Customer Reviews

Teach Me Even More Spanish: (Paperback and Audio CD in a brightly colored box) 21 Songs to Sing and A Story About Pen Pals

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I checked this out from our local library before purchasing, after having wasted hundreds on boring, sub-par foreign language CDs and DVDs. I was pleasantly surprised that the songs were so catchy and fun to sing along to. One of our faves: Bingo (aka "Sancho"): "Un perro grande tengo yo y el se llama Sancho! S - A - N - CH- O..." I got this for me, to keep my Spanish up to a basic level, and to reinforce Spanish for my daughter, whose dad is a native Spanish speaker, but doesn't use Spanish much around the house.

Although kids are the ones singing on most of the tunes, they don't sound overly cutesy or artifical, they just sound like normal kids (unlike a lot of kiddie music cds, including others in this series). About half the songs are culturally Latino and half US. For the US songs of course it's easy to guess the meaning of the Spanish lyrics, but for the Spanish songs, you either have to just enjoy them for their musical appeal, or read along in the booklet as you listen. Since I always played this in the car, I never really got the Spanish lyrics down pat.

I gave this product 5 stars despite this small limitation, because not only do the songs provide good immersion using fairly basic, easy to understand vocab, but also the CD includes a correspondance between a US and Mexican child, who read their penpal letters aloud to each other. If you had some high school Spanish, you will find it coming back to you as you listen to the letters.

I would not however recommend that they add more English to this cd in future. I loved that it's almost full immersion (some songs are introduced in English and then switch to Spanish). This CD is not a good intro to Spanish, especially if as a parent you know no Spanish. On the other hand, if you are willing to take the time to read the booklet and maybe crack open a dictionary, you could make this work for you. It is certainly a lot more entertaining and fun than the total beginner CDs and DVDs on the market (at this point I feel like I've seen/heard them all, and they nearly all would make great insomnia cures; that's about it!)

This CD would make a GREAT DVD, with subtitles for parents in English -- ideally with an option to choose Spanish subtitles, English, or none. Until then, just enjoy it for what it is: a fun collection of traditional English and Spanish-language songs that is guaranteed to get you and your child singing and smiling!

PS- If you want another immersion CD, try Kids Picks Hit Mix, Vol. 5: En Espanol: tons of fun top 40 hits sung entirely in Spanish! It's a blast!Kids Picks Hit Mix, Vol. 5: En Espanol