This is one of my favourite children songs ever. Its simple, playful lyrics and tune are embedded in my generation´s collective consciousness.
It brings back memories of happy Saturday afternoons spent watching Miliki´s wonderful ´Payasos de la Tele´ (TV´s Clowns) enchanting their young audience with their warm hearts and endearing good humour.
In this clip the late Miliki, and his son, Emilio Aragón, sing it live for a charity event, together with a Spanish singer.
Simply magical
Here are the lyrics:
Un barquito de cáscara de
nuez, A
little nutshell boat
adornado con velas de
papel, with
paper sails adorned,
se hizo hoy a la mar para
lejos
llevar set
sail today to take away
gotitas doradas de
miel. little
golden honey drops.
Un mosquito sin miedo va en
él A
mosquito, fearless, goes on it
muy seguro de ser buen timonel. Very sure of being a
good helmsman
Y subiendo y bajando las
olas and
going up and down the waves
el barquito ya se
fue. the little boat
already left
Navegar sin
temor To
sail without fear
en el mar es lo
mejor, across
the sea is the best thing,
no hay razón de ponerse a
temblar. There’s no reason to
go shivering.
Y si viene negra
tempestad And
if black storm comes
reír y remar y
cantar.
Laugh and row and
sing.
Navegar sin
temor To
sail without fear
en el mar es lo
mejor.
Across the sea is the
best thing
Y si el cielo está muy
azul, And
if the sky is very blue,
el barquito va contento
the
little boat happily goes
por los mares lejanos del
Sur. Along the far
Southern seas.
A creative advert about one of Spanish less known culinary treats. I can totally relate to it! Pity we can´t find this product in the UK : (
And with a good selection of short sentences with mostly straightforward language, the advert becomes a good listening activity for beginners. Find the transcript below.
Vamos a ver, esto no puede seguir así.
OK (Let’s see), this can’t carry on
like this.
¿Quién ha sido esta vez?
Who was it this time?
¿Has sido tú?
Was it you?
¿Tú?
You?
¿Nadie?
Nobody?
¿Cuál es la excusa de esta semana?
What is this week’s excuse?
¿Se ha… volatilizado?
Did it volatilise?
Lo traje ayer al mediodía
I brought it yesterday lunch time
No han pasado ni 24 horas
It hasn’t even
been 24 hours
-Hola mamá
-Hi mum
-¡Ay! ¡Qué susto!
-You startled me!
(What a fright!)
-Yo te ayudo
-I’ll help you
-Papá, te he visto
-Dad, I saw you
-¿Qué haces, cariño?
-What are you doing, honey?
-Ahora no, niños. Vamos a comer ya. Vamos, vamos, a
poner la mesa.
-Not now,
children. We are going to eat now. Come on, come on, lay the table.
Ni 24 horas han pasado…
Not even 24 hours…
Un espetec de Casa Tarradellas se acaba rápido. Y
dos, también.
A fuet/espetec from Casa Tarradellas is
finished quickly. And two, too.
Espetec de Casa Tarradellas, el de casa.
Fuet/espetec
from Casa Tarradellas, the home made one.
Spanish sitcom about two Spanish teachers in a language school in Spain.
The series consists of short episodes and it is suitable for beginners (A1). It starts with very basic introductions and gradually builds up towards the next level.
Unfortunately, I have only found the first three episodes, which cover things like nationalities and greetings, and episode 27, which focuses on physical descriptions but also uses some more advanced grammar structures like the past tense.
If you want to use the subtitles option on youtube, please be aware it is not always accurate. It should be fine for slow dialogue but it doesn't cope with fast speech.