Learning In Two Languages This is a bilingual album designed to build vocabulary in both English and Spanish. Each song appears first in English and then in Spanish. There are also instrumental sing-along tracks for most of the songs. The songs are a combination of new compositions and updated versions of early Hap Palmer favorites along with new translations into Spanish. Each song facilitates learning vocabulary through participation in music and movement activities. Some of the categories include: animals, colors, days of the week, opposites, articles of clothing, identifying sounds, adverbs of place and prepositions. In addition, there are a host of colorful words and images used in telling stories and setting scenes for learning word meanings. Children will also hear the sounds of real instruments including piano, bass, drums, guitar, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, flute, piccolo, violin, viola, cello, marimba, bongos, congas, tambourine, and maracas played by excellent studio musicians. Este es un álbum bilingüe diseñado para desarrollar el vocabulario tanto en inglés como en español. Cada canción aparece primero en inglés y después en español. La mayor parte de las canciones también tiene una versión instrumental. Las canciones son una combinación de composiciones nuevas y versiones modernizadas de las anteriores canciones favoritas de Hap Palmer acompañadas por traducciones al español. Cada canción facilita el aprendizaje de vocabulario a través de la participación en actividades musicales y de movimiento. Algunas de las categorías incluyen: animales, colores, días de la semana, palabras opuestas, prendas de vestir, la identificación de sonidos, adverbios de lugar y preposiciones. Además hay una cantidad de palabras e imágenes vívidas que se usan para contar historias y crear una base para el aprendizaje del significado de las palabras. Los niños también escucharán los sonidos producidos por instrumentos de verdad como el piano, el bajo, la batería, la trompeta, el trombón, el saxofón, la flauta, el flautín, el violín, la viola, el violoncelo, la marimba, los bongós, la pandereta y las maracas, tocados por excelentes músicos. Product Number: HP117 Hap Palmer is an American musician who writes educational songs that integrate music and movement. His music helps develop motor skills, improve language acquisition, encourage creativity, and develop reading readiness and math concepts. He has been well loved by schools and day-care centers for over 3 decades and helped write songs for the best-selling Baby Songs His newest CD, Learning In Two Languages / Aprendiendo en dos idiomas was just released in May 2010. It is designed to help children ages 4 to 9 build vocabulary in both English and Spanish. The songs play first in English and then in Spanish and at the end, are all the songs music soundtracks. Each song encourages the listener to participate in music and movement activities to help with the learning and enjoyment of the music. Palmer worked with several people, including certified ESL and Spanish teachers, a Spanish language educational expert, and in a bilingual classroom to develop these songs. The music introduces children to a wide range of "true" (as opposed to synthesized" musical instumnets including: piano, bass, drums, guitar, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, flute, piccolo, violin, viola, cello, marimba, bongos, congas, tambourine and maracas. The listener is also exposed to variety of musical styles including jazz and mariachi. They cover a wide range of introductory vocabulary as well as early childhood educational topics such as: days of the week, animal sounds, opposites, clothing, and prepositions. We enjoyed listening to the CD on our road trip, but the kids enjoyed it more when they were able to actually move around in our living room. For example, it was difficult to actively participate in the "What Are You Wearing?" song where the child is encouraged to stand up if they are wearing a certain article of clothing, while riding in the van. We did end up adapting the song to "raise your hand" instead, but they enjoyed it much more when they could really stand up. However, they loved looking all around in the van while listening to "Percival the Parrot". I also like that I can go to the Hap Palmer website and find all the lyrics and ideas for corresponding activities for each song, allowing me to further expound on the learning concept. This is actually available for all of Hap Palmer's CDs along with coloring pages for various songs, sheet music for many of the songs, and even instructions for making teaching aides such as scarves, hoops, and bean bags. Do I recommend this product? Absolutely, and it is ideal for families as it helps even the youngest children learn basic skills while teaching those of all ages basic Spanish vocabulary. On the flip side, it would also be a great tool for those learning English as a second language. The CD itself is great, but the treasure trove of additional activities and information on the website, add to the value of this CD. ---Disclaimer--- Hap Palmer Music is a HIT for Developing Bilingual (Spanish-English) Oral Language Skills! Hap Palmer a life longer musician has just released his latest music CD Learning In Two Languages Aprendiendo en dos idiomas. I evaluated this wonderful CD and couldn’t wait to buy my copy and get one for my sons’ teachers. The CD contains 30 songs in all areas of common topics children ages 3-10 use. It reinforces oral language skills, vocabulary development, and listening comprehension skills in a very engaging and fun way in Spanish and English. Its a perfect resource for teachers working with English language learners at all levels and even better for Two-Way Bilingual Programs. It is really refreshing to see a children CD that does bilingual music in very simple yet planned and effective manner. Thank you Hap! Don’t forget to visit his website for more title on math, phonics, and etc. Hap I hope you consider growing your bilingual CDs! The Personal Blog of Claudia Rinaldi, Ph.D www.bilingualspecialed.com/  Whenever a new music CD for my kids enters our house, I soon end up mentally filing it under one of three categories. First, we have the ultra-screechy children's music that I would rather not listen to (but that my kids often adore). Then, there are the rare few CDs that I like so much I've been known to listen to them in the car or while I'm working-without the kids. And finally, there is a lovely middle ground, CDs we all like, staples that are in a permanent rotation in our home. Any CD in Spanish gets bonus points and gets heavier play in that rotation. When we first listened to Hap Palmer's Learning in Two Languages, I placed in that second category. The music itself is beautiful. The album boasts that it includes piano, bass, drums, guitar, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, flute, piccolo, violin, viola, cello, marimba, bongos, congas, tambourine, and maracas. Whew-no screechy synthesizers here, and the result is lovely. Not only that, the instruments are sometimes used to provide great sound effects. In "What Is the Opposite?/¿Qué es lo contrario?" for example, "big" is followed by a flourish of horns, "small" by some soft plucking on the guitar. There are ten songs on the album. The English song comes first, the Spanish version immediately after it. I don't think one is meant to listen to it all the way through-I could see listening to certain songs, or creating a playlist and listening to the entire album in one language or the other. Then again, one of my sons was so thrilled about it that he stood by the CD player and announced, "¡Ésta canción es en inglés! ¡Y ahora en español!" the entire time, so I have yet to make those playlists. I could tell right away that the album is meant to be educational, but it's not heavy handed about it. The songs are fun, and very singable. Some of the songs reinforce language in a more obvious way. For example, "It's a Seven-Day Week" is a call and response song that encourages singing back and fourth-we took turns singing the days of the week to each other in both English and Spanish. There's a song about colors, and the song about opposites. Some are silly and fun to get up and dance to, like "Percival the Parrot/Lorenzo el loro" and "Walter the Waltzing Worm/Gustavo el gusano bailarín." While listening to the songs, it was easy to imagine what kind of activities or movement went along with them. We stood up and sat down during "What Are You Wearing?/¿Qué tienes puesto?" and marched around during "Parade of Colors/Desfile de colores." However, a few days later I checked out Hap Palmer's website and found a wealth of information. All of the song lyrics are there, for one thing. Then, an activity for each song is listed, as well as variations and sometimes even additional follow-up ideas. There is an instrumental track for each song on the CD, and they can be used for singing your own variations, as well. I was very impressed-the website will be very useful to teachers who use the album, and I plan on trying the activities out myself. A lot of thought, care and energy went into this album, and it shows. This care extends to the translation of the songs. In addition to the translator, Claudia Orejuela Steeves, several Spanish language consultants are included in the credits. There is a disclaimer on the website for one of the songs, "Witches' Brew/Caldo embrujado," stating that the translation is not literal, but rather strives for the same rhyme and alliteration. Thus, "Dead leaves, seaweed, rotten eggs, too/Stir them in my Witches' Brew" becomes, "Cucarachas y un tomate aplastado/Mézclalos en mi caldo embrujado." Fun lyrics, with just the right "ewww" factor for children, if you ask me. So yes, this CD definitely falls in that second category, but when listening to it for the first time, we just danced around and had fun, I had no idea it ran so deep. From Spanglish Baby, www.spanglishbaby.com www.spanglishbaby.com/2010/05/hap-palmer-learning-in-two-languagesaprendiendo-en-dos-idiomas/ |
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