Learning to sing traditional Portuguese children’s songs is a great way to have fun whole learning how to pronounce words. This is because most of them are written around playing with vowel sounds, making the verses light and easy to remember, even if some words don’t make much sense. They’re just fun syllables to teach how vowels work together.
Here are some examples of songs every kid in Portugal knows and loves to sing:
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A saia da Carolina A saia da Carolina Tem um lagarto pintado |
Carol’s skirt Carol’s skirt Has a painted lizzard |
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Sim Carolina ó-ió-ai Sim Carolina ó-ai meu bem! |
Yes Carol o-io-ai Yes Carol o-my dear! |
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Tem cuidado ó Carolina Que o lagarto dá ao rabo, |
Be careful Carol That lizzard wags its tail, |
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Sim Carolina ó-ió-ai Sim Carolina ó-ai meu bem! |
Yes Carol o-io-ai Yes Carol o-my dear! |
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A Barata diz que tem A Barata diz que tem Um sapato de veludo! |
The Roach says she has The Roach says she has A shoe made of velvet! |
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É mentira da Barata, Ela tem o pé peludo. Ha-ha-ha! He-he-he! Ela tem o pé peludo! |
It’s a lie from the Roach, She just has a fuzzy foot. Ha-ha.ha! He-he-he! She just has a fuzzy foot! |
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Jardim da Celeste Fui ao jardim da Celeste Giroflé, giroflá! |
Celeste’s Garden I went to Celeste’s garden Giroflé, giroflá! |
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E o que foste lá fazer? Giroflé, flé, flá! |
And what did you do there? Giroflé, flé, flá! |
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Fui lá buscar uma rosa Giroflé, giroflá! |
I went there to get a rose Giroflé, giroflá! |
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Para quem é essa rosa? Giroflé, flé, flá! É para a menina (Ana) Giroflé, giroflá! É para a menina (Ana) Giroflé, flé, flá! |
And who is that rose for? Giroflé, flé, flá! It’s for Little Miss (Ana) Giroflé, giroflá! It’s for Little Miss (Ana) Giroflé, flé, flá! |
In this song, the children are in a circle and name is the person who’s going to sing next, so it’s a fun game as well.
Online Portuguese lessons for kids: dinolingo.com