Can Anyone Help with a Cuban Rhyme/Finger Play that starts with “Chiquitica así”?

Jeannie Backer wrote to us for help with a Cuban Finger Play. Here's her note... My mother from Cuba used to sing a song/rhyme to usthat I only partially remember, maybe you have heard something similar. It's not a song as much as a cute thing that a child says to adult to ask for

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Can Anyone Help with the Afro-Cuban Song “Yemaya Assessu”?

Marion was looking for a Cuban song and asked for help on the Mama Lisa's World Facebook Group. The song is about Yemaya, a west African goddess of the oceans. She's often depicted as a mermaid. It seems the songis in the Yoruba language. The song is now sung by choruses. Here's the threadabout [...]

Does Anyone Know the Song "Fair Cuba"?

Nancy wrote asking for help with a song called, "Fair Cuba": When I was in middle school, I learned a song called "Fair Cuba,"  I have not heard it since, but am interested in finding the lyrics, and if possible, guitar chords to this song.  I found one site that [...]

Can Anyone Help with a Cuban Kids Song?

Ed wrote asking for help with a Cuban Kids Song.  Here's his letter: Dear Mama Lisa, As a child I heard my father sing a song that he said was sung by Cuban children when he lived there in the 1930's. The refrain was "Curi, Curi Canga, malamalamalanga" and, ultimately, was [...]

Learn 40 Languages for Free on the Internet

Open Culture has a page of free language learning links covering 40 languages. Here are some of the languages you can find links for... Arabic, English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Bulgarian, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Finnish, Gaelic, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, [...]

Quince – Sweet Fifteen

The fifteenth birthday is very important for girls in many Latin American countries and in some Hispanic communities in the US.  It's called Quince or Quinceaera (15 years).  It marks a girl becoming an adult.  It's a bit like the Jewish Bar Mitzvah, a Sweet 16 Party and a [...]

Noche de paz – Silent Night in Spanish with an MP3 Recording

Noche de paz is the Spanish version of Silent Night. This Christmas Carol was originally written in German in 1816 by Joseph Mohr. It was called Stille Nacht. Below you can listen to Noche de paz, read the Spanish lyrics and then a literal English translation of the Spanish version. MP3 [...]

A Kid's Drawing about Friendship and the Rights of a Child

Here's a picture drawn by a Cuban child. It's about friendship and children's rights. “Derechos de un nio” is literally “Rights of a child”. “Children's Rights” is typically written, “Los derechos del nio” or “derechos infantiles”. What [...]

One Child's Artwork about Being Diabetic

This illustration was drawn by a diabetic child explaining the daily routine to be followed by a patient with diabetes in order to control the disease. The artist is from Cuba, so the text is in Spanish. I provided English translations below each image. Here are zoomed-in views so you can see [...]

Cool Cuban Kids Song – Tiene Pinochito – Little Pinocchio

Jeanette wrote to us looking for the lyrics to a Cuban lullaby and I think we can help with this one! Here's her letter, followed by the song she's looking for... Lisa, There is a nursery rhyme or song that my grandmother used to sing to me (she has been dead about 8 years now)

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