


Millions of people around the world speak Spanish, especially throughout Latin America. Even mainly English-speaking nations like the USA have large Hispanic communities who only speak English as a second language, if at all. To make it easier to communicate with people from these communities, you can' go wrong learning their language and to add some fun to the learning process, you'll need a few Spanish song lyrics.

Songs are incredibly useful when you're learning a language. Even if you don't understand the words yet, they'll help you get used to the sounds and rhythms of that language. They're also a fun way to learn new vocabulary or to understand the rules of grammar. In addition, you get to hear different accents.

If you're only starting out, it's a good idea to listen to Mexican songs. These can include the famous traditional ones such as 'Cielito Lindo' or 'La Cucuracha'. Singers whose songs to try as well include Chavela Vargas, Jose Alfredo Jimenez, Lila Downs and Marco Antonio Solis. These numbers are in an easy-to-understand accent and are usually slow enough to follow as well.

Another country with easy songs to learn or to listen to is Cuba. 'Guantanamera' is this country's most famous song and is a very easy one to understand. However, the slower styles made famous by the Buena Vista Social Club's musicians are an excellent choice too.

In Latin America, the dialect spoken in Spain is referred to as Catalan. It's a little more difficult to understand if you're not very good at the language yet. However, you may want to try listening to the very popular songs of Manu Chao, whose lyrics tend to be quite simple, with catchy tunes.

If your language skills have started to improve, you may want to try accents that are more challenging. Argentinians and Chileans have distinctive accents that can be difficult even for native speakers from other parts of Latin America. Therefore, it's best to listen to songs from the folk movement known as the Nueva Cancion. Its most famous singer was the brilliant Argentinian singer Mercedes Sosa, whose greatest hit, 'Gracias A La Vida', was written by the Chilean Violeta Parra.

As you become more proficient, it's time to challenge yourself with faster songs. You'll soon be belting out the words while dancing to cumbia, reggae, merengue or rock. Some good rock musicians to try are Ricardo Arjona from Guatemala, Perrozompopo from Nicaragua and Juanes from Colombia. You can also look for the Spanish-language work of Marc Anthony, Shakira, Enrique Iglesias or Ricky Martin.

You may be able to find CDs with Spanish songs, especially in record stores in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods. Even easier will be to download numbers from the internet. CD sleeves often contain the lyrics to the songs or you'll find specialty websites that can provide you with the words. They may even have the English translations alongside the original words, but try to do the translations yourself first to test your skill.




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