Song Hola Amigo/Hello Friend - Bilingual Song with Teaching Tips
Here we go amigas/amigos!
I told you the other day that this idea just came to me. It hit me like a lightning bolt! Tell all your friends! Send them here for the coolest, the hippest, (okay maybe not the hippest since I AM 47, almost 48!!!), the most innovative ideas for bringing Spanish to life!!!
With every song I have written and recorded to introduce young children to Spanish if they speak English and to English if they speak Spanish, I will begin to share even more than the normal Boca Beth free stuff here on my blog!
Rock on - let’s get this bilingual bash started right here, right now!!!
The lyrics for one of the first songs I ever piggy-backed (for those of you not familiar with that term it simply means take a beat, a melody that you and your child(ren) already recognize and know and insert new words, new lyrics). With this song called “Hola Amigo/Hello Friend” I used the melody of “Frere Jacques” to build a song around that would introduce the basic greetings in English and Spanish.
Here are the words first:
“Hola Amigo/Hello Friend” (track number 2 on My First Songs in Spanish music CD from the Boca Beth Program)
(sung to “Frere Jacques”)
¡Hola amigo!
Hello friend!
¿Como estás?
How are you?
¡Muy bien, gracias!
Very fine, thank you!
¿Y tú?
And you?
(song repeats one complete time)
¡Hola amiga!
Hello friend!
¿Como estás?
How are you?
¡Muy bien, gracias!
Very fine, thank you!
¿Y tú?
And you?
In addition to these lyrics use these cool suggestions:
Introduction – Use BOCA the puppet to introduce BOCA (the star of the BOCA BETH Program). Ask the children to say “Hola BOCA” “Hi BOCA” to warm them up. Talk about how BOCA is a boy, he’s a friend of mine, Johnny & Maria so he is called an “amigo.” Ask the children to repeat the word amigo and the word friend. Then use a girl puppet (preferably in the bird family like BOCA is) and talk about how JULIA is a girl, she’s a friend of mine, Enrique & Susie so she is called an “amiga.” Ask the children to repeat the word amiga and the word friend. Then move into the first song of language time . . .Hola Amigo/Hello Friend (CD #1 / Song #2) sing this song using the BOCA boy puppet alternating to the girl puppet We always start each language session with this same song – providing a routine and repetition and success daily with the second language learning.Sometimes I will pair up a boy student with a girl student and have them act out the song. Or, often times, based on class makeup we use puppets, animal toys, paper plate images, magazine cut outs and others to act out our “Hola Amigo/Hola Amiga” song!
Remember, 68% of the population needs to learn visually. Let’s provide our young children with every method available to bring the Spanish to life!
Happy Educating! ¡Sea feliz educando!
Boca Beth
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