Just finished a semester of high school or college Spanish and looking to impress your wife, girlfriend, fiance, secret crush? Learn this quick and easy love song in Spanish and watch their eyes light up. BTW…an immersion experience will help you sing a more intimate and better love song in Spanish. :p
So were you ROTFL? Did this song help you with your lady?
Whether you are about to start your first classes of Spanish, took a year or two of Spanish many moons ago, or have successfully climbed hill to fluency, you will appreciate the comedic wit of the hugely successful viral song below.
If you are learning the language now, this video will remind you to have fun with the language when everything seems too difficult. There will be a day when you don’t understand the use of poner, dejar, chucho, or chucha. They don’t explain dejar nor poner but they take a crack a helping you with chucho y chucha.
If you have already learned the language and even successfully left behind your thick accent, you may hear the accent you used to have. A walk down memory lane is always fun. 😉
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Lyrics explaining the difference uses of chucho y chucha
“Los chilenos dicen cuando hay algo lejos “que esta a la chucha”,
y en Colombia el mal olor de las axilas “es la chucha”,
mientras tanto en Uruguay a ese olor le dicen ‘chivo’,
y el diccionario define al chivo como a una ‘cabra con barbuchas’.
Y cambiando una vocal la palabra queda “chucho”,
y “chucho” es un perrito en Salvador y Guatemala.
Y en Honduras es tacaño, y a Jesús le dicen Chucho,
con tantas definiciones, como se usa esa puta palabra!?
Chucho es frío en Argentina,
Chucho en Chile es una cárcel,
Chucho en México si hay alguien,
con el don de ser muy hábil.
El chucho de Chucho es un chucho ladrando,
y por chucho a Chucho lo echaron al chucho,
el Chucho era frío y lo agarró un chucho
-“Que chucho”- decía,
-“extraño a mi chucho”.”
So what do you think? Should they make a song explaining ser & estar? Or the subjunctive? Or how about imperfecto y indefinido?
Right now I imagine you are one of three types of people reading this blog post.
a) Office daydreamer – You have probably devoted a lot of time at work and are always daydreaming about what you would do if you had at least two solid weeks of vacation. You may be in a cubicle without a window so you try to secretly browse the internet without getting caught, always ready to click back to your excel spreadsheet in case you hear your boss’s footsteps quickly approaching. Or you could be the person that has earned an office with a window and because of all of the work that goes into being the person with the window view, you are probably staring through the window wishing you were on the other side.
b) Procrastinating Student – A school paper is due in a couple of days and you haven’t started! You should be writing the paper but you have just told yourself that 20 more minutes of browsing the internet and Facebook and then you will start. You have put in a lot of time and stress studying for tests, writing papers about topics and people you don’t really care about, waking up early for your 8am classes after fun night outs involving red Dixie cups, and you are just ready for a break. Something different, fun, exciting, adventurous!
c) Hot Pocket – Someone with a little free time and money burning a hole in your pocket. Maybe you are retired and finally have an empty nest or you are unemployed and don’t feel like filling out another job application. You have already done it all in your city and are looking for the next big trip that will give you lots of stories to tell when you get back…if you ever do.
So for you Mr./Ms. A,B or C, below are some movies that will get you inspired to whip out the credit card and book the next flight out-of-town.
The ones I have seen and personally recommend are:
L’Auberge Espagnole – see my blog post about this!
EuroTrip – if you are from 16 – 21, you will be laughing non stop. For everyone else, don’t be surprised if half of the things in this movie happen to you during your travels.
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Y tu Mamá También – Is there anything better than taking a road trip as a boy with your best mate and coming back a man? This is one of those classic coming of age stories that will make you want to do it if you are still young or will make you reminisce about your last great road trip if you are older. It’s all in Spanish so a great way to brush up on your Spanish skills!
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Motorcycle Diaries – Are you spontaneous? Do you like to improvise? Does traveling 5,000 miles on a motorcycle through South America with your best mate sound appealing? If so, this is the movie for you! It’s in Spanish which is a big plus and is even filled with a little history about the now commercially popular Che Guevara…and the soundtrack is great!
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Into the Wild – Does the urban jungle have you wondering what else is out there? Does the popularity of Jersey Shore and Kim Kardashian have you wondering if there is something more meaningful in life? If you are asking yourself these questions then doing a trip like the one in this movie may be for you.
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Lost in Translation – A great movie which may be a little preview of how life can sometimes feel like when you are in another country surrounded by many people speaking a language you don’t know…yet! It’s a charming Oscar-winning movie and a must see because it’s also the movie that shot Scarlett Johansson to stardom.
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Indiana Jones – Sometimes we just need a good action packed around-the-world movie. Is there one better than Indiana Jones? Who do you prefer…Indy Jones or Hans Solo?
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So what are you waiting for? Whip out your credit card, buy the ticket, and then watch these movies on your flight out of town! “There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” – Charles Dudley Warner
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What do you think about this list? Have you seen any of these? Did we leave any off the list that you would highly recommend?
Famous people are just like you and have been in your shoes! They have struggled with deciding where to study abroad, for how long, what classes to take, questions how many pairs of pants and underwear to take, worried if your new passport/visa will arrive on time, have spent time trying to convince their parents that they will be safe, and begged every aunt, uncle, grandparent for money to fund the trip. They survived their abroad experience to become well-known and successful.
Some of the notable people who have survived their experience abroad are:
A more complete list can be found on NAFSA’s website: http://www.nafsa.org/publicpolicy/default.aspx?id=28293#entertainment
So after your trip, what will you be famous for or successful at?
The quintessential movie about a study abroad experience! If you are still thinking about whether or not to take the leap of faith and go, watch this movie and then let me know if you are still undecided. 🙂
L’Auberge Espagnole/The Spanish Apartment/Una Casa de Locos
Spanish trailer (I know you don’t want to but first watch it in Spanish to see how much you understand!)
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English trailer
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French trailer (if you are feeling frisky)
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After watching this movie and being so inspired that you immediately went online and bought your plane ticket, booked your immersion Spanish course, and packed your bags, you may have some free time on your hands. Before heading to the airport you can find out what happened next to this rag tag group of students in the sequel.
SPOILER ALERT! Don’t watch the trailer until you have seen the original movie.
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What do you think about the movie? If you have studied abroad before, was your experience anything like this?
They are not really much different than you and I. They want to open themselves to a culture of 500 million Spanish speakers. They browse websites looking for the best Spanish immersion schools.
Michael Cera, star of Juno and Superbad, is busy taking 5 hours a day of Spanish lessons to prepare for a movie he will shoot in Chile.
Will Ferrell just shot an entire movie in Spanish! Although, word on the street is that he still hasn’t perfected the language…when to use ser, estar, and the subjunctive may be tripping him up a little. 🙂
So what’s more difficult, learning a language or shooting a film in a language you don’t know?
Study Spanish Abroad Café 