Kids Songs Around the World with English Translations
or French Translations
or Spanish Translations
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Contents
Posts
Link of Spanish Kids CD’s
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009I stumbled upon this page today: a list of some musicians who have recorded children’s music in Spanish.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
French Hello Song “Bonjour” with MP3
Monday, June 8th, 2009Hello songs are a wonderful way to help children who are learning a foreign language. It’s also nice for children to always sing the same song at the beginning of a class. Hello songs are great for this.
The song below is called “Bonjour”. It’s a French hello song written and sung by Alain Le Lait. Sit back and enjoy the song by clicking the MP3 below. You can read along with the lyrics in French, followed by an English translation by Alain…
Bonjour
(French Lyrics)Bonjour, bonjour
Comment ça va?
Bonjour, bonjour
Très bien, merci
Je suis content d’être ici
Avec tous mes petits amis
Bonjour, bonjour
Comment ça va?Merci, merci
Merci d’être ici
Merci, merci
Écoutez
Aimez-vous cette chanson?
J’espère que je suis dans le ton
Merci, merci
Merci d’être iciHello
(English Translation)Hello, hello
How are you?
Hello, hello
Very well, thank you
I am happy to be here
With all my little friends
Hello, hello
How are you?Thank you, thank you
For being here
Thank you, thank you
Listen up
Do you like this song?
I hope that I am in tune
Thank you, thank you
For being here.The French and English lyrics to this “Bonjour” song are © 2003 Alain Le Lait.
Alain Le Lait is a French native who grew up near Paris, France. He moved to the United States in the 1970s and now lives in Colorado. Alain writes and performs easy to learn children’s songs in French, Spanish and English. Check out his site www.Yadeeda.com to hear samples of his music and to buy his CD’s or mp3’s. Soon we’ll be posting Alain’s version of Alouette!
Merci Alain!
Mama Lisa
PS Here are some other Hello and Goodbye Songs…
Raffi Lyrics and Musical Arrangements
Sunday, May 31st, 2009Many children love Raffi’s music! I’ve just discovered something wonderful on his site… Raffi’s Lyrics and Scores – which include his specific arrangements to many of the songs he sings.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Russian Childrens Music CD?
Friday, May 22nd, 2009Chris wrote:
Hi my name is D. I’m on a mission to find Russian children’s songs. I found your page on the web and liked what I saw. I’m looking to make a CD of Russian children’s songs for personal use. I’ll explain why.
My mom is a foster mom for medically fragile kids (wheelchair and medical miracle kids). she has adopted many handicapped children and is currently going through the process of adopting a 7 yr old boy from Russia. he has severe handicaps that have been complicated over the years by medical experiments gone wrong. she’s a great mom and truly has a heart for these kids. she leaves soon for her first trip to meet him.
Since i have my hands full with my family, i can’t contribute much to her, but would like to show my support for what she is doing. i would love to have a CD of Russian kid’s songs for her to take with her so she can start working at bonding with her new son.
I lack the knowledge of how to obtain such a CD and am looking for help. Your page off google was the best I’ve seen and it really got my hopes up that i can do what I’m looking to do. please help me.
Thank you,
D ChrisHere’s what I found so far…
I found one cd on Amazon of Russian kids songs at:
Children Songs – Constellation of the Hits vol. 2 (in Russian)
If anyone can recommend any other Russian kids cd’s, or if you can help out D., please let us know in the comments below…
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Spanish Wrangler: Great Music for Exposing Kids to Spanish
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009The Spanish Wrangler sings really fun music for kids! The songs are mainly in English, but they’re peppered with Spanish words and phrases. Most of the songs tell a story – which children love. What a great way to expose kids to the Spanish language!
The Wrangler’s music is cool. You feel like you’re sauntering in a Western town. I thought it had a bit of a bluesy feel to it. So I asked the Spanish Wrangler how he would classify his music. He said, “a word I’ve seen used (and sometimes use myself) to describe my stuff is ‘roots-based.’ I think that signals that the songs are blues & country with some folk thrown in…” The folk is where the stories come from.
Check out the Wrangler singing in the song below (he’s great with the children!). You can see how he teaches Spanish words…
You can hear the whole song, plus others, on his site at Spanish Wrangler.
Here’s a link to buy the Spanish Wrangler’s CD’s.
Thanks to Wil Thomas aka the Spanish Wrangler for sharing his music with us!
Mama Lisa
Radio France Podcasts
Saturday, March 14th, 2009
Radio France has French news podcasts that are spoken a little slower than normal for people who don’t speak French as a first language. I found them reasonable to understand. Check it out if you know some French and would like to practice!
If you’re fluent in French, up to a challenge, or just want to listen to their music, check out Radio France’s podcast directory page, featuring music and news.
Great Chinatown Restaurant in New York City
Friday, March 13th, 2009New Wonton Garden in New York’s Chinatown is a delicious, inexpensive restaurant. It’s not fancy by any means. But it serves yummy dim sum and wonton soup (oddles of varieties). A great place to go if you’re looking for taste without spending a fortune. We fed four for less than $40 including the tip. (Though we didn’t eat entries.) The soup was so filling with the dim sum that we were too full.
CD’s with Spanish Songs including Los pollitos
Thursday, February 26th, 2009Adrinel emailed me…
To whom it may concern:
I was wondering if you had a CD available to purchase of the children’s nursery rhymes… I was looking for Los pollitos especially..
Thanks!
AdrinelBelow are some CD’s and MP3’s from Amazon I found with Los Pollitos on them. I’m giving the links below to buy the cd’s as regular cd’s (but you can download the whole disc in mp3 form if you’d like). You can listen to samples of all of them before buying…
CD’s to Buy from Amazon with Los pollitos:
Los Merenguitos: Canciones Infantiles
¡A Bailar! Let’s Dance! (Spanish learning songs for kids/Canciones infantiles)MP3’s of Los pollitos – You can also buy single mp3’s of the song:
Los Pollitos (The Little Chicks) by Elizabeth Mitchell – I like this one a lot!
Los Merenguitos: El Barquito – El Cartero – Los Pollitos – Patito Patito – MP3 Download for .99 cents
Los Pollitos (The Little Chicks) – from ¡A Bailar! Let’s Dance! – MP3 Download for .99 centsIf anyone would like to recommend any other versions of Los pollitos, feel free to in the comments below.
Mama Lisa
Blog about Living in New Orleans
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009Check out the Toulouse Blog about life in New Orleans.
Here’s an excerpt of what he had to say approaching the Mardi Gras…
When one is called to Carnival, the first question will always be: what do I wear?
…You must simply find or make a mask, one that calls you to wear it, that dictates the costume that accompanies it, that leads you to surrender yourself to the spirit of the mask.
It need not even be a mask. My “mask” this year is a tri-corner, Asian-styled hat. I do not have the costume, but I already see the costume. When you can see the character in the object, when you can see yourself in the character, you will have found the one.
Without that mask, you can only be The Tourist. We see them at Carnival common as sparrows, and the camera is their mask. They come, take Carnival’s blurry picture and go home with fabulous hangovers… If you come do not choose to be The Tourist. Carnival is an occasion to be the spirit you know inside you. So take on your mask,… and enter through the gate The Tourists never pass, down the carriageway that opens into the courtyard at the heart of Carnival. It is filled with masks and spirits.
If reading the Toulouse blog gets you in the New Orleans mood, head on over to Home of the Groove to listen to some New Orleans music – (including some songs typically played in the Mardi Gras parade). You’ll feel like you’re in the heart of New Orleans. Bon voyage!
Mama Lisa
Danish Kids Songs Sites plus a Danish Children’s Song
Thursday, February 19th, 2009Richard wrote to me recommending a Danish kids song site…
Hi
On this web page Rimogremser.dk there are several Danish kids songs with midi files.
Thanks for a good a good web-site ;)
Best regards
Richard
Thanks for the recommendation Richard. The site is nice! It has cool line drawings to go with most of the songs and tunes – though no English translations.
I picked one of the songs on the site that’s in the public domain (possibly 100 years+ old) and tried my hand at translating it. Below you’ll find the lyrics in Danish, the illustration from the site, a link to the midi and my translation…
Når vi sejler op og ned
Når vi sejler op og ned,
ser vi fisken svømme.
Ære, være, du er min.
Lise, Lise, hvor vi elsker dig.Når vi sejler op og ned,
ser vi fisken svømme.
Ære, være, du er min
Michael, Michael, hvor vi hader dig.Midi of Når vi sejler op og ned
Rough English Translation:
When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
Glory, be, you are mine,
Lisa, Lisa, we love you.When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
Glory, be, you are mine,
Michael, Michael, we hate you.I welcome improvements to my translation!
I searched around some more and found another nice Danish site called Dansk Folkemindesamling (the link here is for the kids song section of the site). This one had a different version of the same song (also in Danish only). This one also had a Quicktime recording of children singing it. It’s where I learned that the song goes back to at least 1900. It’s a circle game. One goes “swimming” under the “circles” raised arms. At the end of each verse one joins the circle. One joins them to walk around so that together they form a chain which gets longer and longer.
Here’s the second version of the song…
1 Når vi sejler op og ned
så ser vi fisken svømme
ære være vi er her
for Mia, Mia hvem elsker du?2 Når vi sejler op og ned
så ser vi fisken svømme
ære være vi er her
for Per, Per hvem elsker du?3 Når vi sejler op og ned
så ser vi fisken svømme
ære være vi er her
for Ebbe, Ebbe hvem elsker du?This version is friendlier. Here’s the English translation I came up with:
1 When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
We are honored to be here
For Mia, Mia, who loves you?2 When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
We are honored to be here
For Per, Per, Who loves you?3 When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
We are honored to be here
For Ebbe, Ebbe, Who loves you?Once again, I welcome improvements to my translation!
Mama Lisa’s World also has some Danish kids songs with English, French and Spanish translations and midis. We always welcome more songs if anyone would like to contribute any and also if anyone would like to sing any for us… Feel free to comment below or email me!
Mama Lisa
Pili’s Spanish Language Podcast
Saturday, January 24th, 2009Guest blogger, Monique Palomares works with me on Mamá Lisa’s World en español. Monique grew up in a multilingual family in southern France. Spanish is one of the languages she spoke growing up.
If your parents or grandparents had a different mother tongue from yours and if you lived your childhood in such a multicultural context, you sure know how I feel.
I was happy when in August 2007, Pili, a Spanish student of Fine Arts in Salamanca, Spain, posted a comment on this blog to tell us about her podcast. It aimed to help improve people’s abilities in the Spanish language.
I listened to Pili’s podcasts as they came out. Throughout the podcasts, Pili would tell her American friend Lucy about her life in Spain.
I particularly enjoyed…
-Her stories about Spanish cultural events like La San Fermín in Pamplona, and hearing about customs like eating tapas, and learning about Spanish movies.
-The fact that she would speak clearly and a little more slowly than the very fast Spanish speech you normally hear.
-The fact that she now and again used colloquial idioms (not naughty ones!) that you might not find in dictionaries and that keep your language up-to-date.Pili posted until December 2007 and her old podcasts are still available on her site.
Now she’s coming back with a renewed version including free podcasts and more extended material that’s available by subscription. You can check the guide to the podcasts on her website dpili.com, it’s in pdf format, so you can download it for free!
Well, to make a long story short, I’m glad she’s back.
Online Spanish Songs – Recordings and Spanish Lyrics
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008I just found a treasure trove of online recordings of Spanish kids songs and the Spanish lyrics in PDF form in an online book called CANTAR, TOCAR Y JUGAR – Juegos musicales para niños (Sing and Play – Musical Games for Children) by Pilar Posada Saldarriaga.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
Foods That Will Win the War…
Saturday, December 20th, 2008
No joke! There’s an old cookbook called Foods That Will Win The War And How To Cook Them (1918), by C. Houston Goudiss and Alberta M. Goudiss from the time of World War I. It tells what foods to eat – or to cut down on – so they can be sent to the allies in Europe. Here’s an excerpt.
Food will win the war, and the nation whose food resources are best conserved will be the victor. This is the truth that our government is trying to drive home to every man, woman and child in America.
.This book is planned to solve the housekeeper’s problem. It shows how to substitute cereals and other grains for wheat, how to cut down the meat bill by the use of meat extension and meat substitute dishes. it shows the use of syrup and other products that save sugar, and it explains how to utilize all kinds of fats. It contains 47 recipes for the making of war breads.
Not only have its authors planned to help the woman in the home, conserve the family income, but to encourage those saving habits which must be acquired by this nation if we are to secure a permanent peace that will insure the world against another onslaught by the Prussian military powers.
.One teaspoonful of sugar per person saved each day would insure a supply ample to take care of our soldiers and our Allies. These quantities mean but a small individual sacrifice, but when multiplied by our vast population they will immeasurably aid and encourage the men who are giving their lives to the noble cause of humanity on which our nation has embarked.
Video Game Gift Ideas for Kids
Thursday, December 18th, 2008
I asked my children to tell me what they’d consider to be their favorite video games. In case there are people out there still looking for last minute gift ideas, below are some recommendations.
I recommend going to Game Stop to buy video games since they’re small stores that you can find anywhere. If you’re looking online, you can also try Amazon.
Here are my teenage son’s favorite games:
For the Wii:
For the DS:
For the PC (Computer):
Spore
World of Goo (It can also be downloaded onto the Wii*.)For the N64 (Some old N64 games can be downloaded onto the Wii* – that’s how my son played it):
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Here are my 7 year old daughter’s favorites:
Disney Princesses: Enchanted Journey – available for the PC, Wii and PS2
Littlest Pet Shop Video Game – available for the PC, Wii and DSBratz Baby Ponies – this is free online – all you need is a Flash player! You choose a pony and style its hair. Great for girls!
Frogger – another game that has a free version online – good for boys and girls (My daughter played it on the GameCube – which is an older system.)
For the DS:
For the PC:
World of Goo (It can also be downloaded onto the Wii*.)
Most kids seem to like games in the Mario Bros. franchise. You can see that Mario games are on both of my kids’ lists and I’ve bought them for many other children in our lives who have enjoyed playing them.
If you’re interested in stuffed animal and robotic animal gifts you can click the link to see an earlier post I wrote with recommendations.
Feel free to let us know about the games the kids you know like in the comments below…
Mama Lisa
*A Note About Downloading Games onto the Wii: There’s a Wii Shop Channel on the Wii Menu on the Wii. You can buy a Wii points card at a video game store or you could by points through the Wii Shop Channel. To use the card you just enter the code on the card into the Wii Shop Channel and search for a game. If it’s there it should come up. Most games cost $15 or less. 100 points costs $1. You can get old games on it and some games that are programmed specifically for it. The old games are from NES, SNES, N64 and some other systems.
Some Noteworthy Language Tools
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008Here are some new and old language tools worth mentioning…
Speech Accent Archive – If you’d like to hear or study accents in English check out this site. People from all over the world recite a paragraph in English.
Internet Slang Dictionary & Translator – also translates internet acronyms like lol
Nice Translator – Uses the Google translator, but displays text in a way that’s easier to read.
Verbix – Conjugates verbs in many languages
WordReference.com – online translation dictionaries translates words from English to: Spanish, Italian, Russian, German and French (translates in both directions).
Hello World – language resources for Kids
LanguageGuide.org – Visual Dictionaries in various languages
Feel free to mention any language tools or sites you like in the comments below.
-Mama Lisa
Great Photos on the Internet to Show Your Kids!
Thursday, November 20th, 2008Here are some photos from the National Archives Ansel Adams collection (one near Death Valley, the other of the Grand Canyon)…
The Library of Congress has a Catalog of Online Prints & Photographs. (Many of those photos are in the public domain.)
They’ve teamed up with Flickr to post some of their popular photos. Below is a photo of President Taft with his sister and her kids, from the early 20th century. It’s from Flickr.
Google has teamed up with Time Inc. to make available on the internet millions of photos from Life Magazine. The photos span from the 1860’s to the 1970’s. You can look at the photos – of course – but I believe they’re still copyright protected.
I must say, it’s interesting to view some of the wonderful photos. Here are links to a couple of my favorites…
Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova (1900)
It’s worth taking your child to these sites to see some wonderful historic photos – or simply check ‘em out yourself!
-Mama Lisa
Nice Map Site
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008I found a comprehensive map site today called The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin. You’ll find maps there in PDF and jpg format.
Check it out if you’re looking for maps!-Mama Lisa
Children and Idiomatic Expressions, and a Great New Kids Book
Friday, October 17th, 2008Kids are funny.
My daughter was recently playing on her Gameboy (the handheld gaming system). I said something to her, but she was so absorbed that she completely didn’t hear. So I commented to her friend, who was also there, that my daughter was lost in another world. Her friend asked, “Why? Was she trapped?” I explained that, no, I was just using an expression meaning “when someone is so involved in what they’re doing that they don’t notice anything around them”.
It’s in this type of spirit that the book Butterflies in My Stomach, by Serge Bloch was written. You follow the main character though his first day of school. It’s full of idiomatic expressions that are illustrated literally. For example, the kid has butterflies in his stomach – so there’s an ink drawing of the kid with actual butterflies in his stomach.
Many of these expressions are funny on their own. Children love the expression, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” Bloch has a page where cats and dogs are raining down from the sky. It’s a hoot for kids to see this actually illustrated in a book.
The book gives you a chance to discuss these unique expressions with your child, in a funny way.
Can Anyone Suggest a Polish Children’s CD?
Thursday, August 28th, 2008Mary wrote:
I am looking to get a CD of Polish Children’s songs for a friend. Could you recommend one? How may I purchase it? Thank you. Mary Brady
If anyone knows of any good Polish kids cd’s and/or where to buy them, please let us know about it in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Radio Station on the Internet that plays Jazz
Friday, August 22nd, 2008I recently discovered KUVO Jazz 89 where you can hear great music right on the internet. Check it out if you like Jazz and the Blues!
Mama Lisa
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