Spanish teachers can never have enough soccer songs, can we? Soccer is such an important part of the culture in Spanish-speaking countries that it tends to come up in at least a small way in many texts that we teach.
I love this soccer song because the language is, overall, quite accessible to novice and intermediate learners as it contains mainly high-frequency words. It is also very repetitive and upbeat, which makes it a big hit in language classes! It would work great to include in any unit on soccer or sports (like Las chicas no juegan al fútbol americano) or with a novel like La Llorona de Mazatlán or Chapter 6 of Brandon Brown versus Yucatán by TPRS Publishing. Here’s how to teach it:
- Purchase the song “Sube la mano y grita gol (no hay dos sin tres)” by Spain Latino Rumba Sound from the 2012 album ‘Los éxitos del verano/con Crisis y A Bailar’. Most versions contain the f*** word (instead of saying “sorry young man” they say “f*** you man”), so please be careful. The official music video linked on this post is clean! (Here is the link in case the video is not working: http://vimeo.com/67938772)
- Play the song for students and have them complete these CLOZE lyrics (Click here to download).
- Review the correct answers to complete the lyrics.
- Have students work in small groups (2-3 students) to translate as much of the lyrics as they can. They should not be able to translate everything!
- Bring the class back together and work together to translate the whole song (you will need to give translations for unfamiliar words)
- Discuss these questions about the song as a class (you may need to provide translations for words like cantante and canción):
- ¿La canción es de la perspectiva de un aficionado o de un jugador?
- ¿Cómo se siente el cantante?
- ¿Qué quiere el cantante?
- ¿Qué piensa el cantante?
- ¿Qué hace el cantante cuando marca un gol?
- ¿Qué significa “no hay dos sin tres”?
- ¿Qué hacen/quieren los aficionados?
- Describe el tono de la canción.
sube la mano y grita gol! gooooool!
Hi Martina, this is perfect for the sports unit I’m starting next week! Pero no soy aficionada a ninguna deporte. .. qué significa “no hay dos sin tres”? Is it a fútbol thing my students will be aware of?
Gracias!
Honestly, I have no idea. Your guess (and that of your students’ ) is as good as mine. Maybe someone else can help us out?
it can mean a lot of things depending on context!
No hay dos sin tres. > Misfortune always comes in threes.
No hay dos sin tres. > Troubles always come in threes.
No hay dos sin tres. > All good things always come in threes.
No hay dos sin tres. > These things always come threes.
No hay dos sin tres. > Never two without three.
I always hear “No hay dos sin tres” growing up (in Honduras) when someone wanted to say something like “…you need this to have that”… or to express that you can’t skip steps and make something happen, that’s how my Mom used it.
THANK YOU for this insight!! Totally makes sense.
No hay dos sin tres is like saying: All good things come in threes 🙂
THANK YOU!
I found your post through pinterest. Love this song! Thanks for sharing it, and your lyrics sheet!
You are very welcome! Hooray for Pinterest 🙂
From what I found, “No hay dos sin tres” is like saying “good things come in threes”. It is also probably referring to the two championships for Spain and they were going for a third.
Laurin, you are amazing!!