Listening to songs is one of the best ways for children to learn Spanish verbs and correct Spanish pronunciation. Singing songs in Spanish they produce correct grammatical structures. This is the Spanish version of Five Little Ducks sung by the Brazilian singer Xuxa. Xuxa is very popular in Latin America and has a children’s television show in Spanish. The song is slow and very clear, so that children can easily learn to sing along. The words appear on the screen for parents and children who read to sing along.
Children will recognize the tune and the pattern as fewer little ducks return with each verse. They will hear and learn Spanish verbs in the plural with the phrase fueron a pasear (they went to take a walk), and the verb form volvieron (they came back). When only one little duck is left, they hear the singular forms of those verbs in the phrase fue a pasear (he went out to play) and volvió (he came back).
Here are the lyrics in Spanish and a word-for-word English translation. Before the final verse of the song, when the mother duck goes to get her babies, Xuxa says a few lines in Spanish. I have included those lines, the Spanish transcript and the translation, with the lyrics.
Cinco patitos fueron a pasear,
Más allá del monte para jugar.
La mamá gritó cuá cuá, cuá, cuá,
Sólo cuatro patitos volvieron de allá.
Cuatro patitos fueron a pasear,
Más allá del monte para jugar.
La mamá gritó cuá cuá, cuá, cuá
Sólo tres patitos volvieron de allá.
Tres patitos fueron a pasear,
Más allá del monte para jugar.
La mamá gritó cuá cuá, cuá, cuá
Sólo dos patitos volvieron de allá.
Dos patitos fueron a pasear,
Más allá del monte para jugar.
La mamá gritó cuá cuá, cuá, cuá
Sólo un patito volvió de allá.
Un patito se fue a pasear,
Más allá del monte para jugar.
La mamá gritó cuá cuá, cuá, cuá
Y ningún patito volvió de allá.
(Spoken)
Pucha, la mamá patita se quedó muy triste ese día.
¿Dónde estarían sus patitos?
Pero esta historia va a tener un final feliz.
¿Sabes por qué?
La mamá patita los fue a buscar,
Más allá del monte a orillas del mar.
La mamá gritó cuá cuá, cuá, cuá
Los cinco patitos volvieron de allá.
English Translation (word-for-word):
Five little ducks went out to take a walk,
Over the mountain to play.
The mama cried quack, quack, quack, quack.
Only four little ducks came back from there.
Four little ducks went out to take a walk,
Over the mountain to play.
The mama cried quack, quack, quack, quack.
Only three little ducks came back from there.
Three little ducks went out to take a walk,
Over the mountain to play.
The mama cried quack, quack, quack, quack.
Only two little ducks came back from there.
Two little ducks went out to take a walk,
Over the mountain to play.
The mama cried quack, quack, quack, quack.
Only one little duck came back from there.
One little duck went out to take a walk,
Over the mountain to play.
The mama cried quack, quack,quack, quack
And no little ducks came back from there.
Spoken:
Oh no, the mother duck got very sad that day.
Where could her little ducks be?
But this story is going to have a happy ending.
Do you know why?
The mother duck went to look for them.
Over the mountain to the edge of the sea.
The mama cried quack, quack, quack, quack
The five little ducks came back from there.
