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How Músicapædia songs teach Spanish through music Listen to all 21 songs -- View lessons Read enthusiastic testimonials Order Spanish musical CDs and Lesson Activities books Research on learning language with music Student song animations and videos Student animation/video competition! Table of contents for each book The complete lyrics and chords to all 21 songs Why Músicapædia songs were created to help you learn Spanish Conversation blog for students and teachers Workshops and in-school performances Benefits of learning Spanish through music Hispanic and Latino links, news and culture Free beginning Spanish lessons Order now! Copyright and free educational use Paste this URL to your friends
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What is Spanish MUSICAPAEDIA™? Musicapaedia™ is a series of Spanish musical CDs of upbeat, inspired, melodic original songs which stand alone as great pop songs but just so happen to be thematic, grammar-specific, and vocabulary rich, with accompanying lesson activities designed to complement and reinforce the teaching of Spanish in grades 5-12 a well as in college, university, and bilingual elementary classrooms. The songwriter, singer, and producer of these CDs and lesson books is a teacher of Spanish himself, and has been successfully using these songs in his own classroom since 1995. The accompanying lesson activities are creative, fun, challenging, and emphasize critical thinking skills. See sample lessons of Spanish Musicapaedia™ songs. Beginning Spanish CDs and lesson books The two BEGINNING LEVEL books and CDs are infinitely invaluable to both Spanish teachers and students of Spanish, since it is rare if not impossible to find a collection of 13 cool songs that 1) remain in the present tense throughout, 2) focus on only a few grammar or thematic points, 3) are catchy, melodic, and upbeat, 4) appeal to people of all ages, 5) have lyrics that are not "teachy" or didactic but actually tell a story and 6) have lyrics that are sung clearly and understandably throughout. Please listen to the songs on this site to verify these claims. And then, buy all three (3) CDs and Lesson Activities Books in a special combination offer! The Beginning Level covers the needs of students in Spanish One, and certainly for the Second Year for review and reinforcement (which, alas, is always necessary). The following two book/CD packages cover this begining-intermediate level: La Flor de Potosi (The Flower of Potosi) -- 7 songs and 7 instrumental karaoke tracks Hola Mi Amigo (Hello, my friend) -- 6 songs and 6 instrumental karaoke tracks Intermediate Spanish CD and lesson book We also offer the excellent Intermediate/Advanced Lesson Book and CD of songs for Levels II-V (including AP) Spanish classes, La Feria de Abril. This book has eight (8) songs plus eight instrumental tracks for karaoke, and covers the entire range of grammar and verb tenses from the simple past tense (preterit) and the ongoing past tense (imperfect), and the present subjunctive, imperfect subjunctive, commands, present progressive, past progressive, present perfect, past perfect, etcetera. There is nothing like this Spanish language learning product in the entire world. (You may verify that by googling "Learn Spanish through Song," "Spanish songs learn," "Spanish music that teaches," ect... We invite you to do "comparison shopping," in the entire world supermarket, and then buy (all of) those that you think will be helpful to you!) |
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These original songs in Spanish hold the three (3) indispensable keys to learning Spanish through music the fun way: 1) The songs themselves are upbeat, melodic, and catchy, and appeal to people of all ages; 2) The lyrics are clever and literary, telling a story or painting a picture, yet at the same time emphasizing themes or grammar that are always taught together, or in sequence, in formal Spanish texts and courses. Many songs are perfect listen to, at precise times during a beginning Spanish course, to reinforce learning. For example, while studying the verb gustar (the Spanish verb to use when saying "to like") you would listen to the song "Nos Gusta" (see lyrics and lessons here) which also includes vocabulary on sports and hobbies. When studying the verb ser ("to be"), you would listen to the song "¿Cómo Es?" (see lyrics and lessons here) which logically contains masculine/feminine adjectives describing people's character or physical traits, and in this song happens to also focus on professions and nationalities. 3) Comprehensive and challenging exercises which allow the student to demonstrate and develop understanding of the grammar concepts and vocabulary found in the song. For example, as part of the unique and copyrighted system of pedagogy in the Musicapaedia series, instead of simply having a translation of the lyrics side-by-side as a student your are given the English translation, yet it is broken up into words or meaningful phrases in the order of appearance, and you are asked to review the song and write the Spanish words or phrases next to their English equivalents. If you have already been studying some Spanish, you already know what some words mean; those Spanish words you don't know are trapped between those you do, and therefore you find out the meaning of words and phrases without having to use a Spanish dictionary! Here's an example:
If you didn't already know what, say, "gato" meant, you could deduce that cat is "gato," because it is sandwiched between two words you already know (let's say) -- "mi" and "donde". Since the words are in the order of appearance, and you have the complete lyrics in Spanish handy, "cat" must be "gato". Thus you can figure out the translation of an entire song in Spanish in about 20 minutes without a dictionary -- something which is unique to the Spanish Musicapaedia method™ |
Once this translation work is done, simple questions and answers are provided ("si" o "no" type), to be done orally with a partner or written if you are working alone, followed by every conceivable exercise that takes advantage of the teaching points in the song. These exercises range from matching, categorizing, filling in the blank, multiple choice, sentence completion, crossword puzzles, communicative games, etc. Every possible way of presenting vocabulary and challenging the student in a fun way are applied. Perhaps the most enjoyable creative activities are the music videos, Powerpoint™ presentations, storyboard illustrations, mime, dance, or karaoke performances that students can do as a culminating activity to demonstrate intimate knowledge of the Spanish in the song. See artistic culminating activities that that integrate what students inspired by Spanish Musicapaedia™ learned from the songs! . The author and songwriter of the Spanish Musicapaedia™ series lived in Spain for nearly three years, and received his M.A. from New York University in 1993, in Hispanic Civilization. He has been a professional musician for over 20 years, and a Spanish teacher since 1988. The songs were recorded by his band, with drums, bass, keyboards, wind instruments, rhythm and lead guitars, and usually two- and even three- part harmonies in the singing. The songwriting style is obviously influenced by the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, the Kinks, the Doors and other bands from that wonderful era in pop music, which makes learning Spanish through these songs and lessons a special treat for Spanish learners of all ages.
The extensive lesson activities based on each song are creative and challenging, and have been "classroom tested" for almost 15 years by the author himself, who has taught Spanish at both the secondary and college level. Please see the testimonials to hear what both Spanish teachers and Spanish students from all over north American since 1999 say about Spanish Musicapaedia. From 6-year-old twins to students over 70, these Spanish songs appeal to several generations! Those who are studying Spanish on their own, will find that the insightful grammatical explanations, examples, and exercises which are to be found in all three accompanying lesson books will allow you to learn Spanish the fun way, without having to study Spanish in a formal course -- although it is advised that you do. (Better yet, get thee to a Spanish-speaking country, and stay awhile!) |
