Learning In Two Languages
Aprendiendo en dos idiomas

Learning English and Spanish through Music and Movement
Aprendiendo inglés y español a través de la música y el movimiento

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


Bilingual Special Ed
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.
The Personal Blog of Claudia Rinaldi, Ph.D


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.


From Spanglish Baby, www.spanglishbaby.com


With his signature deft touch, singer-songwriter and educational music maestro Hap Palmer has long made learning math, phonics and other age-appropriate academic lessons irresistible using an infectious mix of music, rhythm and rhyme. His latest album, a combination of playful new songs and refashioned earlier works, is an appealing sing-along bilingual vocabulary lesson. Accompanied by polished pro musicians, Palmer performs his songs in English and then Spanish with exuberant help from a chorus of kids. "Percival the Parrot" and "Walter the Waltzing Worm" are quirky story songs that offer context for the bilingual content. Elsewhere, catchy tunes serve as clever word lists, whose categories range from animal sounds and days of the week to opposites, colors, clothing and more. All lyrics, as well as a booklet of related activities (another Palmer strength), can be downloaded for free at www.happalmer.com. - Lynne Heffley ©2010 Parents' Choice


Dos idiomas al mismo tiempo
Músico lanza nuevo CD para enseñar inglés y español a los niños

Algunos creen que enseñarle a un niño dos idiomas al mismo tiempo puede confundirlo y afectar negativamente su aprendizaje bilingüe, creencia que Hap Palmer no comparte.
El músico especializado en melodías infantiles ha lanzado recientemente un CD que promete enseñar inglés y español al mismo tiempo en Learning in Two Languages/Aprendiendo en dos idiomas.

"El CD hace que los niños sean activos, al cantar y bailar. Esta es la manera más efectiva de que aprendan un lenguaje extranjero", aseguró el autor.
El álbum bilingüe contiene la misma canción, primero en inglés para seguir con la versión en español, para que los niños aprendan el mismo vocabulario en los dos idiomas. Además, en algunos casos la interpretación instrumental también está incluida.
En total son 20 las canciones que conforman este disco con un costo de 13.95 dólares. Las canciones son una combinación de composiciones nuevas y versiones modernizadas de las canciones favoritas del autor.

"Algunas canciones en inglés ya eran populares de otros CDs, y sólo están traducidas al español", dijo refiriéndose a temas como What Is the Opposite? y What Is This Sound?.
Pero también esta grabación, realizada en Los Ángeles con dos coros infantiles, tiene canciones inéditas como What Do the Animals Say?/¿Qué dicen los animales? y Seven Day Week/En la semana hay siete días.

Los temas hablan de diversas categorías como los animales, los colores, los días de la semana, palabras opuestas, prendas de vestir, sonidos y hasta adverbios de lugar y preposiciones.
"Ahora hay un gran énfasis en los exámenes escolares y en llenar documentos, así que los niños les gusta cuando pueden levantarse de sus butacas (just in Mexico) y moverse", afirmó contundente.

Lograr una buena traducción fue el objetivo que se forjó Palmer y lo que comentó que más tiempo le tomó. En ocasiones, dijo, hubo algunas controversias con algunas palabras, que en diferentes países significaban cosas totalmente diferente. "Mi meta principal era tener un español universal", dijo sobre su misión.

Adicionalmente, hubo ocasiones que musicalmente las palabras seleccionadas no eran las que mejores sonaban y se tuvieron que hacer algunos cambios para lograr que el sonido fuera el mejor.

Asimismo, en el caso de Witches' Brew, tema enfocado en Halloween, algunos le recomendaron que no la grabara porque podría ser ofensivo para ciertas personas religiosas mientras que otros le decían lo contrario. Al final, terminó por incorporarla.
Otro aspecto que cuidó mucho fue el instrumental.

"Quería usar instrumentos de verdad. Lo quería hacer así porque hoy en día los niños ya no escuchan los sonidos reales por los sintetizadores electrónicos", dijo al explicar haber incluido el trombón, la guitarra, el piano, el bajo, la batería, la trompeta, el saxofón, la flauta, el violín, la marimba, los bongos, la pandereta y las maracas, entre otros.

El egresado de la Universidad de California Los Ángeles (UCLA) con una maestría en Educación impartida a través del baile, cuenta con un gran número de discos enfocados en la enseñanza bilingüe.

Por su conocimiento en el tema aseguró que los niños aprenden una lengua a través del movimiento corporal, porque cuando son pequeños no se pueden comunicar y tienen que hacerlo con señas y que al desarrollar este tipo de conocimiento les ayuda a desarrollar las neuronas.
"Los niños realmente lo disfrutan porque están interesados en las palabras", dijo sobre su proyecto más reciente del cual agregó haber recibido comentarios positivos, como que los niños se divierten con su música.

Además agregó que la mejor etapa para aprender cualquier otro idioma es durante la infancia, aunque reconoció que los estadounidenses son menos bilingües que los europeos por la resistencia de aprender un idioma desconocido.
"Durante los primeros 10 años de vida es bueno introducir a los niños a un idioma diferente al suyo", afirmó. "Creo que es muy importante demostrarle a los niños latinos que su idioma tiene valor", agregó.

Palmer inició en la grabación de discos musicales y pedagogos desde 1969, cuando su hija era estudiante en UCLA y él trabajaba en el área de educación especial en el Este de Los Ángeles. En UCLA, le ayudaron a traducir algunas de sus canciones primerizas, así como las de este disco actual. – Martha Sarabia, Sabado, 7 de Agosto


Two Languages at the Same Time
Musician releases new CD to teach children English and Spanish
Some believe that teaching a child two languages at the same time could confuse him and have a negative effect on his education. Hap Palmer does not share this belief. This musician, who specializes in children's songs, has just released a CD, Learning in Two Languages/Aprendiendo en Dos Idiomas, whose objective is to teach English and Spanish at the same time.

"This CD encourages the kids to be active by singing and dancing. This is the most effective way to learn a foreign language", said the songwriter.

This bilingual CD contains the same songs, first in English, followed by the Spanish version, so that the children learn the same vocabulary in both languages. Furthermore, the instrumental version is included in most cases.

This CD, priced at $13.95 contains a total of 20 songs. The songs are a combination of new compositions and updated versions of the songwriter's all time favorites.

"Some of the songs in English were already popular in other CDs, and have been newly translated into Spanish for this recording," he said, referring to such songs as, "What Are You Wearing?" and "Parade of Colors"

This recording, done in Los Angeles, contains two children's choruses and has new songs such as, "What Do the Animals Say? /¿Qué dicen los animales?", "Seven Day Week/En la semana hay siete días, "What is the Opposite? Qué es Lo (lo) contrario" and "What is this Sound / Qué es este sonido?"

The themes include diverse categories such as: animals, colors, days of the week, opposites, articles of clothing, sounds, and even adverbs of place, and prepositions.

"Nowadays in schools, there is a big emphasis on tests and worksheets so the kids are happy when they can get up from their seats and move around", Hap stated.

Having an excellent translation of the songs was of extreme importance to Hap Palmer. He worked on fitting the melodies and translations together with Claudia Orejuela Steeves who is a professional translator and has taught Spanish and ESL at USC. In some occasions, there were controversies as to the use of some words that had different meanings in different countries. "My main goal was to have a universal Spanish" he said.

Furthermore, there were times when the words (lyrics) chosen were not the best choice so changes had to be made to attain the best sound and pleasing flow of words and melody.

Also, in the case of Witches' Brew, whose theme focuses on Halloween, some advised him not to record it because it could be offensive to those of certain religious beliefs; while others loved the song and told him to keep it in the recording. In the end, Hap decided to include it.

Another aspect of great importance to Hap was the arrangements and instrumentation. "I wanted to use real instruments; nowadays children no longer listen to authentic sounds of real instruments because of electronic synthesizers" he said as he explained that he included the following instruments: trombone, guitar, piano, bass, drums, trumpet, saxophone, flute, violin, marimba, bongos, tambourine and maracas, among others.

The UCLA graduate holds a master's degree in dance education with an emphasis in early childhood music and movement and has produced a great number of CDs which have focused on building vocabulary.

He believes movement is an effective way to learn a new language. When children are young, they often communicate through signs and actions . Children initially learn a language by hearing it , and they can understand more than they can actually say. Their first response is a movement/action response.

"Children really enjoy responding actively to the words and music" he said referring to his latest CD. He received a lot of positive feedback such as the fact that kids really have fun with his music.

Hap Palmer also added that the best time to learn a foreign language is during childhood. He acknowledge that there are fewer bilingual people in the US than in Europe, due to the fact that in the US there is more resistance to having young children learn a foreign language in preschool and elementary school.

"The ideal time to introduce a child to a foreign language is during his first ten years of life" He said, and added "I think it is very important to show Hispanic children that their language has value." Palmer has been recording musical and pedagogical CD's since 1969. He started working in the area of special education in East Los Angeles. Teachers in the bilingual education program at UCLA Lab School have given him valuable feedback on the Spanish translations of his
songs. – Martha Sarabia, Saturday, August 7

Learning In Two Languages
This CD is a delightful tool for learning some basic Spanish vocabulary. There are 10 songs, and each is presented first in English and then in Spanish. Following those 20 tracts on the CD, there are music-only tracts for 9 of the 10 songs. Lyrics for the songs (as well as activities to go with the songs) can be found on Hap Palmer's website. For instance, the activity for my favorite song, "Walter the Waltzing Worm / Gustavo el gusano bailarin," is to give you child a piece of rope or string and have him make the "worm" dance with the music as you play the song. What fun! Of course, all the normal things are covered in the songs, such as counting, colors, animals, clothing, days of the week, food, etc., Another favorite song at our house is "Percival the Parrot / Lorenzo el loro." All the songs have pleasant tunes and use, as the website describes, "real instruments including piano, bass, drums, guitar, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, flute, piccolo, violin, viola, cello, marimba, bongos, congas, tambourine, and maracas." This CD will be played over and over by our little one who loves to listen to music, loves to dance, and loves to learn Spanish words.

I recommend this to anyone teaching Spanish at home. What a great supplement to your curriculum this will make! – Christine Hindle,
The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, June 2010


Dear Hap,

I already listened to your CD , first I listened to the Spanish songs only and then I went back and listened to both the Spanish and English a few times. I have to tell you first that I was happy to hear the Spanish used correctly, you and your team did a VERY good job! It is sad for somebody whose native language is Spanish to see how many times they translate books, songs, etc wrong. I think that for who ever is going to translate from any language to another they have to be very careful and really find the words that fit the best.

Anyway, even that, like the CD notes say there are some songs that are not translated exactly the same in order to keep the patterns of alliteration and inner rhyme, the words are perfect. I also like it that you use "big vocabulary words" like "contrario" (synonym of "opuesto") - opposite; this is a good way to teach my students that both words mean the same.

I already have some ideas of how to use some of the songs in my lesson plans. The only one I may not use is "Witches' Brew" because the different religions that sometimes we have in our classrooms, I do not want to have the moms in the office asking why I am telling their children about witches! hehe. However, I would listen to it with my own children. I love the music of this song and I caught my self singing it the other day. – Lorena Ibarra Towne - Teacher of Preschool Bilingual Class, Alvin Primary, Alvin,Texas

Homeschool Unit Studies
I recently received Hap Palmer's brand new, educational CD: Learning In Two Languages / Aprendiendo en dos idiomas to review. It arrived the day before we headed out on a 6 hour mini-roadtrip so I thought it would be perfect to listen to while driving. My kids do a lot of learning in the van anyway, so this was perfect.

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
video series. Other CD's of his include: Multiplication Mountain , Rhythms on Parade , and Learning Basic Skills Through Music.

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.

I received a free copy of this CD for review. No monetary compensation was received. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by any outside source. – Danielle


Product Review:
Learning In Two Languages (Aprendiendo en dos idiomas)

Geared towards ages 4 to 9
February 11, 2012

To provide quality educational music for young children

As a self-proclaimed musician/songwriter who collects and dabbles in guitar, mandolin, drums, bass and an occasional didgeridoo, my daughter is surrounded by music and musical accessories. I love to get educational songs that encourage music and movement and Hap Palmer's CD Learning In Two Languages also incorporates an additional learning concept of the second language of Spanish. Brilliant!

Hap's Learning In Two Languages CD is a bilingual composition of 20 songs that contains one child's song in English followed by the same song translated to Spanish. This will help the child learn the same vocabulary from the songs in both languages. Hap believes that the most effective way a child learns a new language is through hearing and responding through movement and actions. The sensitive period of language acquisition is during the first ten years of a child's life. The CD also focuses on the use of authentic sounds of instruments without any electronic synthesizers. There is a wide variety of instruments on this CD including trombone, guitar, piano, bass, drums, trumpet, saxophone, flute, violin, marimba, bongos, tambourine and maracas. The CD also includes a bonus of 9 additional instrumental songs.

Bonus! Expand your learning experience! Get the lyrics and corresponding activities you can do with your child for each song on this CD.

About Hap Palmer: Hap Palmer holds a master's degree in dance education with an emphasis in early childhood music and movement and has been recording educational musical CDs since 1969. Hap's early education philosophy is that children learn best by doing and his songs include active involvement of basic skills and concepts that create enthusiasm and mastery. Some of his additional CD titles include Learning Basic Skills Through Music, Volume 1 and II, Multiplication Mountain, and Movin'.


Cover - Can a Jumbo Jet Sing the Alphabet?
1. What Do The Animals Say?
2. ¿Qué dicen los animales?
3. What Is The Opposite?
4. ¿Qué es lo contrario?
5. What Are You Wearing?
6. ¿Qué tienes puesto?
7. Seven Day Week
8. En la semana hay siete días
9. Percival The Parrot
10. Lorenzo el loro
11. Song About Slow And Fast
12. Despacio y rápido
13. What Is This Sound?
14. ¿Qué es este sonido?
15. Walter The Waltzing Worm
16. Gustavo el gusano bailarín
17. Parade Of Colors
18. Desfile de colores
19. Witches’ Brew
20. El caldo de las brujas

Instrumental Tracks:
21. What Do The Animals Say? /
¿Qué dicen los animales?
22. What Is The Opposite? / ¿Qué es lo contrario?
23. What Are You Wearing? / ¿Qué tienes puesto?
24. Seven Day Week / En la semana hay siete días
25. Percival The Parrot / Lorenzo el loro
26. Song About Slow And Fast / Despacio y rapido
27. Walter The Waltzing Worm /
Gustavo el gusano bailarín
28. Parade Of Colors / Desfile de colores
29. Witches’ Brew / El caldo de las brujas