Spanish verb songs

On Saturday I was speaking at the Manchester branch of ALL. My talk was divided into 2 parts: Grammar and Cross-curricular links. During the grammar section I shared some songs to help children learn French verbs (avoir, être and porter). Some members of the audience were Spanish speakers and I set us all a challenge – to create some Spanish verb songs on the way home (I promised to have a go myself). I don’t know why but I have made up all my French and Spanish songs whilst driving. Saturday was no exception and by the time I got to the M60 I had managed to fit the verb ‘tener’ to the tune of La Bamba. By the time I got home I’d added ‘ser’, ‘estar’ and ‘ir’. The French verb songs are to well-known English tunes but with the Spanish I tried to put them to Spanish tunes. As well as ‘La Bamba’ I used the ‘Macarena’ and the traditional rhyme ‘Debajo un botón’. I didn’t manage to make any fit to ‘La Cucaracha’ and had to resort to ‘The farmer’s in his den’ but I guess 3 out of 4 ain’t bad.

Here they are…

Ir (to go) – to the tune of ‘La Macarena’

Voy, vas, va,

Vamos, vais, van,

Voy, vas, va,

Vamos, vais, van,

Voy, vas, va,

Vamos, vais, van,

¡El verbo ir!

Tener (to have) – to the tune of ‘La Bamba’

Tengo, tienes, tiene,

Tengo, tienes, tiene,

Y pues tenemos,

tenéis

Y tienen.

Ser (to be) – to the tune of ‘Debajo un botón’

Soy, eres, es, es, es,

Somos, sois, son, son, son,

Soy, eres, es, es, es,

Somos, sois, son, son, son.

Estar (to be) – to the tune of ‘The Farmer’s in his Den’

Estoy, estás, está,

Estoy, estás, está,

Estamos, estáis,

Y están.