Did you study Spanish years ago but rarely use it? Would you like to practise it more often but don’t have time or people to do it with? Do you know absolutely nothing about the language but enjoy the sounds of it?
As a foreign language teacher, I’m always in search of learning resources to sparkle up my classes with some real input. It’s so satisfying for my students when they get to understand their favorite songs and sing them. Besides, listening to songs in the language you’re trying to learn provides an authentic context to revise what’s been learnt from the books.
Let me be clear on this: personally I’m not a big fan of the idea you can master a language from scratch only by listening and attempting to utter random words, but research has shown that it actually benefits mostly by expanding vocabulary (particularly informal expressions you wouldn’t normally come across in more conventional learning materials) and improving pronunciation: when we sing our brain does its best to get as close as possible to the sounds of the other language (that may not even exist in our own native language), amazing isn’t it?
Native pronunciation, words and grammar in context, colloquialisms like slang (like Argentinian Lunfardo) and plays on words: that sounds to me like an incredible boost to motivating and meaningful language learning!
Today I want to share with you what I believe to be some of the most popular and representative songs by Argentinian singers, I tried to make it varied and cater for both oldies and newbies. I think at least 9 out of 10 Argentinians over 20 can spot these songs and follow the tune, so they’re in a way a good picture of who we are as a country as well.
If you’re thinking of coming soon, get your ears tuned and your Spanish smooth as we travel together throughout different times and styles of Argentinian music… ready? Subtitles, sound or headphones on and let’s begin!
Sin tu amor - Luis Alberto Spinetta performing live at the White Salon (the most beautiful in my opinion) at Casa Rosada
En la Ciudad de la Furia - Soda Stereo :one of the most beloved and widely known rock bands of the country take us in a tour around Buenos Aires (The City of Fury) in the late 1980s
Volver - Carlos Gardel: Because I don’t think any Argentinian playlist could leave out Tango
Matador - Los Fabulosos Cadillacs; we flash forward to the 90s, love the fusion with murga style
Tren del Cielo - Soledad Pastorutti: behold the beauty of northern Argentina on this clip!
Soy Cordobés - Rodrigo: I said we were going to sing but maybe you can dance, too if you feel like it? From Central Argentina to the world: an energizing Cuarteto! @CaroGuiniazu maybe you could teach us some moves in the next meetup?
Garzas Viajeras - Dos Más Uno ft. Chango Spasiuk A vivid description of sceneries of my region, some northeast folklore with a modern twist. I’m sure this is new to some of my #TeamArgentina fellows, sorry I have to share this with the world!
La Flor Más Bella - Memphis La Blusera: Yeah! Argentinian blues! An ode to Argentinian women (the most beautiful or so they say in the song )
No Te Creas Tan Importante - Damas Gratis one of the most popular music styles of the last 20 years (not my favorite, but it’s been on for such long time it’s won itself a place in the list) It’s called Cumbia Villera and nothing says “party” to most youngsters like it
Todo A Pulmón - Alejandro Lerner: the clip closed the deal for me for the mixture of great voices who collaborated and I wish I had enough time to share with you
Well I hope you have enjoyed this and made it to the end of this post with a pretty good idea of some of our most popular songs and styles. Unluckily, much has been left out, I do encourage you to dig in, find a style you like and start improving your Spanish the fun way because it’s a beautiful language 
- Can you name any other famous Argentinians you wished were here?
- What song would you say it’s the most representative of your country? Please share the link in the comments below
Read more #TeamArgentina
