While a lot of people are getting prepared to fill out their March Madness bracket, South students in Spanish classes are focused on the Locura de Marzo bracket?
Locura de Marzo is a heated worldwide music competition. In Locura de Marzo, Spanish music fans vote for which one of the songs is the most elite out of the top 16 Spanish songs in the world right now. The competition began on Feb. 28, and the competition is currently in the second round, with 8 songs remaining.
The South High Spanish department has decided to participate in this year’s Locura de Marzo with all levels of their Spanish classes to try and educate but also to do something enjoyable with their students.
“As a Spanish teacher, we can bring more culture and geographical knowledge into the classroom while also enjoying the music. I have learned languages through music my entire life, so why not share this strategy with our students?” said Spanish teacher Dana Moore.
Not only have the teachers at been enjoying the competition, but the students have also been staying tuned into the competition.
“I think that they should do it again next year because during class it is a good brain break from school but at the same time the unit is enjoyable,” said sophomore Spanish 2 student Sofi Bertanjoli.
Although voting and listening to the songs is enjoyable, students are still in a learning environment so some teachers turned the break from the curriculum into a good learning experience.
“Most of the songs I could understand or at least some parts of the songs because before we listened to them our teacher made us learn some helpful vocab and difficult tenses. I feel like this helped me enjoy the songs more because you can’t just judge a song on the beat but also the lyrics too,” said Bertanjoli
Right now, the song ranked #1 on the bracket is a song created by Daddy Yankee, a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. Most people in America know Daddy Yankee from his song “Gasolina” and his appearance in the song “Despacito” but the song that has made it to the top of the charts this year is “Bonita.”
Although “Bonita” was ranked number one on the charts, students at South High had different opinions.
“I thought that ‘Bonita’ was not that good of a song, because it’s very repetitive. But since it ranked number one and was made by a popular artist, it made it to the final 2 in my bracket,” said junior Annalise Owens.
Even though some of the songs are all in Spanish and most of the artists were unrecognizable, some songs were made by known artists in America. One of the songs that made it onto the bracket was “Acróstico” by Shakira and her son. Another was “Cuando Te Besé,” sung by Becky G. She once was an American artist who had a popular hit called Showered in America but then a year later after Shower came out she switched to Spanish music.
Some people didn’t like the songs because they thought they were overpraised, but some people thought that some songs shouldn’t have even been in the top 16.
“Personally my least favorite song was ‘Volvió A Latir’ because it sounded like a song that Kidz Bop would make,” said Owens.
Locura de Marzo wasn’t just listening to songs and voting but it also showed a lot about Spanish culture.
“I think that the videos did help with my listening but I looked out for more of what these songs taught us about Spanish culture, for example understanding what music they like to listen to in Spanish countries, I noticed that a lot of the songs were all very upbeat,” Owens said.
Moore said she is glad the competition is exposing students to more Spanish music.
“Locura de Marzo shows how global it is to learn a world language–tens of thousands of students in Spanish and French classes are voting to determine who wins the competition. I have also heard students say that they add certain songs to their playlists. This is a huge win because it means they listen to the language outside the classroom!” Moore said.
