This traditional Spanish children’s song is about a monkey who likes his lettuce ironed, without any wrinkles, and with lime and salt. The song is very short, and children learn it easily. The first line – A mi mono, le gusta la lechuga (My monkey likes lettuce) – teaches children the correct structure of the Spanish verb gustar when they are referring to a third person (or monkey). They learn to use le, and to say A mi mono, including a in the phrase. You can read more about the structure of gustar here.
Native Spanish speakers never make a mistake with this structure, but it is a constant problem for students of Spanish, even at the university level. The use of gustar is an excellent example of an advantage of being introduced to Spanish as a child. With sufficient exposure to Spanish when they are young, children will master this important verb and other Spanish verbs that have a similar structure.
You can listen to the song here, and is included on Vol. 1 of Cantajuegos, along with lots of other great songs. Here are the lyrics and a word-for-word translation.
A mi mono le gusta la lechuga
planchadita y sin una sola arruga.
Él la come con sal y con limón,
muy contento sentado en su balcón.
Word-for word translation:
My monkey likes lettuce
ironed without a single wrinkle.
He eats it with salt and lime,
very happy sitting on his balcony.
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