songs

Beautiful Girls

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

I’ve just been on an interesting and surprising educational journey.

I started doing some homework (surprising to me as I hardly ever study, hoping just to soak in Catalan with the sunshine and light)
The lesson in my book Passos Elemental 2 was all about a choir and the book printed several traditional childrens songs. I picked one out and looked for it on YouTube so I could sing along.
Here’s the words

Les Nenes Maques

Les nenes maques al dematí
s’alcen i reguen, s’alcen i reguen.
Les nenes maques al dematí
s’alcen i reguen el seu jardí.

Jo també rego el meu hortet,
faves i pèsols, faves i pèsols.
Jo també rego el meu hortet,
faves i pèsols i julivert.

Julivert meu com t’has quedat,
sense cap fulla, sense cap fulla.
Julivert meu com t’has quedat,
sense cap fulla i el cap pelat

Without translating it word for word, it is saying that beautiful girls get up in the morning and water their gardens. Also they water their vegetable plots which have beans and peas and parsley. The third verse is about how the parsley has ended up without leaves.
Ahhh – how sweet and a nice tune too.
But another web site which looked interesting had an article saying that the song is actually about teaching girls feminine hygeine. And the last verse is referring to the loss of bushiness in later life.

You never know when you are reading things in another language. Was it a joke?  I found another reference so perhaps the song is generally seen this way but what about all those children singing innocently in school while other older ones giggle behind their hands? 

Singing Away Your Fears

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

It takes 12 hours door to door. Lamorna to Granollers by car and train and plane and bus and train. I think that’s an incredibly short time to move between two different worlds.

Back to heating not working, wifi not connecting, same old stuff with resident adolescent although we are trying to keep positive and hopeful. Cloudy sky and a chill in the air.
I have a month of Catalan to study in one day before tomorrows class.
It’s one of those days when I need to count my blessings in order to stop my mood sinking.
So…..

  • lovely walk with Tiffany and Duna catching up on news
  • daffodils blooming on the terrace
  • hyacinths smelling wonderful and in their prime in spite of a month of neglect
  • Roca Umbert cafe has a cafe with wifi, friendly staff and nice music
  • my Catalan teacher sent an email about a choir which will practise singing Joan Maragall poems over the next months and do a performance in July. The message begins Qui canta els seus mals espanta which roughly translates as Those who sing scare away their fears.  A good thought for today and it reminds me that singing and music can sometimes help when all else fails.

What songs do you sing when you want to lift your spirits?

Songs

~ Kate Wilson ~ Leave a comment

Here are two Catalan songs we did in the summer school. If you click on the titles you can see them sung on YouTube – not by us as I haven’t learnt how to upload videos yet but it gives the idea.
And you can see examples of the clothes children wear when doing messy things in the art class. They are called ‘batas’ but due to the very similar sound between v and b I always heard it as Waters.

Mariners Com Que Bufa El Vent
Mariners com que bufa el vent. Cantem tots una cançoneta, Mariners com que bufa el vent Cantem tots un petit moment I la veu del petit grumet pujarà fins dalt de la cofa. I la veu del petit grumet sonarà com un vell concert.

Mireu Allà Dalt
Mireu allà dalt en els estels que hi ha
És un gros animal Que en bicicleta va
És un elefant I doncs que us penseu!
Té una cua al darrera i una otra al davant.
This one is done with lovely hand actions and I have sung it many times since – there is something about it that never fails to make me laugh. We did it much better than these people but the only other video I found showed a class of such small ones that they could hardly sing let alone mime.
A rough translation is – Look up there in the stars there is a big animal, riding a bicycle.
It’s an elefant and what to think? It has one tail at the back and another at the front!