Free Spanish Lesson 66. Spanish Street Music!

Vocabulary For Today’s Free Spanish Lesson – Vocabulario para el boletín

la música – music

y – and

el baile – dance

(la) ciudad – (the) city

en que viví – in which I lived

música salsa o merengue – salsa or merengue music

me encantó el ritmo – I loved the rhythm

es muy común – It’s very common

desde sus casas – from their homes (houses)

puertas – doors

ventanas – windows

fiesta – party

un evento – one event

primer cumpleaños – first birthday

compadres – godparents

tantos adultos – so many adults

la gente – the people

me parecía – It seemed to me

otra fiesta – another party

música y baile – music and dance

primer año de vida – first year of life

hágannos saber – let us know

música en las calles – music in the streets

cuando vivía – when I was living

alquilaba (rentaba) – I was renting

no había nada – there wasn’t anything

sonido – sound

las primeras dos horas – the first two hours

de cada mañana – of each morning

educación cultural – cultural education

bandas Latinas – Latin bands

buenaso – great

música de una casa – music from one house

con música – with music

para decidir – to decide

amigos Latinos – Latin friends

o vecinos – or neighbors

necesita – you need

darse cuenta que – to realize that

para ellos – for them

tal vez quieras ir – you may want to go

presentarse – introduce yourself

español – Spanish

¿Puede enseñarme a bailar? – Can you teach me to dance?

In Latin American culture, la música y el baile are a staple of life. In just about every ciudad en que viví, you could walk around la ciudad on any given day and hear música salsa o merengue filling the streets. Me encantó el ritmo, the beat and the affect it had on me.

Es muy común for Latin Americans to play loud música desde sus casas with puertas y ventanas wide open. They play music for any type of fiesta or get-together, for special occasions and just for fun. Un evento they play music for, that I really enjoyed learning about, was one-year-old birthday parties.

For a child’s primer cumpleaños, parents invite friends, relatives and the child’s compadres for a big celebration where there’s a lot of música y baile. For me, it was a little amusing that tantos adultos would get toget her to celebrate a party where the guest of honor (a one-year old) wouldn’t even remember anything about it or la gente who came.

Me parecía like either a great excuse to have otra fiesta with música y baile, or a cultural thing that is done in other areas of the world where parents are so thankful that the child has lived through the delicate primer año de vida.

Now back to música en las calles. I especially noticed how loud their music can get cuando vivía in a particular Latin American city. Alquilaba a small home/apartment that had 10″ decorative holes around the front door. No había nada to block out sonido except screen-door-type material; there was no solid surface covering the decorative holes.

I spent las primeras dos horas de cada mañana studying in the apartment and, because of the música from across la calle, I think I learned more Spanish music than I was able to actually study. It was okay, and I chalked it up to “educación cultural” and Latin experience. I became familiar with a number of bandas Latinas and grew to love many of them. I now think salsa and merengue music is buenaso!

Something that was very interesting to me was that música de una casa never seemed to compete with music from someone else’s home on any given street. They must have had monthly neighborhood scheduling parties (con música) para decidir whose home la música would come from each day.

Moral of the Story: For those of you who have amigos Latinos o vecinos and they turn their music up loud, necesita darse cuenta que they aren’t trying to “blast you out” or “compete” with your música, they are just doing what is culturally “norm al” para ellos.

Tal vez quieras ir over to their casa, presentarse, practice speaking español a little and ask them to teach you some Spanish dancing moves. You could say, ¿Puede enseñarme a bailar?

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Written by David S. Clark President/Director, U.S. Institute of Languages. Copyright © 1999-2011 US Institute of Languages All rights reserved.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.