I love music.

I sing in the shower. I sing in the car. I sing while walking the dog – although I do try not to sing too loud, so that I don’t make my neighbours nervous.

So it seemed logical that I should learn Spanish through songs.

Music fits perfectly into any language study schedule, regardless of how much or how little time you have to practice each day. Every week, I choose a Spanish-language song. I spend a few minutes on the first day working my way through the lyrics, and then I just listen to it twice every day for the rest of the week. It takes about five to ten minutes per day, and by the end of the week, I’m singing in the shower in Spanish.

If you don’t already use music in your language study, then you might want to start! Every Friday, I’ll post a youtube video of a Spanish song, along with the lyrics in both Spanish and English. I try to listen to a wide variety of styles, so if you don’t like this song, come back next Friday to listen to something else.

* Please note: Actually translating the song (using a combination of the words in my head, translations that I find online, Google translate and a Spanish-English dictionary) is a big part of my learning. I’m a student of Spanish, and a fairly new one at that. This is ongoing work, so I hope that you’ll correct any errors or share any insight into the meaning of the original song. Or if you want to translate it yourself, I’d love to compare our versions!

Torture - Shakira and Alejandro Sanz

Sanz Ay payita mía, guardate la poesía Guardate la alegría pa’ti Baby, keep your poetry Keep your joy to yourself Shakira No pido que todos los días sean de sol No pido que todos los viernes sean de fiesta Tampoco te pido que vuelvas rogando perdón Si lloras con los ojos secos Y hablando de ella Ay amor me duele tanto I don’t ask that there be sun every day I don’t ask that there be a party every Friday Nor do I ask that you come beg me for forgiveness If you’re crying with dry eyes And talking about her Oh my love, it hurts me so much Sanz Me duele tanto It hurts me so much Shakira Que te fueras sin decir a dónde Ay amor fue una tortura Perderte That you left without saying where Oh my love, it was like torture Losing you Sanz Yo sé que no he sido un santo Pero lo puedo arreglar, amor I know that I haven’t been a saint But I can fix it, my love Shakira No sólo de pan vive el hombre Y no de excusas vivo yo Man doesn’t live on bread alone and I don’t live on excuses Sanz Sólo de erroresyou learn And today I know my heart is yours We only learn from our mistakes And now i know that my heart is yours Shakira You better keep all that To another dog with that bone And we say goodbye I can not ask winter to spare a rosebush can not ask an elm tree to bear pears can not ask the eternal of a mere mortal And go about casting pigs thousands of pearls you're best to keep all that to yourself Give that bone to another dog and let's say good-bye I can not ask give a rosebush That winter I can not ask an elm That bear pears I can not ask the eternal from a mere mortal And walk about casting Thousands of pearls before the swine Sanz Oh love hurts so much It hurts so much that you no longer trust my promises Oh my love, it hurts me so much it hurts me so much that you no longer believe my promises Shakira Oh my love Oh my love Sanz is torture it's like torture Shakira Perderte Losing you Sanz I know not I have been a saint But I can fix, I know That I lovewithout you I have no peace I’m only a very repentant man I’m like the bird that returns to its nest I know that I haven’t been a saint But I’m not made of stone (cardboard) Shakira No solo de pan vive el hombre Y no de excusas vivo yo Man doesn’t live on bread alone and I don’t live on excuses Sanz Solo de errores se aprende Y hoy sé que es tuyo mi corazón We only learn from our mistakes And now I know that my heart is yours Shakira Todo lo que he hecho por tí Fue una tortura perderte Me duele tanto que sea así Sigue llorando perdón Yo ya no voy a llorar por tí Everything that I did for you It was like torture losing you It hurts me so much that it’s like this Keep crying for forgiveness I won’t cry for you anymore

A few notes:

I apologize for the old-school html table with small font. It’s not very visually appealing. Is there an easier way to make tables in wordpress that I don’t know about? If you want to print the lyrics in Spanish and English (in a more readable font and in a much prettier table), you can download the pdf here: 

The words “negra” and “negrita” were jarring to me when I first read them. According to the ever-trusty Google, it seems that in Columbia and other parts of Latin America, they’re often used as terms of endearment – like “baby” or “sweetheart”.

There’s a part of this song that I simply can not sing, no matter how often I try. The bit about the dog and the bone is fast.

Do you know any great Spanish songs that I should add to my list? I’m always looking for new music!