DO YOU HABLA BLAH BLAH? WE DO!
Level: Easy
WE LOVE THESE MUSICAL LANGUAGE CD’S
Do you want to learn Spanish? Or, do you speak Spanish already and want to learn English? Our friend Amy has gotten some great singers and musicians together, including boys and girls my age, to make really fun language teaching CD’s using music. When I was 2, I used to take a Habla Blah Blah Spanish class so that I could learn Spanish and my friend Remy and Poppy and I would dance around and stomp to the songs. One of my favorite songs was Los Grandes Elefantes. If you want to hear it, you can watch the animated MUSIC VIDEO from Habla Blah Blah. I am eight now, but I still love this music and I am using their new CD sets to practice my Spanish so that I can speak Spanish to my friends: Ana from El Salvador and Romina from Argentina.
My favorite things about the Habla Blah Blah Spanish CD’s are:
The words are easy to remember
The songs are very catchy. You’ll want to sing them all day long
The songs are great for kids in pre-school or elementary school
Lots of fun to sing and dance to with friends in your room
Kids sing on the CD’s too.
Below are some questions we asked the creator (Amy Conroy) of Habla Blah Blah. Oh, and, want a chance to win a free English & Spanish CD set + a t-shirt? Just visit our Wondermint Facebook Fan page. All you have to do is LIKE our page and COMMENT on the post and you might be one of two people chosen.
Q & A WITH THE CREATOR OF HABLA BLAH BLAH
WONDERMINT: What inspired you to make the Habla Blah Blah CD’s?
AMY: My son, Jack! He’s 10 years old now, but when he was a baby and I was looking for a fun way to teach him Spanish, I couldn’t find anything that satisfied us both.
WONDERMINT: Who sings on them? And, how did you find them?
AMY: Some of the singers are my friends, and some I found by word of mouth while living between San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico and Los Angeles. We recorded all of the Spanish and some of the English in a small recording studio just outside the town of San Miguel de Allende with the kids (Carlo, Logan, Ella, Fiona) that you see in the photo above who happen to grow up learning Spanish and speak it perfectly! Others sent in audio clips to audition. And in the end, I think I’d call them ALL my friends! The photo below shows the road to our recording studio in San Miguel.
The road leading to the Habla Blah Blah recording studio
WONDERMINT: How old are the kids singing? Could you tell us a little bit about them?
AMY: Let’s see…Carlo, 10, and Logan, 6, are brothers—los atreviosos!—which means, naturally, that they have a lot of friends! They ride ATV’s, horses, and hit a mean piñata. Ella and Fiona are best girly friends and 7 years old each—cutest things ever. Ella is an awesome dancer and learning French! They are all Spanish-English bilingual.
WONDERMINT: How does listening to these CDs help a kid learn to speak Spanish?
AMY: well, really just listening doesn’t do the whole trick—I suggest singing along! Then I suggest singing along in a funny voice, in a low-low voice, in a silly voice, etc., etc. until you can’t get the songs out of your head. There is also lots of research that shows music can help people, especially kids, learn language more easily.
WONDERMINT: What is the best way to use the Habla Blah Blah language CD’s?
AMY: Start by listening to the CD of your native language (whatever language you first learned)—listen through the whole thing 2-3 times. Then, select the CD of your target language, and listen to that over & over & over again. You can use the English as a “key” to learning Spanish, or vice versa!
WONDERMINT: Any other tips for parents or kids learning another language?
AMY: The easiest way to learn a new language is when you have an emotional connection. When you’re an adult, they tell you the quickest way to fluency (this means being able to easily speak a language) is to fall in love! For kids, I think it’s a version of the same—once you make a friend who speaks another language, you are highly motivated to be able to communicate with them.
To purchase the Habla Blah Blah songs & CD’s visit Itunes or HablaBlahBlah.com. In a few months we will be reviewing the French Habla Blah Blah CD’s too along with an amazing new French newspaper for kids called BISCOTO JOURNAL. Make sure you join & subscribe so that you do not miss out.
Have a question for the singers or creators of Habla Blah Blah? Leave a comment below and we will get it to them!
Like our Facebook page and comment on the Habla Blah Blah post for a chance to win the Spanish & English Musical CDs and a t-shirt before November 5th. Subscribers are automatically entered.