Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas

THESE ARE THE COLORS, LOS COLORES

Having a mission-driven life is the key to being successful. It fuels creators and makes “work” be something one would be doing even when no one is paying. When I see my kids and other kids watch this “Colors” song video, sing along with it, and most importantly, learn something new, I know that I’m achieving my mission to educate kids in a fun and energetic way.

Elektro Kids videos are “humanity positive”. Yes. At its base, it is just a simple bilingual song about the common colors, but I like to go beyond that by seeing it as an outreach of to multiple cultures.

Language has the power to create new things that we haven’t seen before as humans. When kids learn a new way to say the color blue in a new, unknown language (e.g., “azul” in Spanish), it creates a new reality in their perception of the world. A simple color. A simple song. A catchy song that will jog memory to learn for a sustainable time something from a new culture and language.

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This is the mission of Elektro Kids: to educate kids with music in fun and positive ways about as many cultures as possible. It follows then that Elektro Kids will eventually branch out to more languages and subjects as it grows. Please share Elektro Kids videos and comment on how these videos are impacting your kids. 

WHAT’S YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL?

Has anyone ever told you: “We have the same spirit animal!”? I will never forget when that happened to me. I felt honored that this person I admired said this to me but at the same time, I was somewhat confused. What exactly is a “spirit animal”?

I guess a “spirit animal” could be an animalistic representation of one’s personality, usually made up of a mystical animal which takes on various forms, but also, I think it portrays what that person is striving to be; for example, the lion usually represents “pride”, “majesty”, and “confidence”. The animal my friend was referring to was a type of tiger with a lion head. A tiger with a lion head? Well, I thought, what do tigers and lions both represent? Strength. Pride. Power. Majesty. Patience. Not bad… I’ll take those qualities even though I may not display them always. Clearly, my friend spoke in terms of what he felt we both were always striving to achieve, and I love that concept. 

We project our own thoughts about ourselves all the time, and the more we think about ourselves a certain way, the more we concretize those thoughts into actions of our being. So, all these animal images depict to me various perceptions of these desired characteristics…

For example:A bear embodies vigor and bravery.A whale, beauty and longevity.An eagle, freedom and grace.A fox, swagger and intelligence.An elephant, hope and integrity.A giraffe, uniqueness and gentleness.A dog, loyalty and trust.A tiger, strength and power.

A – el águila (eagle)
B – la ballena (whale)
C – el caballo (horse) / C – el cerdo (pig)
CH – el chihuahua (According to the Royal Spanish Academy, “ch” is no longer officially considered a letter but it is still an important and frequently used sound.)
D – el delfín (dolphin)
E- el elefante (elephant)
F- el flamenco o el flamingo (flamingo)
G – el gato (cat)
H (h is always silent) – el hippótamo (hippopotamus)
I – la iguana (iguana)
J- la jirafa (giraffe)
K – el koala (also, coala is correct)
L – el león (lion)
LL – la llama (llama) Again, according to the Royal Spanish Academy, “ll” is no longer officially considered a letter but it is still an important and frequently used sound.
M – el mapache (racoon)
N – la nutria (nutria)
Ñ – el ñu (wildebeest)
O – el oso (bear)
P – el perro (dog)
Q – el quetzal (quetzal is a neotropical bird)
R – la rata (rat)
S – la serpiente (serpent)
T – el tigre (tiger)
U – la urraca (magpie bird)
V – la vaca (cow)
W – (omitted on purpose)
Y – la yegua (mare)
Z – el zorro (fox)

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When creating the Spanish Phonics (with Animals as examples) – Fonética del Alfabeto (see below), we wanted to have some of these animal qualities shine threw, and we are currently developing more products which inspire and encourage people to strive towards these iconic animalistic characteristics. (See Lion Pride T-Shirt).Now, even though the video focuses on teaching Spanish phonics by using animals as examples, the animals are there as inspirational guides to build confidence and trust for the listener. I hope you enjoy the video below and are inspired to let your spirit animal shine!***Notes about video***
Variations of sounds and animal names are noted in the presentation; so, if a letter has two sounds (like “C” for example) both phonics for that letter are covered (e.g., C as either soft /s/ or hard /k/ sounds).

Also taken into consideration is the variation of animal names depending on culture. For example, both “El Flamenco” or “El Flamingo” are correct but the latter is more common.

THE POWER OF MUSIC TO LEARN NEW THINGS

Most people agree that MUSIC is one of the best ways to learn a new language and memorize just about anything. When I was a kid, I could memorize hundreds of song lyrics from my favorite bands like The Cure, New Order, The Smiths, etc. And whenever I hear those songs today, I can recite all the lyrics! I’m sure the same thing happens to you. Music has the power to make people learn new things and retain it!

When put to melody, things just stick. I think it’s because a song causes the brain to think from various angles, using many facilities all at once, like hearing the melody, vocalizing the lyrics, obtaining a certain feeling you get from the music, etc.

When I became a father, I noticed how my kids picked up on things so quickly that were put into song. So, I started making these little melodies to communicate things with them and teach them all sorts of stuff, from helping clean up around the house to learning the numbers in Spanish.

Elektro Kids videos are just an extension of that idea. The idea that MUSIC is a powerful teaching tool. EK songs and videos have helped early learners with English, Spanish, and ASL basics but they can truly help kids of all ages. We hope that you are inspired to share our videos with friends and family who want to learn! Thanks! Gracias! 

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